A Perfect Match

Christmas is about opposites. It is one of the holiest times of the year and the most self-indulgent. It is the time of year where we think about giving, yet most of the people that we give to will also give to us. Christmas is the most powerful season of the year, and it centers around a baby - powerless in every way. Christmas is a time of contradictions.

This contradictory time of year is in part because of the high standard Christmas sets. Christmas, personally, is an ideal. Christmas is the day where, for only a moment, life stops and we have the chance to enjoy what God has done for us. I suppose other days should be like this too - every Sunday...easter...wedding days and birthdays. Yet, nothing is like Christmas. Christmas is the time where I think most of what a perfect world should be - celebrations, family and friends, a deep and genuine faith, a life of sharing and receiving as needed.

As I think of it, maybe the contradictions I see in Christmas are exposed in the other days of the year. Christmas, if I were a better person, could be every day. Every day a little Christmas, as Martin Luther envisioned every Sunday a little Easter. The contradictions I see are caused by the person that I am - if I change then what I see changes and what others see in life will change as well.

Maybe my Christmas hope then is to become the person that I see at Christmas, and seek the life I find at Christmas year-round. For actions and beliefs have to make a perfect match, and when that day comes more of God is easy to see. I hope this Christmas is a perfect match.