Christmas Sermons

It’s my experience during each Christmas season to hear a priest sermonize about how commercial Christmas has become. This sermon is so redundant that I don’t link it to any singular priest: it’s as if the statement is automatically printed out and presented by that year’s Christmas mass celebrator. “We’ve lost the true meaning and message of Christmas,” it says. We’re reminded that Christmas isn’t about acquiring the latest electronic gifts for our kids, nor is it about receiving gifts for ourselves. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and acting with love towards our fellow man. We need to straighten up, remember its true meaning.

It was a surprise then to hear a Christmas sermon a few years’ back when an elderly priest looked up at all in attendance and told us how “great” we were. He said that when we search for those certain gifts that make our kids smile, when we hold gatherings for relatives and friends, make tasty foods and hang pretty lights and decorations, when we engage – sometimes painfully – with crowds and the commercialism that takes the season over each year, we are acting out the spirit of Christmas. He said that Jesus knew we were loving the best way we knew how. He was giving us an unexpected, but appreciated, acknowledgement of our good work.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

May you all have happiness and peace in your lives.

Television

I grew up watching so many hours of television that by the time I entered college I felt supersaturated and considered it a complete waste of time. Through undergraduate and graduate and early marriage years, we had so much going on that television time was greatly diminished, to my delight. I didn't miss it. However, as our kids grew the TV reappeared, entertaining them and giving my wife and me a respite from our long work days. It was relaxing to come home, sit back, and just be entertained. The TV can be educational, surely – with programs like "60 minutes" and "Frontline" – but comedies ("Mary Tyler Moore" and "Everybody Loves Raymond") and dramas ("ER" and "LA Law") hit our sweet spot.

Reading does this too. It can entertain, be educational, and stretch our minds in ways television probably cannot. And certainly, television can be a tremendous waste; indeed, it can be a mind dissolving experience. But it has redeeming values, to be decided by each of us. The clincher for me is that it allows me to share an experience with my family, in real time: when we watch together and talk during commercials, and laugh or share an emotion during a moving scene.

I’ve often complained about how bad television is, but I can't deny that some of the cherished times I've spent with my family - with my parents as a kid; with my kids as a parent; alone with my wife - have been spent watching a good show on TV.

One Year Old

This blog is now a year old. I've enjoyed it and am grateful for reader responses. Looking forward to 2010!