Christmas through the Eyes of an Adult

I have been struggling with this blog post as it has been in my mind for a couple of days now, but all of those thoughts are just now coming to my fingertips and I feel confident enough to share it.

You may have noticed my post about the Kingdom of God in the Eyes of a Child, and after a deep conversation with my roommate, I started to think more and more about what Christmas looks like through the eyes of an adult. We both agreed that even though Christmas is less than a day away, it doesn't feel like Christmas. I don't mean that there's no snow on the ground or that I've sunken into a deep pit of misery. Signs of Christmas are all around - a decorated tree, gifts wrapped in beautiful paper, and the kitchen needs to be swept clean of the flour from our baking! But something has been feeling off - that magic just isn't the same as when we were kids.

I came across the photo above and remembered something that had been bugging me. This photo, as I saw it, was originally posted on Twitter with the caption "The Nativity with no Jews, no immigrants, no unmarried parents." It really bugged me. I also came across this photo:

And it bothered me, too. I tried and tried to put my finger on why these images made me so uncomfortable, and it wasn't because the injustices, discrimination, or refugee situation tugged at my heart strings. It was because I came to the realization that this is what adults do to Christmas. They politicize Christ's Nativity and make it into something that it's not supposed to be instead of reflecting on what it already is.

I'm not saying that Christmas isn't about helping those who are less fortunate or welcoming those who are being turned away by every other inn in town. But to reduce Christmas to a social project is to forget the reason for the season: the Incarnation where God comes to rescue His people. He steps into our messiness which from his perspective must look like a speck of dust (read Isaiah 40). Someone once mentioned to me that it's a lot like if we human beings were to put on a suit that shrunk us down to the size of an ant so we could live in their colony and bring order to it because we love them that much.

See, Christmas isn't just about accommodation of those who are marginalized. That's too mild. It's about salvation of those who have done nothing to earn salvation - that's ALL of us. Salvation isn't earned. It's given to us because of God's grace. When we reduce the Christmas story to a political image like the ones above, we miss out on something so much bigger because we make God like us in order for life to be meaningful. But God become man so that we can become like him.

So yes. Buy an extra present for the homeless shelter. Share heartwarming memories with family. Smile at the visitors at Mass and let them sit in "your pew." But somewhere in the middle of all that you do, remember the real story - Jesus. You can do a million works of charity as you need to, but without Him it doesn't mean much. I like to remember one of my favorite books by Bishop Robert Barron, And Now I See, which says that the word for "magnanimous" is actually from two words: "magna" meaning "great" and "animus" meaning "soul" When you celebrate Christmas with your fun traditions, giving gifts, and being kind to others, do these things with a big soul that is filled with the gift of Christ the King who came down from heaven to be born in a humble manger.