Relax..breath...and enjoy.

Wow...it has been a long time since I did any blogging on here, Oct. 14th!  Oh well, better late then never.  As I sit in my office and see the freshly fallen snow outside my window and slowly wait for the feeling to come back to my ears and fingers I wonder if this truly is the most wonderful time of the year!  Okay, I'm only half kidding.  I love Christmas and all it stands for, but I could do without the freezing cold and snow.  I gave a sermon yesterday about priorities, Christmas, hoping and working toward making this holiday season the best one yet.  Just one more thing to add to our never ending to do list this Christmas season right?  Some silly pastor asking us to actually dream about the perfect Christmas and then rearrange our priorities to work at making that dream come true.  Just some more of that pie in the sky stuff from Pastor Brian right?!  Well yes and no.
I'm fully aware that this time of the year may not be all that jolly for everyone and that we are at our wits end just getting everything done and ready for the celebration.  I'm also aware of the guilt that can be felt when we're reminded of the reason for the season and how we should be paying more attention to celebrating the birth of our savior but frankly we just don't have time.  Can I get an amen!  Well maybe we need to just give in and stop all the worrying about priorities and simply try and enjoy the season.  That's right...I said maybe we need to give up the guilt and simply enjoy the season.
Now, I'm not saying we throw in the towel and get rid of any thought of preparing for and celebrating the birth of Jesus.  What I am saying is sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to find the perfect gift, make the perfect meal, get the house looking perfect, finding the perfect outfit, being in the perfect Christmas mood that when Christmas comes it isn't a celebration it's a relief it's here and gone.  That certainly doesn't sound like the Christmas spirit to me.  How would Christmas be different if we just let go of that illusion of perfection?  None of us are perfect and we certainly can't make the holiday season perfect so maybe we should just stop trying.  A little dust on the window sill is ok...a store bought salad will be just fine...the gift can be exchanged...there has to be something in your closet that looks good!  The reason this season is so special I believe is because we are afford the opportunity to get together with family and to share gifts, time and energy.  The season is also so special because we are reminded, amongst all the glitter and ads, that our creator loved us enough to be born as a peasant and live as one of us.
I don't want to ad another thing to your already full list.  What I want is to maybe take a few things off that list so you can sit back and enjoy the season.  Let go of the need for perfection and just enjoy our ability to be with family and friends this season.  Soak in the Christmas Spirit and let the rest of the stuff take care of itself.