Who Stole Christmas?

Wow.

Almost a month since my last post. It was a while. I'll most likely get into all of the reasons as to why I couldn't post another day, but for now there's something much more important going on...we have a birthday to celebrate!

That's right, the Big Guy's Son -- well, kinda -- is having His birthday in less than two hours. And while I'm definitely excited for that, I'm not so much pumped about all the other stuff...the materialistic me me me of this season has become much worse than I remember. It saddens me.

This day, Christmas Eve, used to be my favorite day of the year. Not because the next day was the day I'd get to open my presents or because my favorite Christmas special was being broadcast on television. There was something palpable about Christmas Eve that doesn't seem to be there anymore -- a certain crispness in the air that I haven't felt in a few years.

My cousin Catrina got me some Grinch boxers to sleep in (and believe me I will), but I don't know if he'll be able to steal Christmas this year. He may shimmy down the chimney and tiptoe across the hall, only to find that everything's been taken already...by greed, selfishness, petty feelings and an unsatisfied consumer base.

Perhaps I'm the fool. Maybe I'm the one who bought into the sales pitch disguised as Christmas cheer and was wrong the whole time. Perhaps that "smell of Christmas" was really just pine trees on ever block. Who knows.

If anything good does come from it, I hope it's the realization that without Christ, there would be no Christmas anything. No trumped up stories about Santa or Pere Noel. No reindeer with bright red noses who would be pretty useful in Oklahoma right about now.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. If so, then praise be.