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It is so hard to believe that Christmas is soon to be here. When we were kids it seemed to take for ever for December 25th and now it all happens and is over so quickly!
How will you celebrate this year? First and foremost we celebrate the Birth of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ!
After that each family’s traditions will vary, but some things seem to remain constant and mark most of our Christmas moments.
One thing I’m glad to see return this year is the “Merry Christmas” greeting. It seems to have returned to many major retailers and advertising. One retailer that I know of personally is JC Penny. Their CEO is the brother of a friend of mine and he told me that this corporate executive sent down instructions that in all their stores this year employees were to greet customers with a “Merry Christmas.” That’s a pretty bold in this day and age and he is to be commended. I’ve noticed several others seem to be following suit, how refreshing it is.
Retail sales seem to be good, but I am hearing about many people scaling down on the gift giving and focusing time, energy and resources on activities that bring family and friends together. It seems like many families plan a special Christmas outing somewhere these days, maybe a day or two on a skiing trip, winter outing, whatever. This is a great way to do it, pool all that money spent on gifts and take the whole family away for a few special days.
It may be my wishful thinking, but I detect more and more people seeking to observe the spiritual dimension of Christmas. Maybe, it’s living in small town America. However, I am seeing more television programing trend that way. I listened to the “Christmas From Rockefeller Square” aired on December 1 and so many of the songs performed were traditional Christmas ones, very uplifting and encouraging. The other thing I have observed this season so far are the number of churches and organizations performing “Living Nativity” scenes, and I have seen a number of Nativity scenes return to public property. Could it be.....uhm?
It is so hard to believe that Christmas is soon to be here. When we were kids it seemed to take for ever for December 25th and now it all happens and is over so quickly!
How will you celebrate this year? First and foremost we celebrate the Birth of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ!
After that each family’s traditions will vary, but some things seem to remain constant and mark most of our Christmas moments.
One thing I’m glad to see return this year is the “Merry Christmas” greeting. It seems to have returned to many major retailers and advertising. One retailer that I know of personally is JC Penny. Their CEO is the brother of a friend of mine and he told me that this corporate executive sent down instructions that in all their stores this year employees were to greet customers with a “Merry Christmas.” That’s a pretty bold in this day and age and he is to be commended. I’ve noticed several others seem to be following suit, how refreshing it is.
Retail sales seem to be good, but I am hearing about many people scaling down on the gift giving and focusing time, energy and resources on activities that bring family and friends together. It seems like many families plan a special Christmas outing somewhere these days, maybe a day or two on a skiing trip, winter outing, whatever. This is a great way to do it, pool all that money spent on gifts and take the whole family away for a few special days.
It may be my wishful thinking, but I detect more and more people seeking to observe the spiritual dimension of Christmas. Maybe, it’s living in small town America. However, I am seeing more television programing trend that way. I listened to the “Christmas From Rockefeller Square” aired on December 1 and so many of the songs performed were traditional Christmas ones, very uplifting and encouraging. The other thing I have observed this season so far are the number of churches and organizations performing “Living Nativity” scenes, and I have seen a number of Nativity scenes return to public property. Could it be.....uhm?
