Uncomplicating Christmas
LETTER BY BRIAN MORYKON
Somewhere along the line, Christmas got complicated.
Maybe it doesn’t have to be.
Just saying that feels idealistic — I’ve got three kids and a mortgage — but dream with me for a minute.
Some complexity is an unavoidable consequence of living in the modern age. The rest of it is driven by expectations, appearances, fear of letting people down, and trying to control outcomes. This kind of complexity — really, duplicity — is optional.
The alternative is simplicity.
Simplicity in physical stuff, yes. But someone can be a minimalist and still have a heart that hoards anger and control. What I’m talking about is true Christian simplicity — “an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle.”
No one models this kind of simplicity better than Mary. An angel gives her unbelievable news. She believes it. An innkeeper gives her a stable in which to labor. She receives it.
Every once in a while you meet a person without guile, someone who doesn’t deploy subtle strategies and defenses to manage people and guard against disappointment and rejection. No doubt that Mary was one of them. I can imagine meeting her and being undone by her lack of pretense and purity of heart.
So, Lord, make us that kind of person. Give us simple hearts in a complex world. Help us celebrate Advent and Christmas — so far as it is up to us — in such a way that the season becomes known to us by simplicity and slowness rather than shopping and speed. In this age, it seems impossible, Lord. But Mary said nothing is impossible for you. And she should know. So come, Jesus, we’re expecting you to show up. Set your people free. Release us from fears and sins, from busyness and bustle. Let us find our rest in you.
Brian Morykon
Director of Communications
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LET’S DIVE IN...
CURATED BY GRACE POUCH
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1.
A short devotion, guided visio divina, and reflection questions help us consider “Mary’s Choice” in this Advent reading by Miriam Dixon and Margaret Campbell.
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2.
Richard Foster explains why the spiritual discipline of simplicity is so desperately needed in “A Season of Simplicity.”
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3.
A gem of a book, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan only takes an hour or two to read but it made a profound impression on me. It’s been compared to A Christmas Carol, and while the stories’ main characters are near opposites, they go through a similar awakening to the value of simplicity, frugality, kindness, and justice.
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4.
Simplicity is something we must choose. Richella Parham describes her intentions and practical strategy for simplifying in “Christmas Presence.” Maybe her essay will spark ideas about choices you can make that will lead toward “love and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
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5.
“Few things are needed” — usually fewer than I try to take on. “Singletasking” is one way we can help ourselves and the children in our care simplify for the sake of connection and depth.
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6.
It’s a Wonderful Life explores some of the big philosophical questions that Dallas Willard said all humans must consider: Who is well off? What does it mean to be “good”? How do we become good? I don’t usually share things from writers who are unknown to me, but the sentiments expressed here about the treasures of this classic movie line up so closely with my own that I wanted to share. The writer points to George Bailey’s “divided heart” before his breakdown, and explains how his losses act as a “purgation” that frees him to receive God’s grace. (We showed it to our kids when they were 9 and 12. The movie has challenging themes, like the Great Depression, alcohol abuse, and even suicide, but it prompted family discussion about hard topics within a framework where it was easy to share a vision with them of the good life God wants for us, the unshakable love and goodness of God despite bad circumstances, and the realities of our own choices for or against the life he has for us).
Grace Pouch
Content Manager