Every year I get weird candy for my kid’s stockings. There is a grocery store near my house that carries ‘Mr. Brown Coffee, which is a can of terrible tasting coffee. Once I bought them cookies marinated in soy sauce. If you lived in Taiwan, you know why. If you haven’t, you will know why in a second: Christmas is a time when we try to share our own nostalgia with our kids, however illogical. Its fond memories but they don’t always share the memories we do.
I grew up in Taiwan, so my mom put fun things in my stocking that were hard to come by. We got Pringles chips and ‘Koala’ brand drinks. My mom brought candy canes back to Taiwan to hang on the tree so we could have a little piece of home, but because of the warm climate, they melted and formed little pools of sugary syrup on the floor and attracted ants. Why did she endure this every year? Beause candy canes were nostalgic for her.
A lot of the things we do at Christmas time are just simply nostalgia. I’m sure you all have a Christmas movie you have to watch every year. Why? Memories, Nostalgia. In our house, we must argue over which Christmas movie we have to watch. Now part of the nostalgia is that we must argue. My husband has different memories from me and so for him, nostalgia has a different meaning. Some of those things will conflict, or sometimes you might wind up adopting each other’s traditions or forming new ones. Why are we drawn to nostalgia? Because we are trying to grasp a feeling of home, where we had peace.
So many times, around the holidays especially, we are more acutely aware of the fact that we don’t have peace. We feel that if someone is missing around the dinner table. It’s hard when we want to share those memories with someone, and they aren’t there. Why is the world so attracted to Christmas? Many non-Christian cultures have adopted the Christmas into their own culture, even though Easter is still celebrated only by predominatly Christian countries. Even specific Christmas traditions, have absorbed into other cultures and religions. Judaism decorates a Hannukah bush, and in Ukraine, they have a ‘New Years’ Tree’, and presents come from ‘Father Frost’. In Taiwan, some friends from Taiwan decorated a palm tree and left it up all year long. Maybe they just never wanted to put the Christmas cheer back in the box .
A lot of other countries and faiths obviously do not celebrate Jesus, but I believe that they come to Christmas because there’s a need for peace that is felt through the Christmas holiday. Our world is desperately broken. We feel it every time we watch the news. Mental health issues are more and more common. Suicide rates are at record highs. Much of this is because of sin. We are reminded every day of our own brokenness. This is why we are drawn to Christmas if just for a moment we could block out all the pain and heartache in our lives.
My peace I leave with you; My peace I give to not as the world gives do I give to you Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27
Jesus wants you to have his peace, not just at Christmas time, but all the time; not just with nostalgia and trees, but in sincerity and compassion; not a collection of traditions, but the result of a relationship with Him.
