I Go To A Cool Church

Not to brag, but at my church this morning we sang this song.



The sermon was pretty good too. You can watch it here. They even have a podcast on iTunes now.

It was nice to be moved by the beauty and significance of Christmas during the service this morning. The last song we sang was Little Drummer Boy, and I actually shed a tear as I sang, though I made sure no one saw. Whatever Christmas is for you, whether you celebrate the gift of a savior to humanity or the expression of your love for those around you in the form of gifts, there's something inexpressibly sacred in the wrapping of something great, divine and holy in a package small and beautiful that we can hold. At Christmas like no other time, we all get to touch the intangible together, not just in church or with religious songs, but even in the malls as we rush around trying to find some little trinket that will somehow convey to another human being how much we love them, even in the silly television specials and myths about reindeer that melt a little bit of the ice from our guarded hearts, we are all telling a story, reaching for a truth, trying to be a better kind of people, whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Chanukah, Kwanzaa or the Solstice.

It's rare for me to have these kinds of sappy thoughts to share, when like so many people I usually just find the Christmas season intensifying my perennial cynicism. Some Christians get cynical about all the commercialism and the "Happy Holidays" signs; I get cynical about those Christians. Followers of Jesus boycotting Wal-Mart does make a lot of sense to me, but not because their employees are instructed to say, "Happy Holidays," instead of, "Merry Christmas." I see so many believers acting as if they are called by God to defend his holiday and forgetting to celebrate it. I never read Jesus asking anyone to defend him from anything, only to love neighbors and enemies alike with the kind of love he lavished on anyone who would let him. I can't imagine the Prince of Peace wanting us to go to war over a sign in Target.

Oh, and this news article sounds a lot like some of his parables to me. Maybe I'm a crazy liberal, but I'm not that surprised when a Muslim shows a bunch of Christians how to be like Christ.

Anyway, I'm done pontificating. Except to say that I've decided Tuesday is the best possible day to have Christmas. Just make sure you take Christmas Eve off, and you have a four day weekend culminating in the big day. If it was on Friday you'd still have the four day break, but Christmas would be halfway through it and you'd spent the last two days just wading through wrapping paper and pine needles and fiddling with your new useless gadgets. I like the anticipation.

I spent last night wrapping the last dozen or so gifts with double-sided tape. I don't recommend this. We ran out of regular tape and I didn't feel like running out into the cold to get more. So the gifts under our tree will have no visible adhesives, but I'm sure they'll get torn open just as quickly.

Toby pretty much knows what he's getting for Christmas, and he's already figured out there's no Santa, but I don't mind either of these things. That's how I remember most Christmases anyway, and when you're a kid, isn't it more exciting to look forward to specific toys as opposed to the nebulous and unnamed?

Alicia isn't old enough to get it yet; hers is the pleasure of just taking in all the spectacle. It will all be brand new again next year, when we'll probably be back in Vancouver where we've spent most of our Christmases since Michelle and I got married. But this year we're staying home, which has prompted us to think about what traditions we'd like to start. I've suggested a fire in the fireplace; Michelle plans to make cinnamon buns the annual Christmas Day breakfast treat. My family has always brought out the board games and puzzles at this time of year, and of course there's the one present to open on Christmas Eve. What are your suggestions?