It is a humorous story about a couple who decide to go on a winter cruise instead of celebrating Christmas when their daughter moves to Peru for a year as a volunteer. Most of the story revolves around the awkward social moments when people find out the couple aren't participating in any of the Christmas traditions. In the end their daughter makes a surprise return and the couple tries to cram in an entire month's worth of preparation in one day and are forced to rely on their friends and neighbors who have been offended at the couple's anti-social behavior to this point.
It is a telling story of what Christmas means in our culture. In this story Christmas is all about the elaborate production (lights, food, parties, decorations etc...) that is undertaken to satisfy some deep seated yearning for tradition.
At first I was upset about this. I don't want Christmas to be about a big production. In fact, I want it to be less of a production. But then I thought about Christmas Eve worship attendance. It is the worship day with the largest attendance of the year. People who don't worship the rest of the year make time to come on Christmas Eve. I know they come for a variety of reasons but doesn't it make sense that many come because it is part of the tradition? Dinner with the family, church and opening presents: It's what we do on Christmas Eve.
I'm not complaining. Maybe that's what people need. There is so much change in our world right now that we need these kinds of traditions. We long for them. We want to know that things are going to be okay and traditions have the power to do that.
Ultimately, isn't that what Christmas is all about? The message that everything is going to be okay? That we are going to be okay because God is okay with us?
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