Going back as far as August 2021, President Biden and Vice President Harris were “warning” Americans that due to supply chain issues, we shouldn’t expect a very Merry Christmas and to plan accordingly.
For many in our culture that message, which was repeated by Democrat leaders with frequency, fell on deaf ears until only recently when shoppers began to see evidence of shortages in stores, both retail and grocery, and the nervousness began to sink in. Rather than offer concrete solutions to solve these shortage issues, the very secular and very anti-Christian White House bellowed the warning even more loudly and in even more dire tones. New car lot inventories began to thin, auto parts suddenly were also showing shortfalls and even large, national drug store chains have started to see shortages on supplies on medicines they typically supply easily.
Circling back to the “Not a Merry Christmas” message we started with, as disappointment began to set in among many of us, an unexpected message of hope began to emerge. That message echoed by many via the various media platforms was “Have we forgotten the real reason for the season?” and that is the celebration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It’s interesting, in a way, how images of Santa Claus took over the landscape in lieu of the Crèche. Next came snowmen and then Snoopy and other Disney characters replacing the jolly old fellow himself and as time passed, the real reason for the season slipped away quietly almost into obscurity replaced by pop icons and animated characters that have little if anything to do with Jesus or His birth. The Manger scene with its shining Star of Bethlehem that once frequented urban, suburban and rural landscapes as the norm to adorn the landscape has all but disappeared.
Maybe these shortages are a sign, and a timely one at that, to awaken us to reflect on what’s important, press us to examine our own excesses and outer expression, and instead, to look within. Perhaps it’s a time to get back to our roots, our true heritage of a Christ-centered way of thinking and living within our Judeo-Christian culture that others are intent on eroding and then destroying. Maybe it’s time to put down our smartphones, turn off the television with its hundreds of channels that show little, actual value, and positive contribution to our culture. Let’s plan a meal. Cook with our spouse, our kids, young or old, and let the smell of a home-cooked meal fill the air, tantalize our senses and bring us to the table to break bread, without interruption, and reconsider what’s really important, what really matters.
The only real shortages before us now is a shortage of quality time with those who matter most to us and, a shortage of the recognition of the real reason for the Season; Jesus.
Stephen Xavier is a Raleigh, NC based Conservative Campaign Strategist and Media Consultant. Currently, Xavier serves as the director, communications for NC Values Coalition. Xavier served as the president & ceo of The Cornerstone Executive Development Group for nearly three decades serving some of America’s largest Fortune 500 companies as a specialist in Leadership Development. Xavier has been widely published in business, trade and academic journals and a frequent contributor to the Wall St Journal, Fortune and Forbes.