On Sunday we went to see The Two Most Adorable Granddaughters in the World dressed as angels in a nativity play. Neither cried but one managed to embarrass the family in a particular way but remained totally unconcerned herself. It's one of those stories that will be saved up and shared at family get-togethers but I'm not going to share it here (I'll leave it up to your imaginations). In case you're wondering, The Most Adorable Granddaughter#1 is in the white and pink dress with the green headband and her sister is behind her in the arms of an older girl (photo is clickable).I love nativity scenes. The glory and wonder of Christmas that God – the Creator of the Universe and mankind – came down to earth as a babe. Unlike babies in the animal kingdom, human babies are totally helpless. What an incredible thought: Jesus – the Son of God – dependent on His earthly parents for His most basic needs.
Do we just gloss over the story of Christmas caught up as we are in the busyness, the commercialism, yes even the paganism of Christmas? Have we as Christians forgotten the true meaning? We dutifully go off to Carol Services or Christmas Day Services and think we’ve fulfilled our obligation to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Who are we kidding?
It was because I wanted to celebrate Christmas more meaningfully in our home that we started a Christmas quilt. It started out as a family project – the boys drawing pictures and me trying to transfer them to fabric – and we had many conversations about the true meaning of Christmas as we worked on the quilt together.
But was it enough?
I really enjoyed this post and this one by Elizabeth. Her thoughts are provocative and worth reading.
As children we had Santa. As parents we questioned it but after being told that we would take the wonder and excitement out of Christmas if we didn’t ‘do’ Santa we decided to compromise. Our children knew the gifts under the tree were from us. If they asked, their stockings filled with sweets and small treats were from Santa. I don’t know if they ever asked but I wish now that we’d had the courage to follow our own convictions. I know now that the wonder and excitement is in the Christmas story. God in human form. How more wondrous can it get?
Last Saturday Son#1 and his wife had a visitor. While The Most Adorable Granddaughter#1 was excitedly showing the visitor their Christmas tree, he asked, “Is Santa going to bring you lots of presents this year?” The Most Adorable Granddaughter#1 looked at him strangely for a few minutes - as if he was a few sandwiches short of a picnic - before replying, “Santa’s not real.”
In recent days The Most Adorable Granddaughter#1 has been too excited to sleep at night (as I'll probably testify after tonight since I have The Two Most Adorable Granddaughters in the World staying over for a couple of nights). She doesn't need Santa to make Christmas a season of wonder and excitement. She already knows what adults are slow to grasp: the wonder isn't in Santa or presents or even the tree. The wonder is that God became man and came to earth. For you and me.
May you experience again the wonder of Christmas – God in human form – as you celebrate this season.
Comments
I hope you have a wondrous Christmas with your family and most adorable granddaughters!