(Note: I started writing this before Christmas but never finished until now.)
I was in a bookstore recently and while passing through the children's section I saw a large wall, centrally located, that was dedicated to Christmas-themed books. I was struck by the fact that the books, toys, and and other items on the wall universally lacked one crucial element of Christmas. The one truly important part of Christmas was completely absent from the wall.
Understanding that this is one of those times that I'm going to be disagreeing with most of the world again, here is what should not be the focus of Christmas:
1. Christmas should not be about a fictitious flying fat man in red who encourages greed. It should not be about mythical elves and reindeer. These are distractions that help a soda company to sell its product but that don't really enrich or inspire us.
2. Christmas should not be about sleigh bells, trees, chestnuts, romance, or any number of other things people sing about in "Christmas" tunes. These things are mostly harmless and can be parts of fun traditions for the season, but they're ancillary appendages with the potential, like the fat guy, to distract us and our children. (We have enjoyed Christmas trees every year, though I was recently shown a passage at the beginning of Jeremiah 10 that seems to condemn the practice. I'd have to study context more to be sure.)
3. People sometimes say that Christmas is about "learning that it's better to give than to receive". That statement is true, and Christmas is as good a time as any to experience the goodness of giving to others, but I think that under the surface most people support giving because necessarily, receiving occurs along with giving, and if everybody is engaged in the act of giving everybody is also receiving. Net result: we get spoiled with a lot of presents. Christmas should not be about giving or receiving gifts, even if we engage in either or both.
4. People also say that Christmas is about peace, love, and kindness. To me, this is like saying that a hamburger is about mustard and ketchup, or that Mondays at work are about work. Peace, love, and kindness only have meaning in that in showing these qualities we emulate our Savior who, through His Atonement, gave us hope, because without him, all of our positive thoughts, feelings, and actions would have been meaningless as we would be eternally lost (see 2 Nephi 9:7-10 and the rest of the chapter). Also, while December is a great month for peace, love, and kindness, so is every other month, too.
What should Christmas be about? Christmas should be the celebration of the birth of a man who came into the world to teach us, live for us, suffer for us, die for us, and intercede at the judgment bar of God for us. We refer to this man as the Christ.
So those of us who care about our religion wonder how we can stay focused on what is important. Often we try to come up with some sort of Christ-centered activity in addition to our regular traditions such as gift-giving, but in these cases I question whether or not we're really focusing ourselves on Jesus Christ. Even as we include such an activity, people tend to look forward to other parts of our holiday (a word derived from the words "holy day"; that's what it ought to be if it's about Jesus Christ). Kids invariably look forward most to opening presents, others look forward to the same thing or any of the other things mentioned above.
If it's what we're looking forward to the most, it's what we're focused on, and I'm quite sure that no one is thinking about Christ while pulling apart pretty wrapping paper to see what toy or treat they get.
Matthew 6:20-21 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Where is our heart at Christmastime?
An Army major I know (a concerned Christian man, who showed me the Jeremiah passage above), determined with his wife a few years ago that his family would not celebrate Christmas at all. I wonder if we're wrong to do so many distracting things in the name of Christmas, and thus in the name of Christ. Are we thus taking our Lord's name in vain (Exodus 20:7)?
Do our Christmas traditions deserve reconsideration?
Last thoughts for now:
My wife and I keep re-evaluating our Christmas traditions (and Easter, too, for that matter). I think I want to severely de-emphasize the gift-giving, and maybe even get rid of it altogether or move it to another day. I like to give my wife gifts (and the kids, too, though they have lots of toys already), but I don't want our Christmas to be about gifts. We like our kids' re-enactment of the Nativity each Christmas Eve, and I think I like the idea of spending time together on Christmas and reading or singing about Christ every hour. While I'm still figuring out all of that, I know that I want to keep some traditional stuff away. I don't want to lose my focus on Christ.
Showing posts with label focus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label focus. Show all posts
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Exact Words
Some members of the Church have a certain tradition or habit that really isn't necessary, and that I consequently avoid. When blessing a baby and giving him or her a name, I often hear the wording like this: "and to give him a name by which he will be known on the records of the Church." It's simply not dictated by any Church book of instructions. It doesn't hurt, but I don't want to confuse things that are necessary and things that aren't, so I never use those words. And I hope that people notice it and realize that they don't need to use them either. That way we can focus on the traditions and elements of ordinances which are truly important and necessary.
Much of the time, priesthood ordinances do not use exact wording. Any holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, when reading the instructions for ordinances, will find key elements but rarely exact words.
But sometimes exact wording is important. Temple ordinances, for example, use exact wording. One thing I wonder is, other than the fact that the words have been prescribed for us, are the exact words absolutely necessary? Perhaps not, and we know that temple ordinances have changed at times, but there are good reasons for using specific words. A major reason is that there is much to learn from what is said during those ordinances.
Outside of the temple, I can think of two occasions when exact wording is dictated by scripture (in Doctrine and Covenants Section 20 and also in the book of Moroni): during a baptism, and when we renew our baptismal covenants with the sacrament. Why do we use exact words then? Is it because those exact words are necessary for the ordinance? It seems clear that such is not the case when we review the wording used by Alma as he baptized Helam and others: "Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world."
I think along with the advantage of learning from specific wording comes the advantage of not having to think through it on the spot--we don't have to figure out what to say every week during the sacrament. What seems to be the most important reason to me, however, is that by using the same words every time we don't distract ourselves from the ordinance itself. Too often during regular prayers, the speaker turns to flowery and profuse speech. If the person performing the baptism or blessing the sacrament wanted to "make it good", they could easily get lost in language that didn't really add to the ordinance at all. Some people would even be tempted to praise the speaker, again being distracted from the ordinance itself. The exact wording provides simplicity and focus when that is exactly what is needed as we make and renew covenants with God.
Last thoughts for now:
Making and keeping covenants with our Heavenly Father will bring us back to live with Him. Sometimes, exactness and precision is required so that we can be most fully blessed. I want to be precise when such precision is warranted, to keep learning throughout my life, and to stay focused on the simplicity of essential ordinances and covenants.
Much of the time, priesthood ordinances do not use exact wording. Any holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, when reading the instructions for ordinances, will find key elements but rarely exact words.
But sometimes exact wording is important. Temple ordinances, for example, use exact wording. One thing I wonder is, other than the fact that the words have been prescribed for us, are the exact words absolutely necessary? Perhaps not, and we know that temple ordinances have changed at times, but there are good reasons for using specific words. A major reason is that there is much to learn from what is said during those ordinances.
Outside of the temple, I can think of two occasions when exact wording is dictated by scripture (in Doctrine and Covenants Section 20 and also in the book of Moroni): during a baptism, and when we renew our baptismal covenants with the sacrament. Why do we use exact words then? Is it because those exact words are necessary for the ordinance? It seems clear that such is not the case when we review the wording used by Alma as he baptized Helam and others: "Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world."
I think along with the advantage of learning from specific wording comes the advantage of not having to think through it on the spot--we don't have to figure out what to say every week during the sacrament. What seems to be the most important reason to me, however, is that by using the same words every time we don't distract ourselves from the ordinance itself. Too often during regular prayers, the speaker turns to flowery and profuse speech. If the person performing the baptism or blessing the sacrament wanted to "make it good", they could easily get lost in language that didn't really add to the ordinance at all. Some people would even be tempted to praise the speaker, again being distracted from the ordinance itself. The exact wording provides simplicity and focus when that is exactly what is needed as we make and renew covenants with God.
Last thoughts for now:
Making and keeping covenants with our Heavenly Father will bring us back to live with Him. Sometimes, exactness and precision is required so that we can be most fully blessed. I want to be precise when such precision is warranted, to keep learning throughout my life, and to stay focused on the simplicity of essential ordinances and covenants.
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