Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

so that you may be able to prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12. 2.

This is resistance and reformation on the Fight, laugh, feast network.

The holiday season, what we generally just call Christmas time, is actually a long sequence of holy days, festal revelries, and liturgical rites that are collectively known as Yuletide, beginning with Advent, a time of

preparation and repentance, proceeding to Christmas, a time of celebration and generosity, and concluding with

Epiphany, a time of remembrance and Thanksgiving, Yuletide traditions enable us to see out

the old year with faith and love while ushering in the new year with hope and joy.

It is a season fraught with meaning and significance.

Unfortunately, it is also such a busy season that its meaning and significance can all too

easily be obscured, either by well-intended materialistic pursuits,

frenzied shopping trips to the mall, to find just the right Christmas gift, or by the less benign demands,

desires, wants, and needs which are little more than grist for human greed.

The traditions of Yuletide were intended to guard us against such things,

and thus are actually more relevant today than ever before.

Corey Tim Boone declared, when I think of Christmas Eve's, Christmas Feast, Christmas songs, and Christmas

stories, I know that they do not represent a short and transient gladness.

Instead, they speak of a joy unspeakable and full of glory. God loved the world and sent his son.

Whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. That is Christmas joy.

That is the Christmas spirit. Similarly, Edith Schaefer said,

there is something about saying,

we always do this,

...