Christmas Party's and Sobriety

Just a quick note to my friends out there about Christmas party's. Note I don't call them "Holiday Party's". Personally, I'm celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To the people who love to argue this point, I am well aware that December 25 is highly unlikely to be the true birth date of Jesus. It's unlikely the Romans would have held a census around the winter solstice. Travel was far too difficult and dangerous during this time of year to expect people to show up. They were conquerors, but also bureaucrats. You have to be pragmatic about these things if you want to get them done.

No, it is far more likely that we simply co-opted the season for a variety of reasons. People needed a reason to have some fun during an otherwise very difficult time of year, a certain amount of the stores needed to get used or thrown away, and pagans were fairly accustomed to celebrating things now anyway. This would be a good thing to have them tune into the Way and the Life. Also note that celebration of Christmas is really not all that old of a tradition, at least in how it's celebrated today. Christ's Mass has been celebrated in some way or another since the 3rd century A.D.

So, without further ado, how does one celebrate Christmas without alcohol? I mean, go to virtually any Christmas party, be it company, family, or even church and you will often find drinks being served. Well, maybe not at the church one, but that would depend on the particular practices of the denomination. This year, as in most, I have 3 main parties I attend, one for company, one for church small group, and one for extended family. I've already been to the company, and the church small group one. Alcohol was conspicuously absent at the small group, which I didn't even notice until after. Last year, before I quit drinking, I remember there being beer and wine there. I thank them for their consideration for me. The company party, however, little changed. I could hardly expect them to change anything just for me. There's quite a few non-believers who have little problem tying one on with an open bar.

I actually felt no pressure or desire for a drink, perhaps because of the table I was at was with other Christians with their children, or perhaps I was just able to keep it out of my mind. But perhaps it was because the Holy Spirit was with me and protected me.

Psalm 121:7
The LORD will protect you from all evil;He will keep your soul.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
I trusted in Him, I walked in confident, without thoughts of resisting that which I chose not to partake in.

There are other challenges ahead, I'm sure. There are people I have spent previous holidays with that simply don't come around anymore. Christmas with extra nog in the egg nog. New Year's with Champagne.

I do believe I am more in the spirit of Christmas this year than I've been in many years. But I'll leave that for another night.

Be sure to share this on your pages and walls. Buttons below for easy sharing. Thank you and God Bless