Christmas and Conflict

Christmas is a season of joy and fun for families and churches. Most people try desperately to get along when they have a conflict around Christmas, but it often bubbles up in unfortunate ways. Christmas time is a time of family values, and “we always do it this way.” When couples are separated or divorced, there is often a tug of war with the kids at Christmas. They’re not fighting just on their behalf, they fight because they don’t want to displease Mom or Grandma with a kidless Christmas. If you can’t decide together, having a Parenting Consultant to make the decision of where the kids spend Christmas can save a lot of grief and pain. Old conflicts can be reborn at Christmas along with Jesus if family members aren’t careful.

Churches can be just as tricky. One church I knew had a battle over who got to be baby Jesus. Tradition had it that it was the youngest member of the church. But the youngest baby in the church that year was a child born to regular attenders but they were not members. It looked to be a major battle  for the family who didn’t get to have Baby Jesus until the non-member stepped aside. Christmas conflict require an extra measure of Christmas grace