The Christmas season is officially upon us.

The holiday decorations are up in malls and homes.  Shoppers are out in full force, ready to bite and maim anyone who stands in their way.  And soldiers are enlisting again for the all-important annual tradition, the war on Christmas.

There’s no doubt that that the war for Christmas continues.  Bill O’Reilly may have fired the first shot in this year’s battle with an opinion segment a week before Thanksgiving.  Over the next few weeks, the good cheer of the season will be peppered with stories of oppressive governments and secular retailers and godless neighborhood associations facing off against valiant defenders of Jesus’ birthday celebration.  It’s up to the few, the proud, the Christians to save Christmas.

And as the battle heats up again, I realized that when it comes to this annual tradition, I’m a card carrying Christmas pacifist.  I might even hike to Canada this year to dodge my Christmas duty.  I just don’t care.  Let them take Christmas.

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Trying to get elected President sure isn’t the way it used to be.

Sure, throughout American history, politicians have almost always needed stacks of cash, connections to business tycoons, a soap box and testicles.  We’ve recently relaxed that last requirement.

But that’s about the only requirement that’s been relaxed.  Sure, American politics have always been dirty.  But watching this year’s campaign heat up with the continual swirl of accusations of moral impurity and past transgressions has made me realize something.

We have set a really high standard.  We expect a hell of a lot of our public leaders.  We all think that’s a good thing.  Maybe it’s not…

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I want to know who invented reality TV.

I would shake that man’s hand…and then while I’ve got one of his hands, I’d punch him in the throat.

I can’t stand reality TV, with few exceptions.  If your reality TV show is on the History or Discovery channels, there is a better chance I’ll like your show.

But for the most part, reality TV is the bane of my existence.  It’s like roadkill.  It just pops into my field of vision and I can’t avert my eyes quickly enough to keep them from being permanently damaged.

It makes me wonder if Jesus would be a fan of reality TV.

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Yep, I’m thankful for a lot of things.

I’m sure you are too.  And in a few days, we’ll be thinking about family, food, and football, which is pretty much all that matters to a lot of people.

I know that I neglect to be truly grateful through the year for all the things I have in my life.  I know they are there.  I just don’t pay much attention to them.  It’s easy to take your family for granted.  It’s easy to be filled with ingratitude.  It’s easy to complain instead of be thankful.  So in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, I intend to set that aright and acknowledge all of the blessings I’ve been ignoring lately.  Maybe you can think of a couple of gratitude worthy things that you’ve been ignoring lately too.

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In a couple of weeks, the Christmas season will officially begin for me.

Sure, I’ve already walked into more than one store and been maced with an almost lethal dose of artificial cinnamon gas.  And I’ve seen more than a few Christmas commercials.

But on Thanksgiving, my wife and I will return home after visiting with family.  We’ll put up our Christmas tree and the few decorations we own.  And we’ll play some old holiday records.  I will probably wear a sweater, and that will start Christmas in our house.

Christmas traditions are generally enjoyable to me.  But my wife sent me a text at work the other day that got me thinking…

“I want to do something this year to really prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Any thoughts?”

Oh sure, I’ve got lots of ideas.  Let me list them out…

…

…Crap.  I don’t have a clue.  Maybe you can help us?

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Have you ever had the sneaking suspicion…

…that you’re failing at something?

If you have, great news!  I think we’ve all been there.  You just get the sense that you’re just bailing water out of some part of your ship to keep it afloat.  No, I can’t help bail you out, because I’m using my bucket to bail myself out.  Maybe that’s great news to you, maybe not.

When I was a kid, the adults just started getting on this kick about telling us that we were all “winners,” no matter how badly we performed.  Some kids bought into it (the kids who would’ve otherwise been “failures,” no doubt.)  And that thinking has grown and grown into a sea of participation ribbons and neutered school playgrounds.  Everyone feels special inside the cocoon of childhood.

This weekend, I spent a lot of time thinking about failure, and little league, and video games and Jesus, and I figured out a few new things that we all need to know when we feel like failures.

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