TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

The Air Is Thick With Christmas

ADVERTISEMENT

By Derek Maul

Published: December 20, 2006

Brandon, FL - Brandon, FL - Just a handful of days until Dec. 25 and the air around here is thick with Christmas. Lots of
excitement; lots of anticipation; lots riding on the next few chaotic days.

Over at Maul Hall we have significantly less loot under our tree this year, and I can think of several good reasons to account for the shift.

First, Scout the labradoodle, 7 months now, has demonstrated an enthusiastic interest in items such as wrapping paper, ornaments, candles, wreaths, garlands and nativities. Some of the long-suffering magi have already made several epic journeys over the course of Advent and the odds of all three wise dudes actually making it to Christmas Eve with their limbs intact or a camel to ride on are fairly slim at this point.

Then of course there's the question of need and I'll be the first to admit there's not much that we lack around here. I already have golf clubs, thanks, even if they don't always work and sometimes hit sideways. So we're finding it makes more sense to address the needs of others instead of simply funding ourselves.

Finally, there are the economic realities of a college degree and an upcoming wedding, two gifts we cherish with glad hearts. We really have absolutely everything we could possibly want -- so why feed the machine?

This all begs some obvious questions. "So why Christmas?" And, "What remote relevance could our observance of a birth 2,000 years ago possibly have in this world today?"

Please don't be offended if you're not Christian. The fundamental issue here is a lot bigger than religious dogma, and the way we choose to respond to this potential advent of light is more important than satisfying the narrow preferences of our Baptist neighbor or our Methodist friend or the Presbyterian columnist who writes for the newspaper.

The critical question that emerges every late December is the implication of the promise of the angel choir -- the heavenly host who frightened the stuffing out of a handful of shepherds on a quiet hillside in the Middle East 2,000 years ago. I'm sure you remember.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace," they trumpeted, "Good will toward all people!"

Peace on Earth! Now there's a Christmas present worth saving up for.

So I'd like to invite each one of us to approach our observance of the holidays with the question of PEACE front and center. How can I give the gift of peace in my home; in my relationships; at work; in this community; or throughout the world?

Here's what Jesus had to say about peace just a few short hours before his death, and it remains a truth we must grasp if we are going to do anything at all with the challenge of Christmas. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." John 14:27

The Christmas kind of peace is atypical. It is proactive, it is action-oriented, it is different. It has nothing to do with appeasement, with placation, or "leave well enough alone."

The Christmas kind of peace confronts pain and dysfunction head on. It is not satisfied with the avoidance of conflict but lovingly works toward reconciliation. Christmas peace is built around relationships that actually mean something. And it doesn't settle for second best.

Indeed, that's exactly why the baby was born in the Bethlehem stable to begin with.

Here's my invitation: Take a moment this Sunday evening and slip into a traditional Christmas Eve observance. Take a peek at the people, pay attention to the story, listen to the music and leave your heart open if only just a crack. Most churches will serve communion, because the bread and the wine represent the cross, the radical commitment Christ offered from the beginning to launch the initiative of active peace.

Like I said, "Peace on earth and good will to all people" is a lot bigger than my opinion on religion. But Jesus described himself as a kind of a door. "I tell you the truth, I am the gate … Come in and go out, and find pasture." John 10:7-10

Merry Christmas!

Derek Maul is a writer who lives in Valrico. You can reach him at derekmaul@gmail.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT