Have You Been Abusing the True Meaning of Christmas?

Hello, my name is (insert your name here) I am a Christmas-holic and I have abused the true meaning of Christmas. 

Christmas-holism is a disease brought upon by the advertisers who have infected us with the ideas that:

1. We deserve something for our "good" deeds
2. Gifts need to be bought in the stores    
3. Love is in proportion to the amount of money spent    
4. Traditions cannot be broken, even when they are no longer effective

Are we Christmas-holics?  Have we found ourselves depressed and wanting because we can't live up to an inflated expectation? 

 

The best cure for a Christmas-holic is Advent: 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Would you expect anything less from a religious holiday? 

 

Some days I fear we have completely redesigned Christmas into a holiday of ego instead of a loving act of humility.  There is too much talk about what we deserve, what we want, and what we "have" to do during these months.  There are too many expectations. 

 

But in reality, Christmas is a celebration of Christ's love for humanity: 

 

 For God so loved the world

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

but have everlasting life. John 3:16 

 

It's a holiday of thanksgiving for God's willingness and desire to come to us in the most humbling way possible, as a vulnerable baby:

 

 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:10-12

 

And it's an opportunity for all of creation to celebrating a loving God. 

   

Today, the Virgin bears Him who is transcendent,

and the earth presents the cave to Him who is beyond reach.

Angels, along with shepherds glorify Him.

The Magi make their way to Him by a star.

For a new child has been born for us,

the God before all ages.

Kontakion in the Third Tone

 

Are you a Christmas-holic?  Rejoice!  because you can change your ways.  It's not too late.  There are still 2 weeks till Christmas...

 

...Did you just gasp too?