Christmas

It's Christmastime again.

What does that mean to me? Lots of things - maybe too many to talk about.

Christmas means work. It takes a lot of work to prepare for this holiday. It is like no other. I dread getting the Christmas boxes out of the attic. We have a miniature snow village we like to put up - it has 20+ separate pieces and takes up half a room to display. We have six or so different nativity scenes. We make the effort because the kids like it. I am thankful we have never put up exterior lights. We do try to make Christmas cookies each year for cookie exchange. It does seem that Christmas cookies are always the most difficult to make. We make the dough, roll and cut out shapes, and hand decorate each cookie. Maximum effort per cookie! No wonder Christmastime is so hectic!

Christmas also means the dreaded Christmas letter. I must admit that the Christmas letter is not only for helping friends keep up with one another - it is also to help us chronicle our lives. It is really nice to be able to look back at a Christmas letter from 20 years ago and refresh our memories of what was going on back then.

Christmas means shopping. We have four kids - all who love the idea of gift exchange. At one point they were all about getting presents. Now they get quite excited about going shopping themselves to get presents for each family member. Each child wants to go shopping with mom or dad individually, in order to keep the secrecy. Finding time for four additional major shopping trips is difficult.

Christmas is about family. Most everything we do during this season is for family. I must admit that communication between my brother and sisters peaks around this time of year. Most years we have family join us for Christmas, which is always welcome.

Christmas is about memories. Putting up our tree is a walk down memory lane. Long ago we decided to add a Christmas tradition to get a new tree ornament each year that would remind us of something that happened that year. Now, we have a large number of ornaments that remind us of specific events throughout our lives. Our goal is to reflect on each ornament as we put them up. Our practice is to rush through them without much thought.

Amid all of this, Christmas is about God's love. Christ humbled himself and came as a baby in order to save us. It's so easy to overlook or take this for granted. We try to be intentional in efforts to focus on Christ. Cookies, presents, trees, have nothing to do with Christ. We do try to infuse Christ into the other areas with Christian ornaments, or spiritual presents. They do help, but they aren't intentional enough. I purpose each year for my family to try to intentionally direct focus on Christ at Christmas. I purpose not to do it through any family traditions, but it different, new and fresh ways each year. I pray for inspiration.

Competition - friend or foe

I've been listening to the song " What kind of World do you Want " by Five for Fighting), and it has made me pause. If I could change the world in some little way - what would I do? What needs fixing?

I know the correct answers. Sin is the real problem in this world, and when God removes the sin, the new heaven and new earth will be magnificent. I know that the love of money is the root of all evil, and I know that self-centeredness is usually the reason people are cruel. My lament is much more limited. If I could change the current world in a smaller way, I would like to remove the value and ideal of competition.

I imagine this is hard for some to swallow. In America we value competition right along with freedom. Doesn't competition bring excellence and advancement? While I do acknowledge this, my lament is that it also brings sin and misery. While excellence and advancement are good, they could be achieved under a different value structure. Why can't we pursue excellence just because it is God-honoring? Why do we only pursue excellence in order to beat a competitor?

Our free market society is based on two principles - man is essentially bad and that only through competition he will strive to perform better. Those are pretty good assumptions as the world stands today. But remember - I want to change the world.

Competition has its ugly side. With competition, there is normally one winner, and a bunch of losers. We've all seen winners who struggle with arrogance and fear that someone will knock them off their perch (which they will). There are countless examples of "winners" who beg, borrow and steal in order to keep their status. Worst of all, their misplaced confidence often keeps them from relying on God for their needs.

The losers get "life lessons". They sometimes learn how to perform better next time, but most learn how to better choose their competitors. They get a new motto - If you can't beat the best, then beat up on the worst." That is the only way most Americans can feel good about themselves and keep out of the "loser" category.

I'd like to change this to a simple more Biblical model. We are all losers. But even though, we are all losers, we all have value. Furthermore, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can all be winners. This model negates the need to compete with one another. We don't need to beat another person to attain victory.

I've seen way to much of the extremes of competition lately. In the public high school, it is all about competition. At the high school level, no child left behind is a myth. Every extracurricular event the high school offers is competition-based. Participation involves a competition based try-out and a commitment to compete against other schools. Grading systems are set up to slot students based on academic achievement. This is all part of the game to compete for college entrance, scholarships, and jobs. Everyone is treated the same and are expected to compete to get what they want. Students start gaining their identity and value by their achievements. It does prepare students for what they will see in the real world. But remember - I want to change that world.

At our special-needs school, it is exactly the opposite. The kids are so protected from competition that they hardly even know what it is. Every kid is given an individualized education plan (by law), so there are no standards and no comparisons between students. It sounds great, but it doesn't really prepare students for the real world. But remember - I want to change that world.

I remember back in the early 1990s reading the book The Search for Significance, by McGee. My memory is pretty fuzzy on this, but I recall him doing an excellent job of explaining that the value of a person is not dependent on his capabilities, intelligence or performance. In my world, people will understand and embrace that all people are invaluable because they carry the image of God.

Yes, in my world I would also cure cancer, end depression, stop poverty, outlaw war, and the like, but those are self explanatory, so I don't need to expound on them.  I would go farther than that - I'd change the fabric of our natures - and weed out our desire to be better than one another.  Of course, this will happen eventually - in God's timing.