There is a million reasons why I do not enjoy this time of year. As I child, I would get my hopes up for this magical thing to happen, and more often than not there was family conflict.
In my late teens my Mother was sick. She loved Christmas. She passed away on a frigid late Nov day and after that Christmas has never been the same.
All my taxes are due on Dec 30. So combined with extra spending I find it a financially stressful time.
The daylight hours are minimal. I most certainly do not enjoy darkness at 4 o clock.
I detest the sound of a bell. Jingly things give me an instant headache.
Since my divorce I’ve spent a few Christmas’s alone. That’s not recommended. I’d advise people to avoid that at all costs.
I dislike malls on a good day and some how a very horrible thing can become even worse this time of year. People running around blowing money on overpriced things drives me insane. No parking spots. Big line ups. Annoying, noisy people everywhere.
I am a horrible gift giver as well, so I’m constantly stressed I’m messing the gifts I do buy up.
My extended family typically has a lot of rifts than seem glaring this time of year.
As someone who loves Jesus I resent the absence of him in things like school plays and public displays. I know this is wrong, secularism is important especially as we continue to diversify religiously, but I still personally feel like we are betraying the good Guy.
I have a very special and inexplicable loathing for Santa Claus. He’s obese. He’s creepy. He’s judgemental. He runs a sweat shop. He abuses reindeer and commits millions of break and enters every year. I don’t like anything about him. Never have. Even his outfit disturbs me.
But…
I’m a father and there is a message around Christmas that I enjoy. Hope, Love, Forgiveness and the chance to spend time with family, take a few days off and watch the excitement in my kids.
The world needs to be secular, free. But I don’t. Christmas to me is the story of the greatest gift ever given. A child of such greatness one cannot imagine, born in a stable. He grew up in poverty, worked manual labour all the while confounding the greatest and most complex minds with simple stories. He committed no crime, he healed, he loved and he taught. He taught us a new way to live that I struggle to follow. He died a horrible death and said he did it for me. For all of us. That is and will always be good enough for me.
So I will embrace this Christmas season, and stop being a grinch. Happy Birthday to you Big Guy.
If you read this far thank you,
Tris.