Why do sober people drink eggnog?

Looking at all the Christmas celebrations we have in our traditions, it seems like we Mormons get the short end of the stick for a lot of it. Mistletoe is great, but we're not exactly an outgoing people when it comes to kissing random friends and strangers. Dancing is wonderful, but we don't dance much at our Christmas parties either. Eggnog is not great, and we miss out on what may be its only redeeming quality. Say what you want, o LDS supporters of the disgusting concoction, but the rest of the world only drinks eggnog because it's been spiked with booze. Maybe we'd be a bit more up for dancing and making out with Laura from Accounting if we all had a little liquor in us, but that just isn't the Mormon way.

On the bright side, the sober side of Christmas does make it a whole lot easier for us to focus on what it actually good about the holiday: presents. Wait, no, presents are really good; however, the real good part about the day is Jesus Christ. I'm sure you all knew I was getting to this when I started, but there is no point to the holiday without Him. There's no point to any holiday without Him. The birth of Jesus Christ was such a singular event that the world has reset its Calendars by it. Half of the cities in the Western world are named for Christian teachings and saints. No one in history has done more, and no one in the future can do more for us than Him.

It amazes me to think that such a great thing has grown out of the birth of just one child. When he was born, angels sang, and wise men set off in search of Him, but most of the world just went on working. Farmers kept farming. Sleeping families kept sleeping. The innkeeper who turned them away probably didn't know who had just been born out in the stables. To most of the world, He was just another baby, but isn't that how the world looks at things? We ignore the things that end up being the most important because we're focused on trivial things that take up our attention. We are worried about budgets. We complain about driving in the snow. We search and search for the perfect gifts that our loved ones are going to return, re-gift, or just throw out. We stress about seeing family, about gaining weight, about seeing all the right people and living up to all the right traditions.

In the end, none of that matters. In the end, only that one birth, ignored by most of the world, is what matters. And it matters for everything and everyone.

Merry Christmas.

-Adam