The following is a guest blog from my dear wife (Jamie King) on one of her favorite subjects; Christmas.
There is a Christmas song I love (okay there are ahundred Christmas songs I love if I am being honest) called “Not That Far FromBethlehem” The tune is somewhat catchy and the words very predictable so youwon’t find it on any Top 100 charts, but it really revolutionized how Iapproached the holiday season.
Now I love Christmas. Christmas music, Christmas trees, Lights,Presents, Family Dinners, Traveling To and Fro, Hectic Shopping, Loud Homes, Ilove it all. Most people don’t reallylove Christmas. They love Christmasthings. They like trees. Or music. Or presents. While these thingsof Christmas are grand, I am now a firm believer that the crazy holidaytraveling, loud family gatherings, and hectic lifestyles are a far betterreflection of the true Christmas spirit than the things.
So what was the original Christmas like? Well we hopefully all read the story of Jesus’birth during this Christmas season. Itis after all the “Christmas Story.” Butlet’s reflect on it here. A very roundMary and her fiancé/husband Joseph travel from Nazareth (in Galilee) toBethlehem to take part in the census. Luke (the historian/doctor i.e. Mr. Accurate) makes sure to note thateveryone went to his own town to register. So everybody is going home for Christmas. Crazy holiday traveling?Check
Luke goes on to note that Joseph went to Bethlehem(the city of David) because he belongs to the house and line of David. Now if you are the kind of person who tendsto skim read the genealogical portions of scriptures let me explain somethingto you: David had lots of descendents! So everyone is in Bethlehem for the census. We know there was no room for Jesus to beborn in the inn (really? No room in any inn in the whole city? Sounds a lotlike Christmas at Mom’s where you start to wonder who is going to have to sleepon the dining table or in the doghouse because even a 4 bedroom house starts tofeel small when you get enough people there. Crowded and busy Bethlehem sets the scene for our Savior’s birth. Hectic? Check.
Now if this doesn’t seem fun enough just yet, theangels appear to the shepherds announcing the birth of the child and theshepherds run off to Bethlehem to find him. (And you thought your relatives were loud and stinky). Combining the newborn baby, a city so crowdedwith descendents of David there is no room in the inn, a group of shepherds, anda company of angels makes me doubt the hymn Silent Night is veryapplicable. Loud family gathering?Check.
So? So maybethis Christmas in the hustle and the bustle we should be thankful for the opportunityto celebrate the real Christmas. Just asloud and hectic as it was originally.
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