Our guest blogger today is Zach Taylor. Zach is in our Young Marrieds Sunday School Class. Zach is a quiet, but strong force in our class. He is a man of great character and equal integrity. Have you ever known someone that doesn’t say a whole lot, but when they do you need to listen? That is Zach! He is so knowledgeable and he really knows his Bible too! Being a big history fan, myself, I am always glad when Zach adds his insight into whatever we are discussing, because I know I will be the better for it! I am honored to call Zach friend.
As I throw down my history teacher card, the celebration of the birth of Christ was staged next to several pagan holidays to attract new believers to this so-called “Christianity.” As I later delved in, I found out that the Greek Orthodox church does not even celebrate Christmas in the month of December, but instead in January because they use the Julian calendar instead of the current Gregorian calendar(the one we use). So its safe to say I really dont get into the “Happy Birthday for Jesus” stuff. However, one tradition that I have loved as a child was Christmas Eve services. Growing up in the church, I loved walking into the sanctuary and it was lit only by candlelight. the shadows of the church flickering in the light and the smell of the fresh greenery hanging from the edifices of the church. I had always wondered if this was how the ancient Christians celebrated the birth of Christ. Partaking in the elements of bread and wine remembering the birth and yet the sacrifice of Christ. What is interesting is that the signs of the birth and death of Christ were predicted well before he came. The three Magi brought gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Gold for the King of Kings, Frankincense for the Lord of Lords, and Myrrh for the Sacrifice he would give to us. If you look at these elements Gold symbolizes earthly wealth that a king recieves as a part of his mandate to rule his people. Frankincense symbolized an old methodology of communicating to heaven. Priests would use this in their daily prayers. Myrrh was used as an embalming agent to preserve deceased persons. The act of bringing these elements to his birth is a predictor of what is yet to come.
I am very old school when it comes to Christmas traditions. I am not a big fan of the modern Christmas Music, but one song I love to hear is Silent Night but not in English. Instead I prefer to hear it in its original Germanic tongue. Theres something about hearing “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht” that really stays with me.
On a much more personal level, growing up I always had a skewed viewpoint of Christmas. I can give the “Sunday School” answer of it being about the birth of Christ and sharing good times with family and friends, but to be frank, I never really had the vision of sugar plums dancing in my head and spending time roasting chestnuts on the open fire stylized Christmas. In my house Christmas was always subdued. Yeah it was cool to get the original Nintendo and play Mario Bros. until I was blue in the face, but after my parents divorce in the fourth grade, Christmas took on a whole different meaning. It meant watching mom struggle to buy Christmas presents with what little money we had, and traveling reluctantly back and forth between our parents house. A rather disappointing tradition by accident growing up in my mothers house was my mother always cried on Christmas Day. Sometimes it was because both of her sons were so consumed with “getting” stuff as opposed to sharing the holidays with our mom. Other times I believe it was because I think that my mom was sad because she had no family of her own to rely on.
However, there were good times. My mom being the utilitarian person she is gives me and my brother new pairs of underwear for Christmas. She always has and continues to do so. I laugh at it because hey a fresh pair of undies is always in style. She also gets me one of my childhood toys. Mine being legos, I can always expect a new lego set under the tree to build even in my 26th year of this experiment called life.
As I aged, I felt this pull away from the Christmas season. I continued to believe Christmas was nothing more than just a feeble attempt to propel the conspicuous consumerism of people. I prefer people not to ask me what I “want” for Christmas. To me, I think of it as what do I “need.” As a high school teacher, I see students who are caught up in the latest everything and the gotta have it now because I want it attitude. I find myself thinking that this was how I was when I was in high school. And I remember I was that way once. But as a college student visiting my grandfather’s house he told me how excited he was to get a bag of fruit and a pair of shoes as a little boy. Times were tough during the depression in lower Alabama or (L.A) as the locals like to call it, but he was excited to get a pair of shoes. That really stuck with me to remember that wants are temporary, but needs are enduring.
When I got married and started paying my own bills and getting married, I realized that the things I wanted are necessarily the things we needed. I think the latest gift that was a “want” I think was a Nintendo Wii. I played it a lot during Christmas, but after that its doing a great job at holding the TV console down. In our house we like to get each other and our loved ones things they can use as opposed to stuff they will discard in about a month. I can always rely on getting a nice canvas bag for my wife because while most women are obsessed with shoes, she is obsessed with bags. She likes to get her book nerd of a husband a gift card to my favorite book store. I think after my first Christmas being married that I dont have to have the “cool” cell phone or the trendiest electronic device. Sometimes your mom giving your pair of underwear and your wife giving you a gift card are still some of the best things that I could receive.
