The 'Special Sauce" of Christmas

Just as our Thanksgiving holidays took on the unexpected glow of quiet and peace, so to will the Christmas that is coming.  

When I asked friends how their Thanksgivings were, the response was almost universal in its surprised tone of surrender - “It was quiet, yes; but oh! So nice”. “It was lovely, peaceful. I really felt thankful, even in the midst of so much turmoil”. “I missed having all my family here, but it was a sweet day of thanksgiving.” I could hear an almost apologetic admission that with the number of people dialed down, feasts pared down to feed four or six, the day was somehow sweeter, with less chaos, less confusion, less expectation. In the end, the “downsizing” of Thanksgiving turned out to be bittersweet, an unexpected - and dare I say - blessed event.

I suspect that Christmas this year will be the same for many, a holiday pared down to its essential qualities of peace, joy, and good will.  The difficulties and uncertainties of this past year will impact this Christmas holiday much as it did at Thanksgiving; and with the exception of the reason behind this paring down of the Christmas holiday, I think that is a good thing.  Perhaps it is a good thing to step back and consider just why we do what we do at Christmas, and reevaluate what is necessary and what isn’t; what is absolute about Christmas, and what, in the end, is simply distracting and not helpful.

Christmas, once distilled down to its essence, when stripped of its santas and Christmas trees and twinkling lights, is revealed to be the marking of an event that transformed the world 2000 years ago. Without that essential core truth to undergird the holy day, what’s left is hollow and empty. All of our wishing and hoping and decorating and planning will not make the holiday a “special” day unless we acknowledge that the deep visceral truth of the day’s existence rests in the coming of Jesus as the Son of Man to free the world from its bonds of sin and death. The ‘special sauce’ of Christmas is ultimately about love - the love of a Father Who sacrificed all to bring His children back home; and the love of His Son Who joyfully entered into the world to accomplish His Father’s will.

In this 2020 Christmas season, we are faced with doing things differently. Some of us will be forced to pare down the size and scope of the celebration because of overwhelming loss and sadness. Some will cut back because jobs have gone away, and simplicity will not be a lifestyle choice, but a necessity. Health and safety concerns have cancelled the usual office parties, cocktail parties, open houses, church parties and gatherings, holiday shows and concerts. All the ways in which we have “always” celebrated Christmas in the weeks leading up to the holiday have been removed. They are no more - at least for this year.

So where does that leave us? What to do? For this Christmas, in this crazy year of 2020?

Get back to the real. Get down to the essence of the thing, this season we call Christmas. For many, the choice has been removed; for some of us, we have the luxury to choose.

For this year? I’m choosing the simple. I’m choosing the pared-down. I’m choosing a celebration that will focus on the absolute of Christmas that doesn’t change, that won’t fade, that won’t shed or shatter. With no distraction of outside celebrations, I will choose the blessing of celebrating with simplicity and joy.

When we have no distractions, we can focus on the the quiet and beautiful things about the season, on the things that bring us joy.

Love having a Christmas Tree? Then put one up, and try to keep the ornaments few but significant. The ones that make you smile, bring you peace. Or does putting up a tree make you anxious, bringing out a need to be perfect and precise, reminding you of all those arguments you had with your significant other about the “exactly perfect” location of the tree, the placement of the lights? Then don’t put up a tree. Or put up a smaller table-top tree, and keep the ornaments super-simple, like a few ribbons, or shells; a few small twinkling lights, a garland of popcorn. Don’t fuss, but enjoy the calm that comes from doing something small but meaningful.

Do you love baking Christmas cookies - like, hundreds of cookies? Does the flying flour and cookie cutters and colored sugars bring a smile to your face? Then bake away! Or are you one that is a slave to the “Christmas Cookie Tradition”, needing to bake mounds of Christmas cookies simply because your mom did and it was a tradition and you always did it? If it doesn’t bring you joy, then don’t bake them. Go to the store and buy a couple dozen cookies, and call it a day. Serve them on a pretty plate, and dub it a new tradition. Or bake only one batch of your favorite cookie, and revel in the contentment of a thing well done - but in a small way. Use the extra time to enjoy doing something different, like taking a walk, or reading a book. Or writing a poem about your children, or grandchildren. Or composing a psalm of praise to Jesus.

Do you love sending Christmas cards to everyone, near and far? Does writing a note in each one make you smile with fond memories of people you’ve known over the years? Then of course write the cards, sign your name, and address each with a flourish and a prayer of goodwill for each recipient! But if sending Christmas cards is merely another chore in the long list of things “you should do because you’ve always done it”, then maybe it’s time to reconsider. Celebrating Christmas should not be about empty gestures, but about those things that not only bring you joy, but that will also bring joy and gladness to others.

You have the power this year, in these unprecedented times, to mold new traditions, to sort through all the shiny wrappings of “Christmas like we’ve always done”, and discard what you no longer want to keep. You have the freedom to keep only those traditions that make you smile, bring joy to your heart, and peace to your soul.

This year? You have a choice.

Remember the ‘Special Sauce’ of Christmas- the love that made Christmas possible. If our Christmas traditions are liberally doused with this special sauce, all that we do in celebration will have meaning, and bring joy and peace. Not just to us, but to those around us as well.