12/16/2025
Do you ever wish you could skip Christmas? Maybe you need to rethink your wish.
In a book by John Grisham called Skipping Christmas (which was made into a blockbuster movie renamed Christmas with the Kranks), Luther and Nora Krank grow tired of all the commercialism, cost, and stress of Christmas. One year they decide to skip Christmas and go on a ten-day Caribbean cruise. No decorations, no Christmas lights, no gifts, and no Christmas parties. They soon discover this is much harder than they thought. Rather than finding peace and a season of calm, their Christmas boycott leads to greater conflict with family and friends. In the end, they rediscover the Christmas spirit of generosity, joy, and “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”
A little syrupy, but a point well made.
This Christmas season, I’ve already had my “Krank” moment, and I still have nine days to go (as of the time of this writing). Not to sound “Scrooge-ish,” but after multiple Christmas parties, events, and programs, I haven’t experienced much of the “peace on earth” accompaniment of the Christmas story. My arrangement sounds more like blaring jingle bells jingling all the way.
If you’re like me, you may need a Christmas re-awakening. Office parties and family get-togethers can overstress and underappreciate our need for simplicity and serenity . . . especially during the holidays. Let me give you two practical tips for re-awakening Christmas cheer when you have a humbug heart.
First, re-awaken to the wonder of divine mystery—God becoming Man. In the words of Dr. George Bebawi, a former Oxford professor who passed away several years ago:
When we speak of Christmas, we mean the day on which the Wisdom of God manifested himself as a speechless babe, and the Word of God was heard crying in the voice of humankind when it could not yet utter words. But his divinity was hidden in the powerless life of that babe, like the powerless life which hanged on the cross. What we call Christmas is the season of the utter humility of God (“Ten Reasons for the Celebration of the Incarnation of the Son of God”).
Sit in the stillness of the wonder of the divine. God became like us so that we can become like Him (1 John 3:1-2).
Second, re-awaken to the community of the redeemed as a witness for peace to the world. You don’t have to preach a sermon, but you can live a sermon as you share with family and friends. Choose not to isolate yourself from others, but enter into the fellowship of grace. In so doing, the proclamation of peace is lived out in the cacophony of chaos.
When our kids were little, my father-in-law would take out his hearing aids during our family Christmas time. He said he wanted to lower the volume so he could better appreciate what was most important—spending time together as a family in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. I suggest we do the same. This Christmas, let’s lower the volume for greater appreciation of the true reason for the season.
P.S. Following my own advice, I’ll be taking a few weeks off from writing to savor the Advent season and the gift of Christmas—may your days be filled with wonder, your Christmas with joy, and your New Year with blessings.
