Somehow a post I made three years ago is suddenly getting some feedback. A couple of people wrote to tell me that I was wrong when I suggested that maybe its OK to indulge in Christmas throughout advent. Interesting.
First, I'm not a huge Christmas fan period. I don't have a lot at stake when people start and or stop celebrating Christmas. I'm usually just trying to fight off my seasonal depression.
Second, and more to the point, the last line of my post is what I thought most important. At least it is something I still absolutely affirm. I said, "People are more easily convinced by being invited into an experience we value than they are by being pushed away from experiences we judge as inappropriate." We can object to the commercialism, the premature Christmas singing, the Santa Claus until we're blue in the face. It's not going to change anything. People need something during the shorter days and longer nights. A more helpful response is to find healthy and appropriate ways to engage the season--one that helps to fend off the inevitable sadness that emerges this time of year. Someone tell me the positive, constructive, life-affirming things about December. We've ranted enough about how pathetic this season is.
1 comment:
That and the fact that Advent is nothing more than a church tradition, one that isn't even observed by a significant number of Christians. So whatever people want to do, if it's meaningful to their community, do it.
This is what people want to fight over? Lord have mercy.
We do Advent for three Sundays and Christmas for the 4th Sunday of Advent since we are a young church, filled with people who will not be able to join us for worship on Christmas day.
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