I like pumpkin pie especially topped with whipped cream. At a recent Thanksgiving dinner I had pumpkin pie- without the crust, cooked in a ramekin. With whipped cream on top it was still delicious. On the other hand I have a pound of pumpkin flavored coffee which probably will last me the rest of my natural life. It doesn’t exactly taste terrible (ok, maybe it does), but I am certain that one cup a year is more than enough. Some things are just a bit too much. At times I feel like this about the Christmas season. I enjoy all the trimmings and trappings, but after a while it seems a bit too much. I appreciate the deeper religious and theological meaning of the birth of Jesus, but when Christmas decor goes up alongside Halloween, I begin to wonder if all this is less about loving and honoring Jesus and more about loving and honoring sales projections. I try not to let this spoil my pleasure in Christmas, but it is a struggle. I don’t really feel “grinchy” about all the Christmas excess. I do remember with some revisionist nostalgia when one toy and an orange in one’s Christmas stocking was a reason for celebration. If there was a book shaped package under the tree, socks and underwear could be accepted as presents even with some limited appreciation. There are things I miss about that simpler time in my memory. In the end it is not advertisers or pitch men who determine how I will view Christmas, but rather my willingness to welcome Christ into my life and love. It will be my willingness to let the Christ child be born in me today.