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But, there is no Thanksgiving dinner in France. One of the American missionaries I met during my stay periodically has what she calls �English Nights� where people who speak English and people who want to learn can come and we all visit. The last one before I left was a Thanksgiving dinner. There were people there from all over the world, South Africa to Northern Ireland, and everywhere in between. They couldn�t believe that all of America stopped for one day, and everyone was thankful. They have nothing like it in their countries. Since there isn�t any national kickoff like the Day after Thanksgiving sales, the Christmas season starts to trickle in about mid-October. There aren�t any of the big store displays, and I never did see a Christmas tree for sale. In France, Christmas is a time to spend with your family. Christmas dinner is something that you spend days preparing, and hours enjoying. Presents are given, but the food is the most important thing. To our American eyes, it would seem that the French are on to something. After all, what could be nicer than to spend Christmas day with your family, without any of the stress we associate with the holidays? No Santa Claus or Frosty the Snowman to deal with. Just your family gathered around and the real reason for Christmas. With all of the great cathedrals around, surely they can�t lose sight of what�s important, especially at Christmas time, right? You can�t drive more than 15 miles in France without running into a little village. Most of those little villages have a center where there is a church, and usually a fountain. I visited cathedrals in the North of France by Normandy, and in Paris, and all over the South of France. Despite the difference in location, there is one thing that was the same from the Notre Dame in Paris to the Notre Dame in Bayeaux; they are all tourist attractions. In the sanctuaries of these churches, there are displays of art, or historical timelines. There are gift shops where you can buy postcards and candles to light for the Virgin Mary. There are art students in abundance, but in all the cathedrals I visited, I only saw one woman praying. Your average French person is in a church three times in their life: the get baptized, but only so they can have a place to get married, and a place to be buried. The French culture is about as Godless as you will find. It will affect far more than just church attendance. I lived in it for two months, and it made me happier than I can ever say to come home, and see �God Bless America� stickers on cars. I still get chills up and down my spine every time I drive down the road, and see an American flag flying in someone�s yard. I had a friend from Germany who observed how many flags she saw on the news just after 9/11. It�s true there were more flags right then, but we have always flown our flag. Ursula said that you would never see anything like that in Germany. She said �Why would I want to fly the flag? There is no reason to be proud of being a German.� And that is the mindset throughout much of the World. You would never see a �God Bless France� sticker on anyone�s car. When I had to eat French food, I realized how much I loved American food. It�s amazing how many of the little things I took for granted, like having Parmesan cheese last for more than a week. In France, it doesn�t. Be thankful for that the next time you have lumps in your four year old can! Just like I took food for granted before I left, I took the presence of God in out culture for granted. Until you have experience something else, you don�t realize how blessed we are to live in America. When I think about how devoid of God the French culture is, it starts to make sense why they don�t have Christmas with all of the pomp we do. They have so little to celebrate. Next time you look at your Christmas decorations, don�t think of them as just something for the kids or a symbol of how commercialized we have become. Remember the French and be grateful that we have a chance to tell our friends what we are celebrating! America from the inside looks Godless to us, but there are little things that we see every day that we can use to tell other about Him. In France, people are very suspicious. If you happen to make eye contact with someone on the street, you don�t nod or smile. You stare. It is inconceivable to a French person that you would not only acknowledge the person behind you in the grocery store, but actually talk to them. To build a friendship in France takes a long time. Before you can even think about sharing Christ with someone, you have to know them very well, and that can take years. We don�t have that hurdle to overcome. Americans are very friendly, and they are willing to talk. So often, we like to think that we are doing our part. After all, we spend some Saturday�s at camp getting ready, and work in the kitchen. We help in the hot kitchen during the summer. We take our turns in Children�s church, and we teach a Sunday school class. What more could God ask of us? France is a Godless society because there are so few people who are willing to spend the time to build relationships. The French are skeptical of God because they see him as the Catholic Church, which in France is nothing more than tradition and rituals. We can all help reach our neighbors, and our hair dressers, and even the annoying person with three crying kids behind us in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. We can show them a God that is so much more than rituals and tradition. We can give them the greatest gift of all this Christmas; a chance to have a life with purpose. For the past several weeks, we have been hearing about making Christmas Declarations. Larry has boxes under the Christmas tree that would be a great starting place for us all. I�m going to play a song right now and I would like for us all to think of one way we can keep America from becoming like France. Let�s come back next week, and be excited about the people we have met. Let�s get those boxes under the tree filled with the greatest gift of all- building relationships for the Glory of God. |
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