Advent: Time to focus on the child
She [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them - Luke 2: 7 Christmas cards without Christ! In 1954, C.S. Lewis wrote a small satirical essay entitled "Xmas and Christmas" in which he describes the commercialised side of Christmas and calls it the "Exmas Rush" which eventually wears people out and prevents them from celebrating Christmas in a meaningful way. He talks about various practices that are just "commercial racket" that is "forced upon us by the shopkeepers" (What Christmas Means to Me). Taking the example of sending Christmas cards, he says, “…having bought as many as [the cards] they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the like cards which others have sent them. And when they find cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labou...