December 13, 2011

The Problem With Kindness at Christmas

I was with my two younger kids the other evening at a middle school production of “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Clause.” If you’re not familiar with the story I’ll summarize it for you: girl is growing up and questions the existence of Santa Clause, after seeking advice from everyone from parents to siblings and friends, she is in the end advised by a down-on-his luck reporter that there is a Santa Clause as long as there are people with hearts good enough to believe in him.

I’m going to resist the urge to address the “good enough” and “believe in him” notions. Instead I was taken back at how moved I was by a scene when the well-off Virginia gives away her gloves and scarf to a friend whose family was standing in the soup line. What is it about Christmas that makes a simple act of kindness seem so touching? Hollywood has been capitalizing on the seasonal sentiment for decades, but what about kindness at Christmas moves us, even confident grown men, to tears.

Then I had a more disturbing thought: it’s not the kindness that stands out, it’s the fact that kindness has a season! It’s the fact that for a few weeks every year we prove that we are capable of caring, of putting others first and thinking beyond ourselves while the other 40+ weeks a year we what? Choose not to care? Don’t see it as a big deal? Are too busy to stop and notice?

The problem with kindness at Christmas is that it stands out as an exception. My hope and prayer is that Christmas becomes less sentimental – only because our kindness has become the rule.

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39

It's a year round commandment!

Merry Christmas.
May you know Emmanuel – God with us – in a very real way.

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