From the outset, I want to be clear that, while I am not a Christian, because to me that seems to mean that I would have to believe that the Bible is the word of God, I strive to follow Jesus the Christ – very poorly, I must add. All of my religious friends think that I am a Christian, and I don’t want to burden them with the detrimental cognitive dissonance that will ensue from a reasoned explanation of the nuances involved. And I want to make it clear that I am not persuaded that December 25^th is Jesus’ birthday: the timing of the celebration matters less to me than the spiritual significance of the celebration.

My great disappointment is from the absence, in so many Christmas displays, of spiritual symbology pointing to the divine miracle that Jesus’ advent into our very world represents, the matchless earthly blessing that God the Father provided with his Son’s life in the flesh among us.