Can I be honest with you? I really used to hate the Christmas Season. This time of year make people go a little crazy and it is all in the name of buying their kid something they can’t really even afford. It really grinds my gears. Forget about driving between the dates of November 26 and December 28. If you even wait a second after the light turns green people will honk at you and give you that gesture that tells you that you are number 1 in their book. You might be laughing right now but only because you know I’m right.
Mostly what bothered me about this season was the music. This is a problem because I work in a church and one of the special things about the advent season is the music. But I would grimace at the thought of singing and playing those carols with the band. I put a smile on my face and lead the people in those songs but inside I scowled.
Call me Scrooge if you want because that is really what I was. I did not enjoy anything about the Christmas season. The sad part was I couldn’t figure out why. It could have been that the music was boring or the people bowing down to the “mighty consumer dollar.” But I think it went deeper than that.
Then a few years ago I heard a song that changed my whole perspective on the Christmas season. You probably know what I’m going to say because every Christmas season I blog about this at least once. But the story is just so amazing that I feel the need for the repetition.
My parents had bought concert tickets for me and Abby to go see Casting Crowns on their Christmas tour. Of course my reaction was blasé. I didn’t like Christmas or the music so I was not excited about this event. But during the concert they played one of the songs off their album, “I heard the bells” by the poet Henry Longfellow. Before the song the Lead singer told the story behind the song.
Henry Longfellow wrote the poem “Christmas Bells” on Christmas Day during the Civil War after he heard the news about his son being mortally wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia. Two years before that his wife had died in an accidental fire that was collateral damage of the Civil War. So on Christmas Day he hears these church bells ringing the tune, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men. At this point after all that has happened he is a little bitter. He thought to himself, there is no peace on earth. Hate is running ramped and mocks this thought that peace can live on the earth.
That is exactly what I was feeling. In a season that is all about giving to other people, in a time of year where we are suppose to consider others and live in peace, all anyone can do is gesture inappropriately when I don’t step on the gas at the exact moment they want me to so I can get out of their way, in order for them to go spend more money they don’t have. Christmas had totally lost its meaning for me. I looked around at the world surrounding me and all I could see was what this season had turned into not what it really was.
As Longfellow stood listening to those bells chime he realized their message was not affected by the world around him. All the evil he was surrounded by did not negate the simple message the bells were ringing out. That God has brought peace to the earth in the form of his gift, the baby Jesus Christ.
I realized that what this season had turned into was not the same thing as what God meant it for and furthermore that had not changed at all. Christmas is not about the traffic or the shopping or even the music. Christmas is about God bringing peace to mankind through Jesus Christ his son. We can shop till we drop dead, or gesture to everyone on the road but The MESSAGE DOES NOT CHANGE!!!
Mostly what bothered me about this season was the music. This is a problem because I work in a church and one of the special things about the advent season is the music. But I would grimace at the thought of singing and playing those carols with the band. I put a smile on my face and lead the people in those songs but inside I scowled.
Call me Scrooge if you want because that is really what I was. I did not enjoy anything about the Christmas season. The sad part was I couldn’t figure out why. It could have been that the music was boring or the people bowing down to the “mighty consumer dollar.” But I think it went deeper than that.
Then a few years ago I heard a song that changed my whole perspective on the Christmas season. You probably know what I’m going to say because every Christmas season I blog about this at least once. But the story is just so amazing that I feel the need for the repetition.
My parents had bought concert tickets for me and Abby to go see Casting Crowns on their Christmas tour. Of course my reaction was blasé. I didn’t like Christmas or the music so I was not excited about this event. But during the concert they played one of the songs off their album, “I heard the bells” by the poet Henry Longfellow. Before the song the Lead singer told the story behind the song.
Henry Longfellow wrote the poem “Christmas Bells” on Christmas Day during the Civil War after he heard the news about his son being mortally wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia. Two years before that his wife had died in an accidental fire that was collateral damage of the Civil War. So on Christmas Day he hears these church bells ringing the tune, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men. At this point after all that has happened he is a little bitter. He thought to himself, there is no peace on earth. Hate is running ramped and mocks this thought that peace can live on the earth.
That is exactly what I was feeling. In a season that is all about giving to other people, in a time of year where we are suppose to consider others and live in peace, all anyone can do is gesture inappropriately when I don’t step on the gas at the exact moment they want me to so I can get out of their way, in order for them to go spend more money they don’t have. Christmas had totally lost its meaning for me. I looked around at the world surrounding me and all I could see was what this season had turned into not what it really was.
As Longfellow stood listening to those bells chime he realized their message was not affected by the world around him. All the evil he was surrounded by did not negate the simple message the bells were ringing out. That God has brought peace to the earth in the form of his gift, the baby Jesus Christ.
I realized that what this season had turned into was not the same thing as what God meant it for and furthermore that had not changed at all. Christmas is not about the traffic or the shopping or even the music. Christmas is about God bringing peace to mankind through Jesus Christ his son. We can shop till we drop dead, or gesture to everyone on the road but The MESSAGE DOES NOT CHANGE!!!
Then rang the bells more loud and deep
GOD IS NOT DEAD, NOR DOES HE SLEEP
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men
I love this time of year now.... the music....everything. Because I realize that my attitude toward the season was just buying into what people are making Christmas out to be. But as a follower of Jesus, this time of year is to celebrate God gift. He totally changed my perspective about this holiday and if you feel the same way i felt, I encourage you to come to the same realization. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that no matter what happens now, God’s Peace reigns through Jesus Christ. So I can forgive the person who yells at me or is rude because I want them to see through my lifestyle and my attitude what Christmas was really meant to be.
Let’s celebrate the birth of our Savior and the gift of Peace God gave us
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