Once More Into the Breach: A New Christmas Tradition

Long ago Thanksgiving had replaced Christmas as my favorite holiday. The very nature of Thanksgiving makes commercializing and vicim mongering difficult. Granted there has been a trend to just call it turkey day but as fads go it has been short lived. A day set aside for one to give thanks for the past year forces one to acknowledge something outside of one's self.

So what to do about Christmas? I still love it, it's just been an effort to try and overcome the traditions that have grown around the day that cause the stress which can overshadow the meaning of the day. As if the shopping and party attending schedules were not enough we now have to contend with people who don't identify with the meaning of the day who are too insecure in what they do believe that they wish for everyone else to stop expressing themselves. At our house we have chosen to institute a new tradition to just bypass the nonsense that Christmas has become.

A new tradition is an oxymoron. One has to have some history of repetition to justify a practice as a tradition. Just bear with me for a moment and you will see.

All our children are grown. We ourselves have become impossible to buy for because we have what we want or if we find we desire something new we just go and get it. As the kids have settled into their careers the same has begun to happen with them. Gift giving was not only difficult to do but expensive to practice. So much of the time the gifts were becoming a burden that were interfering with our desire to enjoy the gathering together with one another. Then my wife had an inspiration.

Instead of giving to each other, why not give to a charity? The plan was for each one of us to pick a charity and make a donation. Then on an appointed day we would gather for dinner and take turns describing the charity and the reason we chose to give to it. Last night we had our first annual Christmas charity dinner. The charities were diverse as the individuals who gave. They reflected the concerns of each person in a unique way. We all agreed that this was a wonderful way to commemorate the birth of God's ultimate gift to mankind, His Son and our Savior.