When you think of Christmas, what do you think of? In this modern age, chances are we think of shopping and consumerism, going to the mall on Black Friday and traversing over thousands of people to get that special deal on a flat screen TV. However, that is not the true meaning of Christmas or of holidays in general. Christmastime is not about gluttony; it is about the exact opposite, giving back to the world, engaging in empathy and philanthropy. It is about taking a step back from the fastness of society and reflecting, perhaps transforming your life into something simpler, at least for a day or two.
When we think of Christmas, we should not get sad, overwhelmed by money woes or the ability to not buy everything our loved ones want; we should be happy. According to Martha Noebel of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Christmas “is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child.”
There you have it; the true meaning of Christmas revolves around the birth of Christ. That seems redundant to say, but given the culture we live in, it would be hard to guess that this season is about Christianity at all. It is overwhelming to think about, that rush of traffic clogging up our souls and preventing us from seeing the bigger picture. It is about time we take Christmas back from that army of dollar signs, from the parking lots that suck us in like Purgatory, and make it simple again: Celebrating the joy of life in this beautiful world – and you know what helps with that: Horses.
It should come as no surprise that when you think of Christmases past, you imagine scenes of snowy streets or open land, with the darkness populated by a light or two but nothing more than that – and there is always a horse somewhere. The horse represents the greater goodness within us, that connection to the beauty that is God’s world. When thinking on how to celebrate this upcoming Christmas, we want you to think of the horse.