The true "true meaning of Christmas"

You may or may not know that I'm the music person for our ward, but I am. And I've kind of gone crazy planning what was supposed to be an awesome Christmas Sacrament meeting program. Two weeks ago, I was certain it was going to be a disaster (pretty much due to my own bad planning), and then in true Christmas miracle style, lots of different people came to the rescue and now I'm sure everything will go very well tomorrow.

Anyway. I found this article very interesting--you should take a look.

"If we read the clues in our culture--Hollywood Christmas stories, casual comments, Christmas cards, even some sermons--it becomes apparent what the "true meaning of Christmas" is supposed to be. Christmas is the celebration of love, generosity, benevolence, kindness, brotherhood, and familial bonding, and the celebration of the joy, peace, and security that those things promote. The true meaning of Christmas--according to this way of thinking--is a kind of Hallmark sentimentality about a world where there is no strife, no anger, no hatred, and no criticism; a world in which there is no warfare in any of its forms.


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As the magi and the shepherds and Mary and Joseph looked down on a baby lying in the manger, what brought them joy was not the vision of a world where everyone was as gentle and innocent as a baby. What brought them joy was the vision of the final and ultimate defeat of sin and death. They did not see a gentle baby; they saw a fierce warrior, a mighty king--a king who would subdue every enemy, conquer every foe, and bring about total and unfailing allegiance to God and the goodness which He is. He would bring about peace between people; but only after a long, hard, protracted struggle in which we must fight. The more immediate meaning of Christmas is not the joy of PEACE ON EARTH; it is the joy of the promise of VICTORY OVER EVIL."