But sometimes I think society has done itself a disservice with the Hollywood Happy Ending. I'm not just talking about Christmas movies, or even Disney for that matter, but the vast majority of movies generally work out. It may not be happily ever after, but even in a horror movie, the main character somehow survives when everyone else bites it. No matter how many stupid choices and mistakes she or he makes. Dumb luck or the indomitable human spirit save the day. Of course the Christmas movies may be the worst as the Spirit of Christmas magically solves everything and makes all well.
In one sense we don't believe it. But I believe that on some basic level we do. We believe it all, in the everything will somehow work out and in the idea that the Spirit of Christmas and the good of humanity will eventually conquer and make things right. It bleeds into our real life. Or maybe I'm entirely wrong, and that's not the cause at all. But right or wrong, whatever the cause, we seem to have a tendency to just wish that things will be OK and believe that if we find the right program or the right theme song or the right friends, partner, etc. that things will just sort themselves out. If I can get a better job, if I can find a better place to live, if I can find the right person for relationship, then things will get better and I won't keep doing these things I'm doing to try to get through the day.
We get the idea that if we just go to recovery meetings and or church every chance we get that life will smooth out and the problems will go away. Our hope becomes that these tools God can use, the people, places, things, and organizations, to help us are the answer. They are not. They are the tool. It's like looking to a magical, mystical, vague Spirit of Christmas to make the world cleaner, brighter and better once a year. It's empty and meaningless and misplaced, and if we put our hope in the tools, in the organizations, in religion, in undefined vague spirituality, in people, places and things, our hope will fail us, and we will become even more discouraged. The holiday spirit is half hearted at best, and is the spirit of humanity, which is, of course, the problem... the world run by selfish, broken people trying to make life better. It just doesn't work. No matter what the movies tell us, we don't get the solution by osmosis, and things don't just magically work out.
Christmas is just another day that happens to be intended to remind us that our Creator loves us as we are and came to make a way for us to have relationship with Him and to do for us what we can not do for ourselves. Church is supposed to help encourage us to look to and for Him. Twelve Step groups were originally designed to put us in contact with our Creator. Relationships should be a mutual exchange of love and service to encourage, build up and draw everyone closer to our Heavenly Daddy. Jobs are there to make us able to provide for ourselves and others. Locations are simply a base of operations for service. Our hope is not in any of these things. The Spirit of Christmas is as meaningless and empty and as foolish a hope as the idea that finding a four leaf clover will make your life perfect. But the Spirit of the God who loves you as you are, not as you should be, and has declared His desire to make His very home within us to give us the power to change and to be all that we were created to be by Him and who wrapped Himself in our humanity to take our just deserts upon Himself and give us His just rewards, yes, that Spirit of God that Christmas is supposed to remind us of, point us to and that we celebrate, in Him is our hope. I do believe in that Spirit, because He has set me free and made me able to love and be loved. And He can and will do the same for you if He is sought.
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