What's your preferred sensationalism?

Sir Michael Caine as Scrooge

I admit it: I have been viewing peoples' Christmas preparations with a lot of cynicism this year.

With trees that are set up on Black Friday and the incessant blasting of music completely unrelated to Christ's birth ("Baby It's Cold Outside," "Santa Baby," or "Christmas Shoes" ... need I go on?), I guess I did have some support for my grumpy crusade.



However, this attitude wasn't exactly helping me prepare for Christmas in the way that I prefer, that is, spiritually.

My thoughts constantly went along the lines of, "Does anyone understand the true meaning of Christmas anymore? Gee! Look at all of these fools!" as I'd gaze at the plastic reindeer on lawns or the piles of stocking stuffers at every cash register. I prided myself on my utter superiority.

I longed for the barren dryness of Lent, with its focus on embracing noble suffering, denying oneself of earthly pleasures, and most of all, the fact that modern society totally misses it. I liked the idea of a Catholics-only season, in which the silly stores couldn't even grasp how to commercialize it. And even though Easter is quite commercialized today, the advertisers are usually so off-the-mark that it's not so tragic as with Christmas.

Granted, Lent and Easter really are my favorite liturgical seasons, and that's been the case for a while. But in giving Christmas the cold shoulder and reminding it that "you're nothing compared to the astounding miracle of a resurrection!" I eventually realized that I, too, was kind of missing the point.

I was essentially doing what I scolded others for doing, but just with a different holiday. I, too, was focusing on all of the externals of the season, all of those rich traditions that give you chills/goosebumps/tears/laughter, except I was using it to downplay Christmas in favor of my own favorite holiday.

It struck me when I was reading a little Advent meditation. The meditation talked about how St. Joseph was very low-profile, and therefore doesn't easily fit into the concept of a commercialized Christmas. He never did anything very newsworthy, the meditation pointed out. But he's there all the same - a reminder to us to shut up and drop our preferred sensations, and just listen to what the season has in store.

I'm going to try to remember that more as Christmas day rapidly approaches.

St. Joseph and the child Jesus