Ever get tired of the same old, same old? Not to mention that it seems to get earlier and earlier… AND you just HAVE to have the newest coolest thing like the Wii or the PS3 with the Bluewave technology that you can’t find if you want to, and would have to pay thousands of dollars on e-bay to acquire. (Hard not to covet things like that…) I can’t even convince my wife to let me have the PS2 let alone one of the new games. The fact that my boys are only two, rules out the “they need one” excuse, so I reside in the “it’s not about you anyway…” abyss. I look forward to socks, sweaters, and (insert your own Christmas cliché) Needless to say though, we go through this every year; and each year, I tell myself I am going to do things differently and not buy into the commercialism that clouds the season. Inevitably though, I give in and buy the fondue maker for the extended fam that at last count was still sitting on the pantry shelf.

Think about this… Christmas is completely centered on a Westernized tradition, loosely attached to a celebration surrounding a completely political event! Joseph and Mary were not going to Nazareth because they said, “hey Jesus should be born there and won’t it be cool that people will celebrate this birth for years to come!” They were required by Emperor’s decree to do so in order to be counted in the census for taxation purposes. And somewhere hidden in there is the birth of Christ! An afterthought to so many and yet the reason that we celebrate to begin with!

Before this turns into a down with commercialism, up with Jesus typical pastoral rant, let me throw you something that the Chicago Cubs pitchers were completely unable to throw last year; an effective curveball. Can we exist within both? Can we have Jesus and the fondue maker and not lose the reason for both? I think it is okay every year to bless the people we love in extraordinary ways, while at the same time, reminding them that every good and perfect gift comes from God anyway! We bless because we are truly blessed! That could change the entire spirit with which we give…

Mark