I am ready for Christmas

I am ready for Christmas!                                                  Photo by GraceFamily on Flickr

I don't mean I am ready for Christmas in that everything is done that needs to be done; I am ready for Christmas in my heart.  I have been ready for Christmas for weeks, so ready I feel like a department store.  One of my kids told me I had to stop signing carols as it was not time yet.

There is a lot to be glummy about this year, the national economy, my personal economy, the direction of our country, and worry over the future; but I am filled with joy right now.  I just want to proclaim and celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Scholars say that Jesus was probably actually born in the spring.  Christmas was the day picked to celebrate his birth by the early church, probably to compete with pagan celebrations around the winter equinox.

I cannot think of a better time to celebrate the Light Coming into the World than when things are darkest.  It is in the dark that the light will shine brightest. 

Maybe it is because times seem so dark that I want to celebrate.  I know that someone is in control and I can be at peace with those other things. 

Don't get me wrong I love the secular parts of the holiday; the secular music, the fun, the food, the winter games, the trees, the shopping, and the presents.  But I could not enjoy Christmas if I did not know it was about something bigger than all of this.  I love Christmas Carols, Joy to World, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels sing and so on.

I hope you are ready for Christmas.