They both chose HPs – here they are with their new computers, early Christmas presents. (Esther is tall but she’s not really taller than Ben – it’s how they’re sitting)

Steve and I also just got new laptops – my old one had developed screen problems and was very slow and Steve has never had a laptop apart from his company one. But I don’t have a photo of those!

Here’s something I wrote last December for one of the local newspapers. My ex-church was inviting community members to provide input on what Christmas meant to them and the local newspaper joined in. The photo is from a number of years ago – my children are now in high school.

“What does Christmas mean to you?” A large banner across the front of Calvary Memorial Church asked me that question as I drove along Lake Street recently. (The banner also invited me to answer it at www.christmassurvey.com)

I loved Christmas as a child. At that time it meant presents, decorations, special food and time with extended family. All of these were exciting (especially the presents). At school I learned about baby Jesus and Christmas carols. My family didn’t go to church at Christmas since we weren’t Christian.

When I became a Christian as a young adult, Christmas took on a whole new level of meaning for me. Just as the news is much more significant to you when you know the person in it, Christmas meant much more to me after I (believed) I had a personal relationship with Jesus. Christmas was now about honoring Jesus’ birth. Church had become part of my life and no matter where we were at Christmas, if I could I would slip out for an hour to attend a Christmas service. There I could be with other people who understood Christmas as I did and celebrate it with them.

After my children were born, I wanted Christmas to be as special for them as it was for me growing up. Their excitement over it gave it added meaning for me. It was fun creating our own family Christmas traditions. I enjoyed coming up with surprise presents that would delight my children. I’ve been pleased that we’ve often been able to have extended family with us at Christmas, similar to my childhood Christmases.

I wanted Christmas to be about Jesus for my children, so we’d read the story of Jesus’ birth together. I think it was still mostly about presents. However, I’ve been glad to see as they’ve gotten older that it’s become about the presents they give as well as the ones they receive.

In recent years, my beliefs about Jesus have changed. Christmas continues to mean special family time to me. But I no longer attend a Christmas service unless someone asks me to go with them.

For me the Christmas story is full of symbolic meaning, whether it’s true or not. One of my favorite parts about the story is that God, in the form of Jesus, connected with us by entering our world and walking in our shoes. If we take time to connect with other people that way at Christmas, maybe we can help make their Christmases more meaningful.

This is a copy of my fifth post on the Communitas Collective blog.

It seems to me that ‘Christian Power Play’ should be an oxymoron.However, the words and actions of some Christians imply otherwise. After reading the local newspaper this week I wrote the following response to a column by a Christian.

In her December 2 column Virginia Seuffert argues that public schools should display Christmas trees at this time of year. Her reasoning is “the United States was founded by Christians on Christian principles” and “almost 80 percent of the United States’ population is still Christian or Jewish”.

Virginia’s power play is common human behavior but the opposite of how Jesus entered the world and lived in it (according to the Bible). In the Christmas story Jesus could have come as a powerful King with a crown yet he was born as a baby. Later he gave up his life for humanity rather than using God’s power to take the throne. From birth to death Jesus opposed human exploitation of power.

Virginia wrote “symbols threaten no one but their loss threatens us all”. It seems to me that a corrupted symbol is worse than no symbol at all. When Christians like Virginia link Christianity with power plays they go against everything Jesus stood for and the beauty of Christianity is destroyed.

In the Bible the author of Philippians exhorts Christians to emulate Jesus’ humility, love and compassion. He says if Christians live this way and do everything without complaining or arguing they will “shine like stars”. Virginia wants sparkly Christmas trees to adorn our public school classrooms. Wouldn’t it be better to have sparkly Christians adorning our community? Then perhaps Christianity would become the Good News the angels announced to the shepherds that very first Christmas.