Ok, so please don’t hear this as a Scrooge rant… and please please don’t hear this as anything like a ‘how can you celebrate this early?’ post… So just to make sure this is heard: CHRISTMAS IS AMAZING!! I AM ALREADY BEGINNING TO CELEBRATE!! IN FACT I CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR!!
But at this time we do some more obvious things… Advent calendars are out- check, Advent candle is on the table- check, planning Christmas services has started- check (no, its not finished yet, at last count I am involved in 17 events…), yes yes yes, however…
I’m wondering at how far we’ve gone from the origins of Christmas- whether you go into the Christian origins (celebrating the birth of Jesus as the ultimate expression of God’s love for humanity and the restoration of relationship between God and humanity that it demonstrates and brought about) or the non-Christian origins (in the middle of winter at the passing of the solstice its good to celebrate with hope that there will be a lightening after the darkest days- with varying levels of spiritual or pragmatic aspects)…
But I don’t see in any of those the celebration of antlerfest that many decorations have become, or the recent fascination with elfonashelf that seems to have grown in the last few years… The commercial side of Christmas I can understand- shops are about selling stuff, and selling presents is a good angle, but, it just feels a bit too much.
Its as though we’ve spent so long assuming that we all know and get the basic premise- gifts as an expression of love, seeing family and friends as an expression of relationship etc that we don’t need to mention those things, and aren’t actually showing them anymore…
Its a lot of little things, but they add up- just one example- you can still buy ‘proper’ Christmas cards (but the fact that you know what I mean is revealing), but all of the Christmas cards that are to do with the birth of Jesus that I’ve seen are either lame, or badly designed, or just far too serious. I want to give people cool, celebratory, exciting cards that are more WOOHOO! than a card with a snowman or a comedy reindeer gag… but no one makes them…
So my bit is this- I’m going to celebrate, I’m not going to be snarky (from now on), and I’m going to do my best to make sure I say, demonstrate and party in a way that makes sure everyone around me knows what Christmas means to me, and invite them to join in the celebration.
Shared Thinking 
I completely understand what you mean, the main reason of why we celebrate Christmas has kind of got lost over the process of celebrating it. The pressures that we put ourselves under to have the perfect Christmas rather than celebrate why we have Christmas has kind of taken over. Already feeling the pressure and it’s only the 1st of December, I think it’s time to simplify and focus on what is important, so much easier said than done though.
Hooray!! I am so glad you’ve said this Andy.
Reblogged this on A Suffolk Lane and commented:
An excellent post by Andy Dodwell. Many Christians will agree with him wholeheartedly.
I loved this, Andy!
Well said. I search and search to even find a card that has the word “Christmas” on it, and then if there are words inside, they have no soul, no connection to Christmas.
I know just what you mean about Christmas cards, and though you may or may not feel a particularly crafty, your own hand-made cards would say volumes about how much you care for the recipients. A star, a simple cut out stable silhouetted against the night sky isn’t too hard…. And the money you save by not buying them could then be donated to a charity of your choice.
thanks for your idea- the thing is I’m not really looking for crafty solution, I’m looking for something my children can happily give to their friends… and I just can’t see it
I live in the U.S., and I’ve been getting mine from different monasteries which make their own and sell them. I don’t like them all, but can usually find something good. (I do like the serious ones!)
Hi Lisa, thanks for your comment. I have seen some pretty good cards, but they’re all either serious or beautiful/arty in a grown up way- its the funny/cool/children’s but Christian cards that are missing, or I just can’t find