I
can't remember where I learned this, but it is not my idea; however, it is one
that has changed the way I view and act during the holiday season:
There are three
levels of Christmas observance, all of them with their own characteristics,
activities, and results. None are bad, and all of them make this time of year
something different and special. However, the deeper our Christmas observance
the closer we come to understanding, really, what
Christmas is all about.
The Santa Level
At this most visible
level of Christmas, we celebrate the giant, jolly harbinger of Christmas
fortune. We set up lights, decorate trees, turn on the "Sweet Smelling
Sugarplum" candle warmer, listen to Bing Crosby, and watch Will Ferrel's
Elf. Most importantly, we gather around the tree to give and receive presents.
We coupon, groupon, and Amazon, and then pack, wrap, and stack, and then tear,
share, and compare the results until we finally collapse in an exhausted heap
after our kids have all fallen into sugar comas. We wake up the next day glad
it's all done and ready for a holiday from the holidays.
The Baby Jesus Level
Of course there is
more to Christmas than commercialism and consumerism. At the second level of
Christmas we celebrate the baby Jesus in a manger surrounded by the animals and
their shepherds. We set up a manger scene, attend a live nativity, sing Christmas
hymns, read the birth story from Luke 2, and watch Mr. Kruger's Christmas. Most
importantly, we gather around the manger to gaze upon the baby in Bethlehem. We
seek to recreate the holiness and stillness of the sacred night and hope that
some part of that baby's innocence and divinity can claim our hearts and minds.
We wake up the next day grateful for the holiday and promise to remember that
baby all year long.
The Redeeming Christ Level
Although getting
past the lights and the presents to find the swaddled babe in a manger is
admirable and will certainly make for a deeper Christmas experience, there is
yet a deeper level. At this third and deepest level of Christmas we reverence
and worship the life, teachings, atoning sacrifice, and resurrection of the
Savior. We kneel more humbly in prayers of gratitude, plead more earnestly for
redemption, study scriptures more diligently in search of truth and testimony,
listen more intently to the witnesses of His modern apostles and prophets,
participate in church service and sacrament more reverently, and live more in
tune with His gospel and His example. Most importantly, we gather in the garden
to watch as He atones, we gather around the cross to weep as he dies, and we
gather at the tomb to marvel as appears. We wake up the next day changed and
committed to living and loving as He did.
President Thomas
Monson has taught repeatedly about Christmas, "To catch the real meaning
of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable and it becomes the Spirit of
Christ.”
Merry Christmas--may
it be one that means more and brings us all more to Christ.
- 9:55 PM
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