Have you ever felt dull? Tired? Like the color gray?

Just no joy in living. No spark of excitement. Everyone on FaceBook seems to have the joy and energy for the season- but you. With the holidays coming on you are supposed to be excited about family,shopping, cooking, decorating, wrapping, parties…no end to the things you have to “look forward to”. But you aren’t. You are dreading it.

Add the fact that it is such an important spiritual occasion…now you feel guilty because you shouldn’t feel this way.

You want it to be January 1st not December 1st.Well it’s not. You  just have to deal with it.

Maybe you take on too much and do what you think you are “supposed” to do – keeping up with neighbors and friends. Meeting expectations of friends and family. No. It’s OK not to keep up. Set limits on what you can realistically do and let the rest slide. I know I say it every year…and still get caught up in all the hype to “do and be”.

But that’s not really what Christmas is all about. This year I am going to eliminate one thing – just one. And when I do eliminate it, I want to use the time and energy I spent on that one thing to think about Jesus’ birthday. The song is “Silent Night, Holy Night” – not “Jingle Bell Rock”. I need some silence and quiet in my life. Jesus did too – He took time out to be alone and pray.

There is a radio station near me that has been playing solid Christmas music for a couple of weeks. I listen to it in the car – there has not been one Christmas Carol or hymn – at least while I am listening. Yesterday the announcer said he was going to play a Christmas hymn. I got excited and then heard Bing Crosby singing, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”! That is NOT a Christmas hymn!

Maybe our secular culture with it’s chaos and cacophony has so eroded the true meaning of Christmas that we can no longer find the joy in it. I refuse to let it.

The greatest joy of all mankind, of all history is the reason for Christmas. I am not going to let it be stolen.