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In Reply to: Do all the recent posts carry the spirit of Christmas? posted by Mr. Don on December 24, 2006 at 08:54:54:
I'm always a little confused by the expression "spirit of Christmas" even when I know the person using it is coming from a Christian perspective.
Are you talking about a spirit of generosity? That can be measured in many ways. I think a nonjudgmental, open and forgiving attitude shows generosity toward others, but others would define generosity primarily as making nice and pretending there's no anger or contempt in their heart because "It's Christmas!"
I'm a little cynical about the "spirit of Christmas" because I was part of a dysfunctional family for more years than not. We had a spirit of Christmas that drove me to drink. It was a spirit of excess and unrealistic expectations. While we went through our celebration of happy face and all's-well-with-the-world (NOT!), there was an incredible amount of hostility bubbling up through our Christmas spirit.
Hostility as passive aggression: You know, where someone says something incredibly mean, passes it off as a joke, and then wonders why you can't get with the spirit of the season and laugh about it? Or when someone gives you an extravagant gift but hasn't spoken to you all year?
I'd rather folks just come out and say what's going on in their heads rather than put on a happy face and make nice because it's Christmas. I have no different expectations of people during this season than any other time of year. Whatever lasting joy and true peace comes into my life at this time of year is truly a gift from God, because it isn't dependent on what other people say or do.
BTW, Merry Christmas, Bro! Truly, I envy you for expecting to find sanity, generosity, and good manners under your Christmas tree and then actually getting these gifts of the Magi as promised. Perhaps in the next 24 hours after reading my grinchy post, you'll rejoice in Christ's birth and find a warm, fuzzy place in your heart for me and the rest of us who are stumbling to Bethlehem. (But that's another song. ;)
