Dillon Community Church

Over the years, as I have watched my daughters grow and become young adults, our family traditions around Christmas have also matured.  However, I have always pondered one trivial question during the holidays. “Is it ok to embellish the truth during Christmas?”

We tell half truths about the origins of presents, Santa, and Rudolph. My wife tells me I still look good in my favorite Christmas sweater, and we justify it all in the name of “holiday spirit.” Christmas Eve services celebrate the manger scene with well-behaved animals and mysterious wisemen, shepherds appear, and a clean happy baby is the center of it all.

Thankfully, I don’t think it really matters what tradition we celebrate as families if we focus our time and belief in the miraculous child who is the center of that manger scene. The truth of Jesus’s birth has not changed based on cultural context, family traditions or mainstream marketing. Christ was born, he lived as a man, he died for our sins, and he is coming again.

 Merry Christmas and enjoy your traditions…

Brett Confer, elder