A Simpler Time 

   It is just over two weeks until Christmas.  Decorations are up, kids are excited, and adults are perhaps somewhat exhausted from all the preparations.

   I sometimes wish we could go back to a simpler time, a time when everything wasn’t so rushed and hectic.  We are to celebrate the most important event in the history of the world, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It sometimes seems as if this fact gets lost in what we now call the Christmas season.

   I remember when shopping could not be done on Christmas Eve because the stores were closed.  If you had forgotten anything it would just have to wait until after Christmas.  Thankfully, no one expected the world for Christmas, just a few toys for the kids and something for Mom and Dad.  Now there are Christmas ads for his and her luxury cars with big red bows on top.  Christmas expectations have changed dramatically.

   We have lost simplicity in our lives, and I believe we suffer for that loss.  We no longer take the time to consider why we do things; we just do them because that’s what society says we should do.  But society is the source of most of our woes; society cares for nothing but self and selfish desires.  Christmas is supposed to be a time to set aside such things and remember that we are celebrating the birth of a newborn King. 

   “For, this day, is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you.  You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.” 

   And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying: 

   “Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.”  (Luke 2: 11 -14)