The Smells of Christmas

I often go online to look at stuff at a huge site run by Orthodox Jews in New York. It seems that every second time I pull up their site they have a large notice saying they are closed for business today due to this or that Jewish feast day or holiday. Do those guys ever work? I’m jealous maybe. They seem to be having too much fun.

We Christians have let the World hijack Christmas. Our time for feasting and fun is over-run by commercial greed and is under pressure by atheists and secular religious interests who want to impose their sin-filled views over the top of what was a simple Christian tradition. Maybe we should tell them “OK, have your Xmas, we will move off to celebrate the birth of Jesus in other ways! It is hardly seems worth fighting for what has become a mere tradition in the eyes of the World, especially when many Christians thoughtlessly follow along in their shallow expectations of the day.

What is worth fighting for is the joy of sharing gifts and celebrating our faith in the company of family and friends. Oh, and did I mention all of those other nice touches? The smells of Christmas Trees, roast dinner and the sound of wrapping paper being torn along with squeals of happiness. We still need our Christmas. We sing all those antiquated Carols and dress everything up to look nice and we love it.

Maybe if we simply keep on doing this as a truly Christian celebration, the World will go away and do their Pagan thing in whatever form that takes. The distinction will become clear, Jesus will be exalted and Christmas will be ours again. We need to keep it ours for the joy and smell of it.