Already?

Just before writing this lloveletter I drug our Christmas tree out of the study closet, which made my wife happy that she can start decorating first thing in the morning. One of the radio stations I listen to while driving has been playing only Christmas songs since before Thanksgiving. They will do so until the day has come and gone.

Tonight I drove down Martin Street, just off Precinct Line Road and saw the most unusual “Christmas Tree” I have ever seen. Don’t miss it.

The auditorium at the Church I attend when I am not speaking elsewhere, is more lovely with this year’s decorations than it has ever been before. Houses all along the streets I drive down are beginning to light up with the multi-colored lights that remind us Christmas is just around the corner from the middle of this month. Christmas themed retail brochures with all the pictures of gifts on sale are cluttering up mail boxes, and “tree” lots are springing up everywhere.

I always find myself in a quandary, during this time of year, as to how so many Americans can miss the real message of Christmas. I know there is a concerted attack on that reason, and it seems as if our society, at least in part, wishes Christmas were a secular holiday with no reference in minds or hearts regarding God’s gift to mankind.

One might think that all people everywhere would quickly focus on the Incarnation – Emmanuel, God with us. Even with all the hoopla associated with the “Winter Holiday,” the Bethlehem story is there, clearly, plainly, and perfectly accurate. One has to work at missing it – and so many do.

Please don’t!!