We once observed Christmas being celebrated in Berlin, but in reality, we were in Barcelona, and it was early October.
On vacation, we walked past an empty retail space in the morning. By evening, it had morphed into the Berlin Cafe, with new red awnings. Just inside the big front window, young lovers sat at a table for two. Patrons filled the interior.
Colored Christmas lights surrounding the windows. Cables attached to men with cameras and big lights fed into a truck full of technical equipment. Food was served--but it was a portable table on the sidewalk, for the film crew and actors. It only took a few moments for us to recognize artifice.
We joined the crowd lingering behind the film-makers outside of the cafe and watched.
The couple leaned in for a kiss, and drew back. But they didn't gaze into each other's eyes. Instead, the actress rolled her head to relax her neck. And the leading man leaned back and pursed his lips to release a big breath. An unseen director must have called for another take, about ten in all. Of course, it would be edited eventually, but in the making, romance was transformed into tedium. It was hoopla without substance.
That can happen to us at Christmas time.
I love putting up the tree, and playing carols, and choosing gifts for my family. But that's all red-awnings, and I can let myself become the director trying to get the scene, and timing, and gifting "right." (You know how it is choosing gifts, this year may be a "take two" for the umpteenth time.)
But I really don't want Christmas in Berlin.
So I stop and review the gospel accounts of Jesus' birth. Ultimately, I want my faith to be refreshed as I celebrate the baby who grew to prove Himself the Savior of the world.
My prayer for you is that you enjoy both the temporal, and the eternal aspects of this wonderful season.
Merry Christmas!
