Christmas is both a particular holiday and a vast season of joyful-awesomeness.
As a holiday it's all about the advent, the arrival of the Co-creator God-man, Jesus. As a season it's a vast, open-ended stream of cheer, kindness, service, giving, gifting, family-ing, enjoying, ho-ho-hoing and searching for that creepy elf sneaking around the house in the middle of the night.
And I totally love it all. I'm neither offended by those who don't celebrate the birth of the Savior in the way I do, nor am I offended by those who simply enjoy the jolly old elf with a belly like jelly.
I think creatives are born with this incredible platform, an internal wiring that allows us the ability to grasp the paradigm of co-existence, liberty and grace. Artists, songwriters, storytellers... we're fully aware that not everyone will understand or even agree with what we create. And so we realize that in order for a free and creative society to function and breathe and engage beyond our tribe, well, like Christmas we have to hold tight to what we believe while engaging those around us with grace and kindness and an invitation into our own world.
Q. How are you allowing the Dickens' Spirit of Christmas to impact you and your creativity this season?
Q. Who are you struggling to forgive? To show grace to? To view with fresh eyes, heart and mind for a hope-filled future for all?
Creatives, we have a renewed opportunity every single day to choose a Christmas attitude in the midst of a endlessly broken world. Are you?
Merry Christmas!
If you're seeking a fresh spiritual take on the words you speak internally that inevitably spill over onto others, check out my new book Lexicon of Awesome: A Melancholic Dad's Spiritual Journey Into a World of Better Words.