Jo Bower's Blog

Come, you who have written off Christmas

As a useless commercial, greedy,

Networking-by-giving-the-right-gift-to-the-right person,

And raking in all you can get celebration.

Come, you who weary of trying to please,

Or gain approval of,

The people who depend on you and who you love with all your heart

By providing the perfect holiday experience.

Come, you who refuse to celebrate because you believe

It’s the wrong time of the year,

Or believers redemption of an old pagan worship day

Was merely the early Christians’ effort to wrestle dominance from everyone else.

Come, you who cannot see beyond the secular celebrations,

Of Santa, elves, goodwill, and tender, made for TV movies.

Who, when you have outgrown those things,

No longer find meaning in the celebration.

Come, rediscover the simple, uncomplicated,

Love motivated, God-initiated gift

That began all this human madness as we have, as usual,

Gotten things backwards, and put the emphasis on the wrong things.

Come, return to the celebration

Of a loving Creator longing for a relationship with the people of his creation.

Of that Spirit of power and might, giving that most precious son

To humanity as the example of God the Father’s existence and scope of love.

Come. Come to the celebration,

Not of the date, or of mere traditions, or the giving and receiving,

Not merely the spirit of Christmastide’s goodwill,

But of the eternal love that prompted that first gift of a baby named Jesus.

So, come, put it all aside:

The study that tells us what we’ve gotten wrong,

The disapproval of what the season has become,

And celebrate, with heart, mind, and spirit, the gift that changed the meaning of giving.