Bah! Humbug! (A little late)


I wrote this in mid-December and realized I never put it up.  Sorry for the delay.  

You may have read recently about the 11 million dollar Christmas tree in an Abu Dhabi hotel.  The 40 foot tree is adorned with diamonds, pearls, emeralds and sapphires (181 pieces in total) provided by one of the hotel’s gemstone boutiques.  Only days after announcing the tree, the hotel expressed embarrassment over its “attempts to overload the tradition” in a way that does not “fall in line with the professional standards” of the hotel.  A posh hotel apologized for its extravagance!
Perhaps my recent trip to Zambia has made me a little more sensitive to our extravagance as Americans both physically and spiritually during this Christmas season.  We fill our closets full of clothes that we will deem unfashionable in a few years.  We joke about wearing our pants with the “elastic waste band” so we can overstuff ourselves at Christmas dinner.  We buy our kids toys that will be abandoned after a few minutes of play for the box they came in.  We spend more time scouring the malls and stores for “deals” than we spend making a big deal of the One the day is all about.  We gorge and nearly choke ourselves on the pleasantries of Christmas. 
It’s not just the tangibles that I am struggling with this Christmas season.  I also am wrestling with the spiritual nature of the holiday… or how little we make of this aspect.  As American Christians we could go blindfolded through the Christmas holidays.  Office party, check.  Sunday School party, check.  Special offering for the less fortunate, check. Christmas musical, check.  Nativity story, check.  How has the story of the incarnation become another checkmark during the Christmas season?   Shouldn’t that be central to everything we do this time of year?  Shouldn’t our largest Christmas gift go to seeing the story of Jesus proclaimed throughout the world?  Shouldn’t that be at the forefront of our minds and words?  Shouldn’t we set our goals much higher than just saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” to proclaim our faith?  Shouldn’t my children know that there is so much more to this season than Christmas cards, candy canes and wish lists for Santa?
Maybe we as Christians should take our cue from the Hotel in Abu Dhabi and express our embarrassment over our “attempts to overload the tradition” in a way that does not “fall in line with the (Gospel) standards.”  Or maybe we should take it one step further and not just apologize, but do something about it.   
-David Petro

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