Let's Cheer For Christmas Cheer

The last several Christmasses... Christmas's... Christmasi... San Diegans have felt off. It was like I didn't even sense Christmas coming (despite the radio stations playing Christmas music mid November), and then before I knew it, everything was over. Then I was left longing for something that didn't even seem to happen. In fact probably my favorite part of the holiday last year was taking some ridiculous pictures in the front lawn (displayed below).

I think they really captured what Christmas is really about now... Blasphemy! Jesus and the American flag... Lacey as the Virgin Mary, me replacing Jesus... flirting with the Mother Mary, and Jesus with a giant TV remote.

This Christmas feels better. I have some Christmas cheer that is appropriate to what the holiday is really about. I'm actually glad Christmas music is on the radio, and I have even been playing some on my computer (Sufjan Stevens currently). I am experiencing a certain amount of joy about it all. Perhaps my family is becoming a little closer than it has been in years past and that has something to do with it. But I think I just have a more balanced attitude this season. I'm encouraged for those who are standing up for what is right this season, and I feel like I am in some way a part of that.

Maybe I feel a little bit of the generous spirit of the holidays warming my heart because I've been actively trying to live generously in my life (holiday or not). Over the last several months I have engaged with individuals who have needs, and I've sacrificed to help meet those needs. Christmas often feels like a time of obligatory giving, and that's the problem... I feel obligated to give so that I can convince myself I am not selfish or something. But I'm content with the lifestyle I am moving towards. I don't feel bad about giving less to people who don't need, when I know I am using those resources to give to those who have very little; whether in my own community or in impoverished countries.

I'm not saying all of this to toot my own horn. If you feel I am being self-absorbed and self-congratulatory, we can sit down and chat, and I will lay out the reasons why I am a bad person. I am instead offering something I am learning and I am experiencing. I am sincerely enjoying the holidays, which I haven't this much in a long time.

I'm coming out of a time of feeling isolated in myself, not relying on God, and actively ignoring the spiritual, educational, and relational things I knew I should be doing. I was frustrated with myself. It's the ultimate insult to your creator when he blesses you with abilities, calls you to utilize them, and although you know you should... you just don't want to, and run away instead. It's the kind of situation that makes you fish food.

But things are better now, and I need to make up for my recent laziness. I want to be an example. I don't want to compromise, but I still want to be loving. My wish this holiday is to be a blessing and to allow others to bless me. There are times I am so welled up with love for people I wouldn't really expect to feel that way about. As per a previous post, I think I need to make an effort to let my love out, rather than stifling it, and allowing it to mellow.

Holidays aren't an allowance to act a certain way once a year... they're a reminder to act a certain way all year. Your friends and family love you and you love them. The important thing in life is that Jesus came and died for us, what else can bring us down? Peace is here, why fret the rest of the year? Salvation has come in certainty, live in that instead of the ambiguity of life! Remember all you have. Don't compare what you have to what everyone else has, live in the generosity Jesus endorses.

The Lord has come and is, celebrate!