I am making my Christmas gifts this year. I don't really like shopping and I do like crafts, so this is not the sacrifice it would be for some. Mostly, I wanted to see if I could. I wondered, if I cannot buy anything new, I have to make everything, will I come up with gifts I am proud to give? The results are mixed. I can tell you this, I am less stressed out than I usually am.
Some people (I am told) shop early and are finished before I have begun. Their presents are neatly wrapped and labeled under a Christmas tree. Mine? I have finished some. They are scattered around my first floor in the vicinity of the wrapping paper, which remains on the roll, close to where my tree is likely to be this weekend. I am an excellent procrastinator. Even in other years, when I bought presents, I would still be shopping in the last week before Christmas. It was a little bit crazy, for a person who puts things off as well as I do, to think that making gifts would be a good idea.
Some people, I am told, enjoy shopping. They like the crowded malls and the thrill of seeking. I don't hate it. I admit that I enjoy the thrill when I convince myself I have gotten an excellent deal on something.
People are very different.
A friend recently pointed out that this time of year seems to bring out the best and the worst in people. When we go out this time of year, strangers smile at each other. People greet one another. Everyone has a few coins for charity. Food banks are stocked. We get in touch with family, who never otherwise hear from us. We send cards to friends we have not thought about since last Christmas. Church attendance goes up. We spend hours agonizing about what we can give to make certain specific people smile.
On the other hand, malls are crowded so we fight over parking spaces and the last whatever-was-cool-this-year. We are exhausted and we irritate easily. We turn very materialistic. We even fight about appropriate ways greet one another. Seasons greetings? Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays?
The devil works his hardest when the stakes are the highest. This season of Advent is a season when people turn away from sin, and back to our God. We are getting ready for our King. We are preparing to face judgement, and the devil knows. Even for Christians who are not thinking about Advent, but are already celebrating the birth our Christ, the devil would love to undermine that celebration.
I don't think the devil cares whether we say Merry Christmas or happy holidays, as long as we fight about it. He uses our generosity against us. If we absolutely must have the latest and the best for the people we love, we are bound to get in fights with others who want the same. Since we are all working so hard to prepare, he uses our exhaustion as a vehicle into out minds and hearts, intent on disrupting any good that may come of our preparations.
Vigilance. The devil would love to turn Advent and Christmas into opportunities for sin. He delights in turning good things bad. He cannot create. God is the Creator. He can only lie and distort. His genius lies in his ability to twist things until they are no longer resemble what was were created. The greater the possible good, the harder he will work to make it bad.
The good news is, he cannot win against God. Think about what is stressing you out, and give it to God. Maybe give it up. People are very different. Each of us has different stresses and pleasures. Think about what yours are, and offer them to God. If God is guiding you, the devil cannot. Pray and fast.
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