Holiday Season Contemplation

Every Christmas season, Cindy and I begin a discussion on a question which never seems to get resolved. So, this year, I am going to blog on it and then post a link to Facebook. If someone could come up with a satisfactory answer, it would be appreciated.

There are actually TWO Christmas's which are celebrated. These are:

   1. Christ's birth: This is the REAL Christmas. This is the holiday
       which I celebrate. Christ's birth is the most important event in
       the history of mankind, as he came to die for man's sins. I bow
       to the glories of heaven for this, as I know I will go to heaven
       because of this sacrifice.
 
   2. The "Christmas" season: This holiday is a secular creation
       designed to act as a reason to give gifts, celebrate family,
       and have parties. This, I believe, was  probably part of
       the original Saturnalia, the pagan holiday that Christmas is
        "piggy-backed" onto (Christ was suspected to have been
       born in the spring).

With these two Christmas's (in our thinking), neither one is truly compatible. How can a Christian church mention (and support) thoughts and songs of Santa, St. Nick, Christmas trees, etc)? Doesn't this go against the very fundamental belief of Christmas as the birth of our Saviour?

We mentioned this to one person and they became quite upset at the thought of this. In fact, they were not aware that Christmas was originally a pagan holiday. Also, Christians get quite upset at the fact that people don't want to call "Christmas" Christmas; however, if they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, what would it really matter? Let it be called "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" Day because it is the saving grace from Jesus Christ that truly matters, not the name of the secular holiday.

This isn't meant to be a party killer. We get into the holiday spirit as much as anyone else (Ask John and Carole Lancaster. They've treated our family to Christmas celebrations every year for the last four years). We are just looking at the reality of it all.

So, here is the question: Should churches mix the secular aspect of the holiday (tied in with Santa and all that) with the religious celebration? Or, as Cindy and I have questioned, have we overthought this WAY too much?

Too Many Movies! So Little Time!

I watched a heartbreaking movie last night that everyone needs to see. It was:


TO DIE IN JERUSALEM (2007) :  This is the story of two girls (one Israeli, the other Palestinian) who had a lot of similarities: 17, looked similar, and both were headed towards bright futures. However, their lives intersected in a Jerusalem supermarket when the Palestinian set off a suicide bomb.

This film helped me to understand what happens to the parents who lose their children to suicide bombs. Everyone needs to see it, if only to understand what is happening in that part of the world.

From PA to WA (FINALLY)!

Our family finally made it back to Oak Harbor WA on July 31, 2010, and not a moment too soon! What an eventful trip it was.....drama, comedy, and everything else mixed in. Here are some of the highlights:

1. We had a truck loading party on July 22 at 130 East Fifth Street, Lansdale PA. It was the hottest and most humid day of the year (98 degrees with about 70% humidity). The people from First Baptist Church Lansdale and some friends from Calvary Baptist Church helped us move. There was 15 people in all. I almost cried when I saw all of the love pouring out for us.

2. Cindy drove the Grand Caravan and I drove the Budget truck. We got separated for 200 miles (from the Allentown PA service plaza until almost to the OH border). After we got back together, we stayed together (for 5 miles). It wasn't until I saw her in Toledo OH that we got back together again.

3. I watched an idiot in a Family Dollar semi almost sideswipe our van in Chicago traffic. If I ever have to go back to the East Coast again (and I hope I won't), I will NOT drive through Chicago. I will go via Louisana, if I have to.

4. We got together with a classmate from Homestead High '76 (Fort Wayne IN) in Rosemont MN (Dewey and Debbie Roth). It was a wonderful time.

5. North Dakota has finally been added to the states that I have travelled. It was all that I expected...and less.

6. We hit a whale of a storm in Montana. I had to pull over because the truck was rocking so much and lightning was all around us. Met some neat people on motorcycles who had taken refuge in a car wash near where I had parked.

I have never been so glad to be anywhere as I am to be out of PA and back home in WA. I made some good friends in PA who I will dearly miss (but they can't get rid of me that easily. I have been staying in touch).