What Christmas is All About

It’s taken me 65 years, but it finally dawned on me what Christmas is all about.

Through no fault of our own, for most of us, our first understanding of Christmas revolves around receiving.  It’s perhaps the only concept we can understand as a child.  We don’t begin our lives with an innate understanding of giving… we can’t, as we have no capacity to understand that concept as a child.

As we age and mature, our view of Christmas makes a shift, and we begin to learn the concept of giving. We look to the Christmas Story to reinforce this sentiment, drawing attention to the Three Wise Men who came from afar to visit the Christ Child and bring him gifts.

At some point in our lives, we realize that commercialism has overtaken Christmas, and we begin our fight against falling into that trap.  We are remined by Charlie Brown’s Christmas that Christmas was originally about the birth of Jesus. With that in mind, we make attempts to avoid the pitfall of getting distracted by anything that distorts our understanding of the meaning of Christmas.  We are often successful.  We set budgets for gift giving and remind ourselves about why we give the gifts we do give.

We may shift our giving from giving to each other, to giving to someone who may really have a need for a gift. The concept of giving for a need, rather than giving simply as an expression of appreciation or love, may be more satisfying. 

Our view of the meaning of Christmas continues to be adjusted throughout of lives.  The idea that Christmas “brings out the best in us, that we are more loving, more understanding, more patient” during the Christmas Season often takes hold.  Ironically, Hallmark movies are great for capitalizing on this idea.  We watch them because it feels good to be reminded that good feelings about human behavior come to those who watch Hallmark.

Certainly there’s an element of truth in all of these efforts to find the true meaning of Christmas. Yet often, we find ourselves asking “Is there more?” Why is it that we constantly find ourselves searching for something more true, more authentic about Christmas?

Perhaps it’s because we still lack the full picture.

So, at last am I about to reveal the full meaning?  Of course not.

As is the case with all things, we are constantly evolving.  This is simply where I am at this point in time.

To get there, yes, we have to go back to the original story from which Christmas gets its name… the birth of Christ.

Your particular view of who Christ was or wasn’t isn’t the point of this. The idea is true regardless.

It’s undeniable that this person Jesus did something that few in the history of the world have done. Across much of the world, people celebrate this event called Christmas.  Every person doing so has attached some meaning to it across a whole spectrum of ideas.

We don’t need to agree on that meaning for this discussion.  The point is, we have all attached some meaning to this holiday.

We probably can agree that all this had its beginning somewhere.  It began with one person.

The word that comes to mind concerning that one person is “influence”.

Somehow, some way, maybe for reasons beyond his own control, this person Jesus lived a short life and altered the course of history. Regardless of your opinion of Jesus, that is just an undeniable fact.

It is because of that one man that many of us celebrate this day and attempt to understand why.

Influence.  It’s because of his influence.  Perhaps that’s the lesson here. 

So the lesson is simply to acknowledge the influence of Jesus?  No.  The lesson is to acknowledge the legacy and influence we can leave by how we live.

Jesus was a perfect example.  He came from humble beginnings, lived a simple, ordinary life, said unpopular things, and is still talked about over 2000 years later. 

Have I said even one thing that will be remembered tomorrow?

No doubt it’s a product of age, but I consider my own influence more every single day. I consider how I might influence my adult children without overstepping boundaries.  I consider how I might influence the people I work with. I consider how I might influence people with my social media presence. I consider how I might influence my friends.

That influence can either be positive or negative.

Every single interaction is an opportunity to influence someone else. Now don’t get me wrong… I’m not talking about how to get people to do what I want them to do.  This has absolutely NOTHING to do with social media influencers.

So in the end, I AM talking about giving after all.

I’m talking about giving people what they need at that moment.  I’m talking about giving out of our lives to a cause that’s authentic...that's much more than empty words.  

That's how many of us view the life of Christ... a man of influence. And he is our inspiration to lead similar lives.

And that’s what Christmas is all about.

Merry Christmas everyone.