Things Ain’t What They Used to Be. It’s a jazz standard from 1942, written by Duke Ellington’s son Mercer. It’s increasingly how I feel: Things ain’t what they used to be. In Flannery O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” one of the characters observes, “Everything is getting terrible.” Perhaps you’ve felt that way. “Everything is getting terrible.” Things ain’t what they used to be.

What does any of that have to do with Christmas? Much in every way. The cultural Christmas event is all about experiences. Adults want to recapture and experience anew our childhood Christmases, when things were better. We want to create great memories for our children.

Feelings of nostalgia are powerful. But they might just be a sin. We can’t recapture a golden age. Since man’s fall into sin, there never has been a golden age. The meaning of Christmas is not found in sentiment. The meaning of Christmas is not found in giving. As much as we should love our families, the meaning of Christmas is not found in family time….