Why Mam's Hate Christmas

"I bring you good news of great joy, that will be for all the people" 

Luke 2v10

Recently, someone I know made this confession to me...

"The thing is, I HATE Christmas." She looked mortified as she whispered it to me. I looked equally mortified as my response shot out of my mouth,

"Are you KIDDING? You literally ARE Christmas?" 

This woman spends most of November and all of December embodying everything Christmassy, she makes her own door wreath (and it's amazing), she bakes her own mince pies (and they're amazing) she has people round for party after party (and they're amazing). She shops and wraps and cooks and does it all with an aura of glitter and the smell of cinnamon. You get my drift. While my shock at her confession was palpable, what she said next got me thinking...

"I know," she said, "But I just pretend to love it for everyone else. I did used to love it, but now I just fake it and hope that at some point I will."

I don't know how you feel about Christmas, but I wonder, if we're feeling honest, maybe we're not loving it as much as we look like we are? So it begs the (broad!) question - Why Do Mam's Hate Christmas?

This is supposed to be

             the time of  glad tidings and comfort. 

                            The time of joy and peace. 

                                    The time of love and rest. 

And as I write this I see the problem. Christmas for most of us isn't any of those things. It's miserable and stressful. It's hard work and extra work. It's trying to please everyone and not succeeding. It's knowing you're missing out on something. Ultimately it's trying to provide something perfect in a world where everyone's definition of that 'perfect' is completely different. We're on a wild goose chase, and they, my friends are never fun. Even if you're not a mam, the stress of Christmas seems inescapable. And the reason, I think, is because we're chasing unicorns - something that cannot be caught, mainly cos they doesn't exist. 

Whatever your Christmas traditions are all of us are striving to make them perfect, enjoyed by all and done right. And that is impossible. 

Maybe you sit here reading this and are thinking,

"Actually, no, I hate Christmas because it has too many bad memories" or "Because it reminds me of all I have lost" and that is also really hard. When everyone else around you seems to be having a great time at this thing that you can't join in with, that's soul destroying. There are memories that wipe away any joy and a great sense of longing that cannot be filled by any trimmings, no matter what all the ads promise.

For most of us we have a big problem with Christmas. For most of us we just can't wait for it to be over. For most of us there are no glad tidings of comfort, joy or peace. Just stress.

This is supposed to be the time when we gaze on wonder at Jesus - God himself able to be held in the hands of humans. Made small and needy, laying in the hay, having laid aside His majesty and might. And the whole purpose is because of His great love for you and me. The Christmas of the bible is filled with great joy. The shepherds are chosen to be the first to meet this Messiah. The kings travel for years just to get a glimpse of Him. All of God's promising and planning and prophesying come together in this one small moment half way through our bible. This is it. The Beginning of the End of exile from God. Hope has come. The manger is the means of our redemption. There is much to celebrate.

But it's not. We're not actually celebrating. We're getting Christmas done, and, thankfully, over with. And this is why mam's and many others hate Christmas. We're not really doing it at all.