Merry Christmas

I feel Christmas has never been as merry for me as most other people. Don't get me wrong, it is a magical time where love and goodwill towards fellow man trumps all other considerations. Most importantly, it is a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and the introduction of salvation and God's personal love for each of us. But perhaps that is part of the problem with Christmas today. We recognize and seek out the love that exists in the world, but rarely acknowledge the love that is God. We strive for the imperfection when the perfection is attainable.

My mom used to question me if something was bugging me each Christmas morning - as a family we gather around our Christmas tree and open presents. Nothing would be the matter, but because I was not overflowing with joy on Christmas, then by the logic of this world, something must be wrong. After this happened a couple times, I began to wonder why this was the case. Why was I unable to be truly joyful and happy on the "happiest day of the year?" As soon as I asked myself that question, I realized that the answer was inherent to the question. This world places so much expectation in Christmas: it is supposed to be a magical day that is perfect and harmonious, yet this is impossible. Our culture idealizes Christmas and paints a picture of it so distorted from reality that nothing can match up to it. Thus, although we receive material things that are supposed to make us happy, we can not help but feel like something is missing from the perfection that we seek, because that perfection can not be found in things on this Earth (except in Hollywood).

Despite receiving many fantastic and wonderful gifts, it is hard for me to say I have received all I wanted. If so many of the things you want is non-materialistic (relationships, state of minds...), then its hard to feel satisfied after receiving gifts.

From all this, I have concluded that the only path to true happiness in the Christmas season is to remember why we celebrate. We celebrate the coming of a Lord who brings with him the ability to make us perfect through association. We will never be perfect apart from him. So next time we are rushing around and striving to create the "perfect Christmas" or buy the "perfect gift" for whoever, maybe start asking questions. Giving gifts is a wonderful act, and is an action of love that should continue to occur. However, ask yourself if these gifts will really bring lasting joy and happiness, and most likely the answer will be no. This by no means implies that we should stop giving gifts. I just felt like commenting that the entire commercial aspect is overemphasized when it really does not satisfy as much as the love, friendships, and happiness that will arise from family and friends gathering together. The true spirit of Christmas arises when people gather together to celebrate the love that holds them together, and exchanging gifts is relatively minor in comparison.

I don't want to be a downer about Christmas. These are just some reflections I had over my Christmas experiences over the years. The entire holiday season is a positive influence on humanity. It reminds us of our values of family, love, and joy that we are so often to brush aside for the rest of the year. Just don't go looking for perfect contentment and lasting joy in the things of this world, because only God truly satisfies.

Merry Christmas everyone. May the best gift you receive this year be a love that transcends all things.