Ugh!! Since midsummer, the shoppes are already CHRISTmas decorated. Sadly, religious, as well as commercial, establishments have fallen prey to this early sales push. However, for me, this is not the most grievous offense. It is that CHRISTmas is advertised as a hol-“I”-day, not a hol-“Y”-day. Hol-“I”-day is a politically correct label. Hol-“Y”-day is the God given infallible definition.
To most, the interchanging of these two words in inconsequential. However, is it really? Let’s compare the center difference between hol-“I”-day and hol-“Y”-day. Then, you be the judge.
Hol-“I”-day and hol-“Y”-day mirror each other except for their center — “I” in hol-“I”-day and “Y” in hol-“Y”-day. Herein lies the pivotal dichotomy. The world spins CHRISTmas around “I”. God revolves CHRISTmas around “Y”.
Our materialistic world proclaims CHRISTmas to be a hol-“I”-day, bottom lined in “I”. Hol-“I”-day is centered in presents, not presence. It rotates around the wants of “I”. Santa Claus often replaces God as the supreme giver of gifts. Labeled hol-“I”-day translates into how much can “I” get, not how much God has given.
“Y” did God give us CHRISTmas? Baby Jesus, God made man, was born to redeem me (and you). CHRISTmas is God’s ultimate love to fallen mankind. The “Y” of hol-“Y”-day is the present of my (and your) eternal life. Each and every year, CHRISTmas deserves to be celebrated, first and foremost, for what Baby Jesus brought, not what Santa Claus brings. God ordained it a hol-“Y”-day, not a hol-“I”-day.
I’ve come to accept that post 4th of July, store shelves will be filled with CHRISTmas for sale. However, I refuse to buy into that its early promo rests in money making. Instead, each and every bombardment of goods for sale, I choose to view as a reminder of the true meaning of the “Y” that stands in the middle of my preparation for the CHRISTmas hol-“Y”-day.
There are 88 days till the dawn of CHRISTmas morn. It is coming. All that remains is for us to choose whether our hearts and souls are anxiously preparing for a hol-“I”-day or a hol-“Y”-day???
