I'm Dreaming of a Calm Christmas

View of Cody's West Strip leaving the Walmart parking lot.  If you turn right on this road it will take you straight to Yellowstone Park.

I walked through the sliding doors of Walmart this morning, and smack in front of me was a giant Christmas tree, all decorated for the season.  Of course the season is not here yet, it is still harvest time.  But retailers, especially in these troubled economic times, are hoping to squeeze every last opportunity for sales by lengthening the season. 

So, in Walmart and other retail stores, Christmas is everywhere.  As a Christian, I used to complain about the commercialism that started even before Halloween.  But these days I am going to steal a page from their book, and use it as it as a tool that will help me have a more sane, less frantic...more God centered Christmas.  Let me explain.

Christmas is such a time for joy.  We celebrate the birth of Jesus, who stood in our place and took the penalty of our sin, so that we can be reconciled to God.  I deserve hell, but because of Christ, I will not taste  it.  I chose the free gift He offered of salvation, and each Christmas I celebrate with joy and thanksgiving.  Christmas is an intensely spiritual time.

Christmas is also the time that we enjoy town events, cultural events, special music, shopping, gathering of family and friends, decking the halls and cooking.  I don't know about you, but the holiday season can become so busy and frantic ...so filled with stress, that the spiritual aspect becomes diminished while I run around trying to get everything done on my "To Do" list. 

This year I have resolved to not let the festivities of this joyful season overwhelm the spiritual aspects.  In order to do this, I am going to use the tactic that the retail stores have adopted...I am going to prolong the season by starting earlier.  I am going to plan to put Christ first this Christmas, and rework my holiday season into a more manageable scale.  These are reflective times, and we have done everything but given ourselves the space and time to reflect.  As Christians, we don't have to blindly follow the cultural dictates.  He will show us how to set our path, the path to peace.  DLB