Holidays

Thanksgiving the holiday has passed. Our sights are now set on Christmas. It is good that we still have defining moments in our culture. There still exists the concept of sacred, although it is slowly dying off in the name of commerce. We now celebrate holidays as "family time." You might think, "You're wrong, Randy. We have always celebrated the holidays as family time."

In one sense, that is true. The holidays were a time for families to gather together. A concept that has become increasingly necessary in light of the distances that often separate families. But even as social events, the holidays were imbued with sacred meaning.

Thanksgiving was about giving thanks to God for allowing our country to take root. It was about having gratitude for freedom and liberty. Now we celebrate sale days. Christmas used to be about celebrating the birth of the Christ-child. Now kids tear into presents without ever pausing to give God thanks for the greatest gift of all--the gift of his Son.

As Christians, we need to ensure that we are filling our holidays with sacred meaning. We need to labor to ensure our traditions connect our future to our past and our celebration to our hope.