Eight Nativity Sets adorn my office shelves year-round. Each holds special meaning and memories in my life.

My sister gave me the musical, turntable creche from Berlin as a Christmas gift in the 1980s.

I presented the Department 56 set to my wife in the 1990s when our children were young.

I purchased two handmade sets of wood and clay on a mission trip to Honduras.

A local potter in Cartersville crafted a vase with the Manger Scene cut into the side.

A large, olive wood creche with fourteen human and animal characters came from a visit to Bethlehem in 2014.

A “Precious Moments Nativity” from a coworker presents a highly sanitized version of Jesus’ birth.

A smaller tableau of the Holy Family also came from Palestine during a 2019 Holy Land trip with Northside Church.

In contrast, the Gospel stories of Jesus’ actual birth are simple and unpretentious. A woman accompanied only by her husband gave birth and laid her firstborn in a manger.

In faith, the church points and declares,

“This is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing.

Haste, haste, to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.”

With the shepherds, magi, angels, and all creation, let us come to Bethlehem and join the Nativity Scene.

This season I have been reflecting on childhood, holiday memories. Following my father’s death in November, I am the sole survivor of our nuclear family. It’s a sobering experience to become the lone repository of the jokes, stories, mores, values, and traditions that made us . . . US.

The holidays began with the selection of the perfect tree. We set out in our Ford Fairlane Station Wagon like characters from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The experience always mutated into a scene from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

Next came the decorating of the tree with the bald spot facing the wall. School-made ornaments made priceless by our hands adorned the branches. Trains of tinsel along with strings of popcorn and cranberries girdled the tree.

Our father worked as an executive with Sears-Roebuck on Ponce de Leon, and it turned out that Santa used the Sears’ catalog as well. My sister and I spent countless hours dogearing pages and circling gifts in The Wish Book for the Jolly Old Elf’s attention.

Each December we piled into the car to view the neighborhood Christmas lights. The short ride typically ended with the children squabbling while our parents scolded, “Don’t make me come back there!”

On Christmas Eve, stockings were hung by the chimney with care. We prepared a note to accompany Santa’s midnight snack of milk and cookies. Then we settled into bed while visions of sugarplums toys danced in our heads.

Christmas morning dawned bright with wonder. When we opened the door to the living room, it felt like a Polar Express had magically transported us to the North Pole. We fell asleep exhausted that night, already anticipating the next Christmas a long year away.

We cannot travel back into the past. However, we can make memories with our loved ones in the present. May God grant all of us a grace-filled Advent and Christmas season, full of laughter, love, and joy.  

A Hallmark display recently caught my eye. A sign above the holiday greeting cards declared, “Christmas is December 25^th!” Who knew?!? This is certainly helpful information!

Granted, Christmas Creep causes the holidays to arrive earlier each year. Retailers anxious for holiday sales rush the season. In September, Costco erected a Winter Wonderland of snowmen, penguins, and trees. Amazon launched Prime Days for early shopping in October. Sirius/XM radio premiered its holiday channels on November 1. And we are the midst of 40—count them, 40—new movies on Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas and Miracles of Christmas.

Personally, I have always resisted the Hallowthankmas madness, choosing to observe the day after Thanksgiving as the advent of the holiday season. However, this year I have experienced a Scrooge-like change of heart.

2020 has been a rough year: global pandemic, political polarization, racial unrest, social distancing, and economic challenges. To add insult to injury, A Charlie Brown Christmas will not be broadcast on network TV for the first time since 1965!

Therefore, this year I have decided to celebrate an early Christmas. I’m decking the halls and listening to holiday music. Eight Nativity Scenes adorn my office with a plugin, bubbling, candle ornament. I’ve been sipping eggnog since mid-November, and if I had some chestnuts, they would be roasting on an open fire!

I’ve also changed my Advent sermon plans. The revised Worship Series is entitled, “We Need a Little Christmas!”

Oh, I fight the occasional urge to say, “Bah, humbug.” I’m a recovering Scrooge with occasional lapses. However, life’s too short to miss the advent of the Holy Day Season.

Christmas is December 25^th this year. But why wait? Start celebrating an early Christmas today.