Christmas Captivity

Today I was reading my scriptures and came across the word captive.  I pondered on this word for some time. 

Captivecomes from the Latin word “Captivus”, which means to seize or to take. 

Not surprisingly, captivatealso comes from the Latin word “Captivus”, with the same meaning. 

My thoughts turned to Christmas and family.  There are so many things at Christmas time that captivate our thoughts, and families.  We have concerts, parties, festivals, gift and holiday preparation.  All of these things, just like television and popular media choices can often captivate our attention so much that we are truly captive to them, forcing us to leave our family visions on the back burner. 

I am not a big fan of Halloween, and I was explaining this to a friend of mine one day, in the swimming pool of all places.  He said, “how can you not like Halloween?  It is the only true holiday left.  All the others, like Christmas are really just stress and running around.”  Yikes!  This was a terrible picture of Christmas.  Was he right? 

I thought about it, and realized that for many people, he was right, but for a few smart ones, he was completely wrong. 

Some of us have a picture of what we want Christmas to be for our families.  Some of us know that we need to do less so that we can find more wonderful memories with our families.  Some of us read Christmas stories to our children on a daily basis, and enjoy making family memories at home as often as possible. 

People fly all over the world around Christmas time to go back to their homes.  Christmas happens at home, not at the mall, or all the many community events.  These events can add great festive touches to our Christmas memories, if they are done in moderation and the Christmas at home is the top priority.  Christmas isn’t one day, it is over a month dedicated to loving our families, and friends, and spreading light and joy to those around us.  Joy will spread if we keep our priorities straight, and make Christmas still be about memories at home. 

I don’t know anyone who would want to be captive in a war.  But, how many of us allow ourselves to be captivated by many silly things?  How many of us over use our computers, and televisions?  How many of us put off good family time to prepare for or go to big events all the time?  If we allow ourselves to be captivated, then we are choosing for our families to be captives in the war to win the family. 

Beware of captivity, and captivation.  Don’t encourage it, and even if it is not socially popular sometimes, say No to it to stay home and read stories while laying under the Christmas tree as a family.