Jesus and Santa from Catholic Media House on Vimeo.

There’s something about childhood and lights that are magical. Samuel and Tristen just laid under the tree looking up at the lights in wonder…

Here’s a little Christmas history.

Have a great one!

Merry Christmas!

It’s Christmas Eve and we let the kids open a present early. They received new sweet sleeping bags from their Grandparents, so tonight they’re all camping out together indoors.

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Black Friday is behind us and today is Cyber Monday (the online equivalent of Black Friday). Yesterday, my neighbors put a giant inflatable Santa riding a Harley on their lawn. With these seasonal kickoffs, it must be time to begin the Christmas season…

I’m left with one lingering question: How do we grapple with Christmas in youth ministry?

“What?” you may say. “We do Christmas the same way we do it every year!”

Well, before we put Jesus on lay away at Wal-Mart… let me run an interesting idea by you.

I believe that there is a Christmas Trinity – Culture, Consumerism and Christianity.

Let’s start with Culture. Look around you. Thanksgiving leftovers are barely done and houses are already lit for the season. It’s a cultural thing. It’s called the “Christmas Spirit.” Cue the music, pour the egg nog, bust out the ugly sweaters – it’s Christmas time! It’s a cultural phenomenon. I was told once by a pastor… “if there’s one thing you do, never mess with Christmas. People love their songs, they love their trees. Never mess with Christmas.” And he wasn’t talking about Christ. He was talking about culture.

Now, watch TV for about 60 seconds. I know it’s Christmas when I begin to think my marriage is in jeopardy unless I go to Jared! Sure, there are ads trying to sell us things all year long, but it changes for this time of year. Now the message becomes: “if we don’t buy gifts for everyone… we’re bad human beings.” Gift giving is in the Christmas Spirit (here we have that term again)! Christmas is one of the greatest tricks ever marketed on us. Consumerism enters the season. We begin to think about what we want for Christmas. We make our lists. It all becomes about giving and receiving (which really just equals buying). The self worth of your children rely upon their reaction to opening presents on Christmas morning. I know that is true, because I saw it in a commercial.

Lastly, comes Christianity. Poor dear Lord Baby Jesus, we haven’t forgotten about you. You are not a speed bump on our way to Christmas morning presents. We have made clever bumper stickers that say, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” or “You Can’t Have Christmas Without Christ.” We make time on Christmas Eve to light a candle to remember you. We make plastic glowing graven images of you for our lawns. You are our pink flamingo Messiah and are thankful that you have given us this holiday. We’ll pause for a moment to give you your due and listen to Chris Tomlin sing Silent Night.  After all, if it wasn’t for your birth, then I wouldn’t have had all this fun eating red and green cookies and opening presents.

So am I on a bah-humbug rant? Far from it.

Knowing all of this, I just want to ask the question: how do we handle the Christmas season with the youth in our flock?

Do we leave it alone (like the good pastor once told me)? Do we let it stay like fruit cake – a bunch of stuff mushed and meshed together making some unholy concoction?

I don’t have the answers. I just know that we must begin with intentionality. The phrase “a little of everything gives you a lot of nothing” seems to apply here. So, let us not enter this seasons blindly and get caught up in the Christmas spirit. Let’s not just do what we always do. Let us be a prayerful, reflective and intentional people.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, I’d love to hear them…

Fa-la-la-la-la that’s all folks.

He’s a pic of the snow in our front yard…