Making Christmas Great Again?

Allow me a bit of a seasonal grumble . . . . On my commute to work there is a billboard that drives me nuts.  It's pictured here.  It is for a company that manufactures jet skis, outboard motors, and other such things.  It shows Jolly Old St. Nick, in full Santa regalia, stretched out on a sandy beach--he must be sweating to death!  Beside him is his famous sack, filled with either a jet ski or a motor--I can't tell for sure.  And above him in the sky one reads the words, "Making Christmas Great Again!"

Now setting aside any political observations, I must say I object.  Who said Christmas wasn't great already?  How we observe Christmas may have lost something--but really, buying even more expensive toys will return it to what is assumed to be its former greatness?

I have similar feelings about the bumper stickers that read "Keep Christ in Christmas."  Where'd he go?  As far as I'm concerned Christ never left Christmas!  Granted the humble child of Bethlehem has often been overshadowed by the glitter of the holiday.  And certainly many, many folks observe the day without as much as a mention of Bethlehem.  But Christ, the ever present reality that undergirds all of life itself, is very much here.

Here's the seasonal irony--the true greatness of Christmas rests not in adding more stuff to its observance, but rather in stripping it down.  And as for keeping Christ in Christmas, perhaps the best thing to do is simply to stop all the hustle and bustle, and to observe the stillness at the center of the ancient story.

And, if one must DO something at Christmas, perhaps the admonition I saw this morning on Facebook is onto something.  "Want to keep Christ in Christmas," it asked, "Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill,, love your enemies and do unto others as you would have them do unto you."