The parents I hang with make such an effort to make the secular version of Christmas "special" for children (as if it's not special already) that the religious bits get pushed to the side. The still small voice gets drowned out in choruses of "Frosty the Snowman". These are people who are horrified that their seven year olds would find out that Santa's not real!
I'm not sure if folks are trying to relive their childhoods, or just super worried about making everything perfect (I tend to think the latter), but ... well, it's just odd. I had a note from a friend the other day asking me how I kept my kids from thinking that because Santa's not real, maybe Jesus isn't either. That's what I mean by the cult of Santa... how far have we gone when that's a concern?
I'd rather go back to the Christmases you had as a child - or even the ones I had. Maybe I just feel the pressure as "the mom" to make everything happen? It seems like (though Christmas is my favorite part of the year) that the season is so much more about consumerism (buy, package, make things shiny) than it is about even the most slight spirituality. Or even, really, about the family gatherings... it's like we don't take time for each other really. :( And perhaps my feelings about that are colored by my own very rushed holiday efforts, jaunting from my house to my parents' house and then back, trying to accomodate everyone and everyone's version of "special". By the time I've gotten the mandatory bits of Christmas over, it's hard to get myself (and I'm by far the most spiritually oriented in the house) in the mood for contemplation of our Lord.
I see the draw to switching to the Jewish holidays, as some very fundamental Christians do. There's no way I'd get my family on board for that... but there's a draw. What do you feel at this time of year?
