Welcome Christmas, when we can focus on things that affect
real lives and the things that matter in real lives. Welcome the opportunity to worship the Savior
who brought meaning to our lives, while the leaders of men increasingly seek to
pull meaning out of our lives or, failing that, distract people from all that
holds lasting meaning and value and richness.
I include the routine censures of the “crass
commercialism” associated with Christmas.
Those trite criticisms, trotted out at this time of every year since
before the lifetimes of any of us, are really beside the point. Is it wrong for people to seek in a myriad of
ways to offer us their goods and services and to be rewarded when we eagerly
respond to what they provide? In a world
of human interaction, what can be better than the free exchange of our
abundance in the free markets of America.
Surely people can be as shallow in this season as in any other, and shunning bad taste merits no rebuke, but no
praise of poverty over abundance will cure these ills. Far from material things being irrelevant to
Christmas, Christ and His creation and His atonement made possible the earth and the fulness
thereof and our freedom to enjoy them.
True Christmas celebration comprehends all things
important. That celebration embraces the
fulness of the goodness of the physical world in which we spiritual beings have
been immersed. To deny the physical and condemn
its enjoyment in full measure is just as mistaken as to deny and neglect our
spiritual being. They must be taken amply
together, neglecting neither. As Christ
revealed in modern times, “spirit and element inseparably connected receive a
fulness of joy. . .” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:33)
Christ promises to us “every good thing” (see Moroni
7:25). Unredeemed Death puts all good
things out of our reach. The sacrifice
of Jesus the Savior overcame death in every significant way and brought all
good things within our reach.
That is precisely why a fulsome celebration of Christmas
must be a celebration of all good things, high and low, physical and
spiritual. These are the things that
matter to everyone every day. The brightness
of stars, the love of family, the warmth of a home, the goodness of a savory meal,
the beauty of music, the satisfaction of work done, the joy of light, the scent
of the evergreen, the charm of children, the exhilaration of creation, and many
million other manifestations of the goodness of God to His children are what
Christmas means and are what power its celebration.
Christmas is the celebration of Life in all its goodness, a
rejection of Death and the culture of poverty and decay and their worship by so
many who would rip at faith and freedom.
Not accidentally faith and freedom--the very pursuit of happiness--were woven into the founding of
American society. The birth and physical
life of Jesus Christ, including His own redemptive death and very real
resurrection from the grave, merit all our praise, our worship, and our grateful
enjoyment, still celebrated in America more than anywhere else.
I say, bring it on.
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