For about half of my adult life I have been seeking to untangle Christmas from the web of materialism and secularization that it has become in the western world. When I began expressing my concerns I was often provided that peculiar glare from people who thought you were Scrooge-incarnate. But I persisted and I can’t tell you how happy I was when I came across a web site titled “The Advent Conspiracy.” Here I found my kindred spirits. Their website is simple, and the main page says it all.
Can Christmas still change the world?
The Christmas story is a story of love, hope, redemption and relationship. So, what happened? How did it turn into stuff, stress and debt? Somehow, we’ve traded the best story in the world for the story of what’s on sale.
Founded by five pastors, they posed four tenets:
- Worship Fully
- Spend Less
- Give More
- Love All
The essays listed below are reflections on these four tenets. They are my journey, yet you will most likely find threaded into the stories your story as well. There is hope for Christmas.
- The Twelve Days of Christmas
Just about everyone knows the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” But as a kid and for many years afterward I would ask myself, “Where does this idea of twelve days of Christmas come from?” - Christmas — It’s a Tide, not a Day
One of the revolutionary changes that occurred in my celebration of Christmas was when I realized that it was a “tide”, not a day - Give More
by focusing on spending cash only, it would automatically cause us to take more care in how we spend money for Christmas gifts, evolving from being impulsive to being deliberative, from credit card debt recovery to saving in advance. - Worship Fully
Advent is a spiritual journey. It is my journey and it is personal. There are no formulas here, no recited liturgy or rites of passage. It is, in essence, a reminder that at one time in the history of man was my personal history – a life without the Christ. - Cash Only Please — Beating the Debt Trap during Christmas
If anything demonstrates how distorted Christmas has become, it is the amassed credit card debt. - What’s Missing? Christmas and Loneliness Too Often Go Together
When you extend a welcoming hand to people who are lonely, you help fill the emptiness.