I Hear Those Bells...
I know it is early, but I can't help it. Each year part of me despairs as all of the wrong things about Christmas show up earlier and earlier. Yet, each year another part of me can't wait. It is a joyous season and I enjoy celebrating the incarnation of Jesus the Christ. At various times in Christian history Christmas has been a non-event, a major festival day, a day reviled as nothing more than a Christian overlay on a pagan holiday (yes, early evangelicals refused to celebrate Christmas! Think about that for a moment), and an overly consumer-ized celebration of consumption, among other things of course. As I think about the many ways in which Christmas has been misused, at the 'questionable' origins of much of what we now celebrate (from the date itself on to many of the trimmings) I am tempted to bow my head in despair, but then I cannot help but hear that old, familiar, carol play: ... And in despair I bowed my head: "There is no peace ...