Whoa!
I am not one of those rabid put Christ back into Christmas people. I find it better to take Christ out of Christmas and put him into the other 364 days of the year. That's what being a disciple is all about.

I also am not one of those who criticize the Christmas and Easter Christians for only showing up twice a year. I am glad that there is still enough pull and desire to bring them then. Very few adults go to church on Christmas because someone is making them. It is my experience that they go because they have a deep sense of longing that is touched, if only momentarily at Christmas.

I am a person who loves the Advent and Christmas season. I start reviewing the Christmas CDs around November 1 and am always looking forward to new ones (of just about any style) to add to my collection.

Having said all that, I received the following from a friend in an e-mail this morning. I normally ignore these but this one hit me.

This morning I heard a story on the radio of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year. Overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming,taste all the holiday food and treats, getting that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, making sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way into the car and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up and shot."

From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't worry, we already crucified him."

For the rest of the trip down the elevator it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

In the Christmas narrative itself we find more than a few hints of the coming crucifixion. It is not an entirely joyous season in the scriptures or even in many of the traditional carols. It is a bittersweet quality to Christmas. It is what makes it so powerful to Christians. He is being born to die- for us.

No, this is not a Scrooge-type downer. This is also the source of the promise of the angels in that darkened sky. It is the promise of the Wise Men (who are really not a part of the Christmas story but the broader birth narrative) to the whole world.

Which is why, more than before, I am deciding that somehow or another this Advent season will be one of some type of fasting. I found some good links to some stuff that Bill Bright did on fasting. Your Personal Guide to Fasting and Prayer.

Just some thoughts as we move closer to Advent.