by marie smythe

Created on: October 31, 2009

The Dilemmna

The story of Christmas is special in of itself and it doesn't need myths to spread its message or enhance its joy. And it can, even in its traditional pre-Santa Claus culture, permeate to all areas of life. Once a woman was at a Christmas holiday bazaar and began complaining to the vendor that she was oppressed by the expectations of everyone that they would receive a gift from her. Wasn't it disrespectful to the meaning of Christmas that everyone was so selfishly thinking about what they wanted and would get for Christmas without regard of the ability of the giver to live up to these expectations? It was such a burden she concluded. And one could see the resentment and frustration in her eyes. It was plain to see that she felt this burden to the depths of her soul. The vendor thought a moment, because her job was to sell products to such a person as this. Therefore it was her job to help this woman overcome this sense of burden. One could think of this as the ultimate objection. Yet, on the other hand she understood. She also had too little resources and so many that she wanted to bring joy to.

The Role of Expectation At Christmas

The vendor looked at the trinkets she had on display on her table, and looked up suddenly, past the woman, and met the eyes of a gentleman who had a table across from hers. He had heard the conversation, and was keenly listening, and his eyes, with the light of a smile, engaged her. She wanted to answer this woman in the right spirit, and somehow, glancing at this person gave her confidence to do so. Suddenly she knew what to say. Only she hoped that the woman would understand it, and not be more angry than when she first addressed her. Because as a Christian, she could only offer one answer to this woman's frustration.

The vendor said to the woman "But Christ promised that He would come, and He wanted us to hope for and expect His birth." The woman was startled a bit. The vendor continued-" These expectations, the intensifying of them at Christmas is the collective acknowledgment that Christ wanted the human race to know that He was coming back to redeem them, and that His Nativity and Incarnation was the fulfillment of the promise He made so many millenia ago." Realising that she was making an impact on the woman, the vendor continued. " Of course nowadays this is swallowed up in a perversion of expectation, where the expectation is turned inward in an unhealthy way, but at its core- I do not believe that God minds

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