For nearly two decades, it seemed that every Christmas followed the same holiday-loving rituals.  Our Christmas Eve celebrations became traditions of eating out, gift exchanges, and midnight worship services.  Not to mention Santa’s late-night after-the-kids-went-to-sleep adventures of putting bicycles or dollhouses together.  With our five children, Christmas Day routines resounded with the tearing sounds of wrapping paper and squeals of delight at Santa having “come to town.”  Year after year, the heartwarming Christmas customs continued.

And then the kids grew up.

The children became adults with their own Christmas traditions.  Grandchildren became a joy beyond description.  If I knew they would be this much fun, we would have had them first!  The reality is, Christmas has changed over the years.  You reach a certain age and find yourself reminiscing about your childhood years and Yuletide moments while glowing in the memories of Christmases past.  Such reflections define the word cherish.

New traditions evolve, and as an aging grandparent, you embrace the change.  At least you no longer have to stay up to 3 am on Christmas Eve putting together a new bicycle. Instead, you awake on Christmas morning  to the sounds of silence.  Your mind imagines what must be taking place in the homes of your children.  The grands waking up so excited, the joyful shouts of discovering what is under the tree.  Knowing soon, a phone call or FaceTime will allow you to share in the excitement of the morning’s events.

Yes, Christmas changes over time.  Or does it?

Gift-giving is a time-honored tradition during this jolly season of Santa, silver bells, mistletoe and holly. But the commercialization of the season often distracts us from the true meaning of Christmas.  Even Hallmark Christmas movies feed into this alternative narrative promoting that the real meaning of Christmas is just about love and family, tree decorating, and Ho-Ho-Ho.

But Christmas is so much more.

Christmas, or Christ’s Mass, is a holy day.  It is that time of year Christians have set aside to reflect and, yes, celebrate God’s gift of His Son, Jesus.  “For God so loved the world, He gave…”

It can be very frustrating at Christmas when you discover pieces missing from your child’s gift.  But nothing is missing in God’s gift.  Jesus is the complete package, one wrapped in swaddling clothes, one destined for a Friday cross and a Sunday resurrection.  Christmas is about the gift of salvation. The small gifts we exchange at Christmas pale in comparison to God’s gift of the Redeemer.

Yes, Christmas traditions may change, but the true meaning of Christmas never does. No matter how cold, dreary, or dark the world becomes, this baby born in a manger is a light, an eternal light, reminding us that God reigns and Heaven’s gate is now open for all who believe and follow the true gift of Christmas.

Merry Christmas All.