Year after year humans have high hopes for the Christmas holidays, but their humongous hopes are often hijacked and held hostage by holiday hype.  The Christmas drug of hyped up holidays just doesn’t seem to be able to live up to our exalted expectations.

Mental health, peace of mind, joy, contentment, family togetherness, and love are not seasonal sensations drug-induced by happy holidays.  They are fundamental and foundational aspects of a healthy human psyche.  They can’t be bestowed once a year as Christmas gifts.  They must be cultivated, developed, and grown from within the human heart and mind.

However, if we can get beyond the hype to the original simplicity of the season we can discover the real reason for human hope — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Not an ancient birth lost in traditional trappings; not a commercial conglomeration of consumeristic customs; but a living, resurrected Christ personally interacting with us 24/7/365 — “Emmanuel, God with us.”