Accused of being a grinch....

I used to love Christmas. the tree, the lights the baking the flurry of excitement December brought. The Family traditions, the celebrations, the gifts...

but recently I have been accused of having a "grinchlike" attitude toward the holiday that is coming. I think though, that perhaps for the very first time I am viewing Christmas differently. I see the horrible greed, the angry people, the lack of holiday cheer. I see the tree as an adornment that we are warned to be cautious of even bringing into our home (let alone adorning it with silver & gold). I see the many things we do- often with the very best of intentions- take away from the One we are saying we are celebrating. Using His birth (which btw probably didn't happen on Dec 24th) as an excuse to become frivolous.

Maybe it is that I haven't been back to see family in over 3 years, maybe it is just looming how much the economy has squashed my ability to buy for our children, but maybe just maybe I see the holiday as the excuse of a pagan holiday that it is. You see the birth of Christ & the way we celebrate this holiday have really rocked my perception this year.

What are we taking away from our children if we don't have the Christmas lights, the tree, the gifts? Can we still bake and visit with family & friends without compromising the reason we - as Christians- are supposed to be celebrating this holiday??

I don't mean to cause any strife among my friends. This is not a debate, simply my own personal thoughts and even questions. Can we even honestly celebrate and honour a Saviour amidst all the glam? How can we put it all about Jesus when He really gets so very little in all this? I mean...? If I spend hours baking, wrapping, shopping, cooking, cleaning and whatever else we do to prepare for this holiday... do I spend nearly as much time with the one I call Lord? Or do I put Him second to all the other "stuff"?

I pray I do not.