Tag: Christmas and holiday season

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Christmas holiday

Christmas Reality Shows

Christmas Reality Shows

I’ve watched a lot of Christmas reality shows this year. If it isn’t a Christmas bake-off, it’s a decoration competition. I’ve watched a lot of people get very busy impressing judges for fabulous prizes.

I drew this cartoon eleven years ago. Apparently, I was watching a lot of them in 2010 as well. It still amazes me reality shows have been around that long, even longer! But it must be so because the mobile phone the elf is holding sure doesn’t hold up to today’s technology.

Cartoon of an elf and Santa Claus. The elf says, "It's another cable TV producer asking if we'd like to be in a reality show."

I hope Santa Claus doesn’t cave into the pressure. If you think we have supply chain issues now, just think what it would be if the elves had to ham it up for the cameras! Does anything really get done on those shows? I’d like to see how productivity fared before and after one of these programs invades a company!

Reality gets distorted when a camera is on. If you Google “Cameras in the Courtroom Effects,” you’ll get plenty of examples where cameras affected a trial. Reality is rarely recorded before a camera. How many of us ham it up for a photo, or stage a shot for social media?

I will still watch the occasional reality show. But I am under no allusion that I’m watching reality. I hope Santa agrees with that too.

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Christmas holiday

Good News and Bad News

Good News and Bad News

“Bad news travels at the speed of light; good news travels like molasses.”

Tracy Morgan Via BrainyQuote.com

We have no trouble finding bad news. It practically hits us in the face every time we turn around. Doom and gloom is a trillion-dollar business. We would like to think that we prefer the good, but there is something within us that reacts more strongly to the bad. How much gossip is about the good qualities of a person anyway?

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.”

Luke 2:10 (KJV) via Bible Gateway

On the night the Messiah was born, glad tidings didn’t go to the Roman Emperor, though he ruled the known world. It didn’t go to the puppet king of Israel. In fact, when he eventually heard the good it, he reacted very negatively.

Lowly Shepherds

The people that the world thought mattered didn’t hear the good report that night. If they did, they would have kept it to themselves anyway. Good news travels generally travels like molasses!

Instead, it went to lowly shepherds. When they saw it, they did their best to share it with everyone. Still, the family of the newborn Messiah was able to keep a low profile.

Glad Tidings This Christmas

As a result, in the last couple of years, Christmas has taken a back seat to all the bad. There is plenty of bad news to go around.

  • The pandemic drags on and a new variant threatens to spread like wildfire
  • Tornadoes caused death and destruction to America’s midsection
  • Nations continue saber rattling

Therefore, we need a little joy. We need a little Christmas, even though the first one was humble and mild. We need a savior, a redeemer. Yes, we need a hero. But having someone come to save us usually doesn’t make the news. It makes for great stories, but not click-bait headlines.

Let’s pause, take a breath, and look for the good. It is out there. After all, we can do something good. There are plenty of needs out there. We don’t have to single-handedly save the world, but we can help one person, one family at a time. Let’s be kind in a world that has forgotten how to be gentle.

We can make some good news. Our actions may not travel fast and furious across the world, but they can make a big difference this holiday season.

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Christmas holiday

The Third Sunday of Advent is about Joy

Advent Candles

Joy has been something we’ve all sought the last two years. We’ve kept hoping the pandemic would be over soon, only to realize more challenges were on the way. Where is our Christmas joy?

Last night, I saw a battle under a Christmas tree. An adult got a remote-controlled toy at a Christmas party. The children were thrilled and the adult allowed them to try it out.

One preschool boy was having a blast but was a little rough with it. When he steered the toy into a wall, the adult knew this wasn’t going to end well. So he took the toy from the boy. The boy’s joy quickly turned into a grinchy pouting match. It looked a little like this cartoon:

Cartoon of an annoyed girl and a boy with a santa hat

I’ve had a few tips in the past that are easy to implement when you’re giving advice, but challenging when you are in the midst of pacifying a preschooler with a wounded ego, and dashed Christmas hopes.

How to teach your kids about Christmas Joy

Joy can be challenging when things aren’t going our way. But when our faith is based on a foundation much stronger than our circumstances, it is possible! As we light the third candle of Advent this Sunday morning, we can remember there is someone coming who brings glad tidings of great joy!

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cartoon Christmas holiday

Santa Baby Revisited

Santa Baby Revisited

The other day, my seven-year-old niece and her mom were decorating the Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music. Santa Baby came on the smart speaker. As my niece listened to the lyrics, she remarked, “That lady doesn’t sound very content!” It was music to my ears because the Sunday school lesson that day was on contentment. Thank you Sunday school teachers!

Four years ago, I remarked how Santa Baby wasn’t my favorite song. It’s a bit strong on the avarice and innuendo. It ranks down there for me with Baby it’s Cold Outside. Come one, people! We don’t want to explain these away to elementary kids. And they definitely should not be in the queue for Sunday morning worship.

Please! No “Santa Baby!”

I went ahead and redrew the cartoon I did in 2017. I wanted a steadier line and a color version. Thanks to my niece, I was reminded, once again, why I’m not a fan of this little ditty.

Cartoon of a guy talking to a guitar player. He says, "For Christmas Worship, don't you dare play, 'Santa Baby!'"

Even if it is cold outside, I recommend sticking to a classic such as, Let it Snow.

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Christianity

A Good and Perfect Gift

A good and Perfect Gift

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

James 1:17 (KJV) from BibleGateway.com

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I’ve written before how I love this time of year.

Takers and Givers

This holiday weekend, I’ve read about flash mob robberies. It is where a group of thieves organize themselves to rob a store. The number of criminals overwhelms store employees so that they get away with the goods through brute force. As a result, thieves take what does not belong to them There is nothing good about taking what doesn’t belong to you.

You can’t take a gift. No one can take what is already given. When a gift-giver gives something with no strings attached, it is a sign of goodwill and generosity. A gift isn’t earned. It cannot be taken. It is frequently a sign of affection and love.

No Strings Attached

I have witnessed love through generosity and affection this weekend. And I will witness it today as I go to church and get ready to teach elementary kids about how contentment can prepare our hearts to be generous no matter how rich or poor they are. We will say, “You can always use what you have to help someone else.”

Good and perfect gifts come with no strings attached. There is no emotional baggage or terms. Advent reminds me that a good and perfect gift is coming. It will change the world forever. While it’s true the world can still be a dark place, there is hope in a good and perfect gift.

May the light of this season illuminate our hearts as we realize we can be the recipients, and perhaps the patron, of good and perfect gifts.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

Isaiah 9:2 (KJV) via Bible Gateway