For as long as I can remember, I've heard complaints about how Christmas has become too commercial. Even in the Christmas classic film “A Miracle on 34th Street,” which was filmed 75 years ago, one of the characters complains that most people are too caught up in the material aspect of the holiday. And for as long as Christmas has been celebrated, people have warned us about the dangers of it becoming too commercial. Despite the “jingle-jangle” from the “holiday hubbub,” there is a lesson to be learned from Christmas that isn’t just about materialism.

Contrary to popular belief, Christmas is when people can connect with others on a deeper level. It is supposed to be a season where we learn to avoid the craziness that often plagues our lives in December to discover what Christmas is all about: connecting with God and one another. Instead, we’ve become disconnected and trapped between the clutches of materialism.  Perhaps our disconnected state forces us to scamper from department stores to wholesale outlets to find the perfect gift. This is not the lesson of Christmas; it is the lesson of materialism.

Ebenezer Scrooge, the miserly character in Charles Dickens's classic Christmas Carol, had to learn the lesson of connection. Remember how the Spirit of Christmas Past took him back to his childhood and youth Christmases. The most meaningful ones for him were always connected to his family, friends, and that remarkable woman who had been his fiancée. But now he was disconnected. Having cut himself off from such human ties, Scrooge had become a selfish, lonely, bitter older man whom people pitied, feared, or hated. But then the lesson of Christmas came... 

I believe that Christmas’ greatest lesson is ultimately a spiritual lesson that focuses on unwrapping the greatest gift of connecting with God and each other. This connection makes us realize how important family is in our lives. During the holiday season, be one of connection through the values and ideals that you hold most dear, your sense of who you are, where you come from, your beliefs about why you are here—the meaning and purpose you see in your life - and your relationship with God to each other and the world around you. 

I invite you to connect with our community and us during our December activities as we prepare to Unwrap the Greatest Gift:

• Christmas Craft Bash  l  Sunday, December 4  l  2:00 p.m.
• Holy Light: A Candlelight Service of Carols  l  Sunday, December 11  l  4:00 p.m.
• Christmas Eve Candlelight Services  l  Saturday, December 24  l  5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

At the Intersection,

Dr. Quincy D. Brown