Every year at this time, I get frustrated by the same issue.
It's not the contest between those who disagree with each other (and often with me) about the "proper" way to do communion.
That ceased being a major frustration long ago when I concluded that, while there are many who think that there is only one correct way to celebrate communion, there is a paucity of agreement among them as to what that one way is. It has actually become mildly amusing.
Likewise, the frustrating issue is not the fact that as Advent begins to move along people start asking "Why are we not singing the old favorite Christmas carols?" and who are seldom satisfied by my answer that by the time Epiphany is over, we will have sung all of them.
That stopped frustrating me in the late nineties [Ouch, that makes me sound like an old timer] when after Epiphany a parishioner in VanHornesville came up to me and said, "You were right, we did sing them all." Now when someone says something to me about it, I just smile and give my answer.
No, what frustrates me this time of the year is the question of "Why do some people want to celebrate Christmas?" and the related question of "What in the world are they celebrating?"
After all,
If we did not think Martin Luther King was a great man who positively impacted lives, would we celebrate the holiday named for him?
If we did not have a sweetheart or anyone whom we loved, would we celebrate Valentine's Day?
If we did not think we should have broken away from England would we celebrate Independence Day?
If we thought that the world had been cruel to us (and the world is full of people who feel sorry for themselves), would we celebrate Thanksgiving?
I believe our answers would be: No! No! No! and No!
And yet a large number of people celebrate Christmas despite living lives that demonstrate that Christ is not particularly important to them.
And so I ask myself, "Why does anyone who doesn't take Christ seriously, bother to celebrate a holiday whose purpose is to celebrate his coming into the world?"
Those of other faiths don't celebrate Christmas. This makes sense to me. But why do those of insignificant faith or no faith celebrate it?
Why, for example, would an able bodied person who has transportation available to him/her, not set foot in a church all year long yet still give and receive Christmas presents on December 25?
Similarly, why would an able bodied person who has transportation available to him/her, have no intention of even considering the idea of attending a worship service as a part of their Christmas observance? And yet they will decorate their homes and attend (and even throw) "Christmas" parties, both of which take substantially more time than worship.
I respect their choice to not worship - although I disagree strongly with it. What I have trouble with is their choosing to celebrate the holiday. If Christ is not important enough to worship, celebrating would seem a waste of time and money. Perhaps it is even hypocritical.
Why do they do it? I may spend my entire life waiting for a sufficient answer to that question.
There is, however, a new year beginning one week after Christmas. That provides us with another opportunity to help people replace "celebrating without reason" with "celebrating because there is a reason."
If we can do that, we will have not only a good year, but an even greater reason to celebrate next Christmas. And perhaps I will be less frustrated when this season rolls around again.
Jim