Wrap Your Focus Around Christ this Christmas
When I was a child, my family would string popcorn as we decorated the Christmas tree. Mom made popcorn in an old burnt pan stored away just for the purpose of popping corn. I loved the tinkling waterfall of kernels as they poured into the pan. Mom added oil and carefully shook the pan forward and back to keep the oil from burning. It seemed like forever until the first kernel popped, but then, within seconds the pan would overflow with fresh, hot popcorn.
We listened to Karen Carpenter croon Christmas carols as we slid one popcorn piece after another onto the string, creating an eternally long popcorn garland—the last decoration to wrap around the tree.
As an adult, stringing popcorn has been replaced with the tradition of decorating the mantel. Certain items are always included (candles) while others come and go with the years (fresh tree trimmings). The mantel is finished when the Christmas stockings are hung. Five matching stockings all in a line. Well, six, if you count the one for the dog, which we do.
This year, we moved to a new house to accommodate my disability, one without a mantel. Buying a house that was safe for me was more important than one with a mantel to decorate at Christmas. But as Christmas approaches, I’m feeling newly disappointed without a mantel to decorate.
I realize this is a silly distraction. It’ll be different. That’s okay. What’s not okay is letting a distraction keep me from focusing on what Christmas is really about.
Christmas is about remembering Christ’s humility to come to earth as a vulnerable baby; to live a life worthy of his calling; to die a terrible death as an innocent man for me, a very guilty person; to finish the job by coming back to life so that death will never be the end. Christmas is about celebrating God’s faithfulness to rescue us.
Anything that distracts us from remembering and celebrating Christ must be taken under control, or removed if necessary.
Distractions can take many forms. Mine is the mantel. (Goodness, I’ve got to let that go!) You might be distracted by a long distance from family or by an emotional tear in a relationship. Poor health, tight finances, and dashed dreams can be distractions.
On the glorious night of Jesus’s birth, the townspeople of Bethlehem were distracted by the census.
Unlike the people of Bethlehem, we know what’s coming this December 25th. We know Christ’s birth is worth remembering and celebrating. We can choose to follow in the path of the shepherds who, when told of the Savior’s birth, dropped everything and went with haste to see the Christ-child and celebrate the miracle in the manger. Talk about focus.
We don’t need to toss out traditions in order to focus on Christ this Christmas. Like a popcorn garland, we can slide traditions into our schedule in a way that will wrap our focus around Christ’s birth: read Advent passages, sing Christmas carols, join service projects, and more. One after another after another.
Questions for Reflection:
1. What distractions are stealing your focus this Christmas season? Will you pray for God’s help to control those distractions?
2. How will you focus on remembering and celebrating the birth of our Redeemer this Christmas?
