Celebrate!

Did you know that Christmas celebrations were once illegal? I am not referring to the Soviet Union or Communist China. I mean here – in North America and in England. Any celebration, almost any recognition of the day, was forbidden.

It wasn’t that an evil godless government had taken over or that secular society reigned supreme. It was basically enforced by the church – the protestant church. Hmm…

In England, for a short time, it was suggested that the day could be recognized provided it was a day of fasting. Wouldn’t that be a change?!

Granted, this was a few centuries back, but still it is a little hard to imagine compared to where we are now.

So, this made me wonder…what part of my Christmas celebration would I miss most if it was no longer possible or even legal to enjoy it?

What makes Christmas Christmas?

I asked some friends what they would miss. What one event, one tradition that if they could not take part in it, would cause them to feel like they hadn’t really had Christmas.

I was told of informal talent shows put on by kids, of stories read together and music blaring.

I was told of traditions of tree decorating… one grandma with her grandsons (that’s a special grandma!) and of ornaments cherished as they invoke memories of families and friends and times past.

And food! Food shared. Meals shared. Homemade ice cream and brunch together and chocolate and wassail and ‘those butterscotch oh henry things that you make”…

And those who make do…or really, make new…because of location and distance and kids no longer at home.

Relationship. These answers really all come down to relationship.

Memories…family…traditions…all about relationships.

Relationship is the very essence of Christmas.

We celebrate…we are able to celebrate, because God longed to have relationship with us.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

A plan put in place long before the babe in the manger scene. A plan for relationship restored.

So if it all became illegal again… if there were no trees to decorate, no music to play and no special meals shared, there would still be Christmas…because the Son was still sent… the Son still came… and the relationship is still offered.

So if it becomes illegal again  to display any sign of the day…to display the manger scene in a public space… to say anything but “Happy Holidays” and to spell Christmas with an ‘X’…there will still be Christmas…because the Son was still sent… the Son still came …and relationship is still offered.

Celebrate that. Not as a right… not as a tradition…but as an absolute gift!

Have a Blessed, Blessed Christmas.

Ruth U.