For a long time, I was a Christmas snob. (In some ways I still am, I suppose.)
For a long time, I didn’t like the idea of Christmas music playing in November or Christmas decorations being sold moments after Halloween. For a long time I resisted watching Christmas movies before the calendar turned over to December. For a long time, I tried to get people to hold the line of demarcation between Advent and Christmas.
But I have learned (slowly, and incompletely) that such snobbery and gatekeeping of Advent and Christmas merely makes it more difficult for me to prepare and celebrate.
I’m not the Advent police. I’m not the Christmas police. There is no such thing. Such a thing is not needed.
I discovered that I had been angry about Christmas music. Christmas music! I had been angry about such a good thing. Even grocery stores includes hymns like Silent Night, Joy to the World, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Holy Night, Away in a Manger, What Child Is This, and more! When else is the grocery store going to play music with such a message? Start it in September! Play it year round!
I found I was opposed to something that was actually an opportunity to find common joy with my neighbors.
How can I welcome Jesus, if I can’t welcome my neighbor’s Christmas spirit in early November?
So I let go.
Because maybe the way to prepare room in one’s heart is let it be softened.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for sharing.
Stay Curious. Ask Questions.
Andy