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Hey everyone. Welcome to Dr. Josh Axe show and Merry Christmas. Each week on this show we explore the science and principles behind how to heal and grow in your body, your mind and your spirit. And on today's episode I'm going to be talking about how to maximize Christmas and the reason for the season. You know, so many people go through the holidays and with stress, there's financial pressure, there's health challenges, there's travel, there's busyness. Instead of being able to really celebrate the season and have meaningful connection and engagement with family members and I want to explore today how you can maximize the meaning of Christmas and celebrate it in a Christian like manner. Before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and sign up for my weekly newsletter at the link in the show notes. If you want to have all the scientific references and biblical references and things I do on the show, make sure you sign up in the show notes for the weekly newsletter so you can get that every single week. All right, here is what the Christmas season has become about and people sometimes don't even like the word Christmas. They want you to just say happy Holidays but, you know, I want to give you examples. In December of Last year of 2020, retail sales reached approximately $587 billion, averaging around $1,750 per person. And that's extremely high when you look at sort of the average income and the amount of money people have. And the season has really become almost solely about materialism. When I think about today, a lot of the kind of average families across the country, a lot of Christmas has been about receiving gifts and that's it, and saying happy holidays. And so we've lost really the true essence in the meaning of Christmas. So we're going to talk about maximizing the spirit of Christmas. But before I do that, I also want to talk about health around the holidays and Christmas. Did you know? A 2015 survey found that 62% of respondents described their stress as very or somewhat elevated during the holidays. And we've seen other people say it might be closer to 90% that the holidays are stressful. Also see major heart health issues. We see increased alcohol consumption during the holidays, which can lead to holiday heart syndrome. This is characterized by irregular heartbeats, can be high blood pressure, and this condition is often associated with heavy drinking during festive periods. And we also see people with blood sugar issues and fatigue around the holidays due to blood sugar crashes. And so what we see here is that the holidays and Christmas is oftentimes it isn't about the spirit of Christmas in Christ. It's become about consumerism, materialism, spending more money and drinking lots of alcohol and lots of carbohydrates. It's destroying our health, it's harmful to our families, it's not healthy for our spiritual life. And we need to get back to the meaning of Christmas. Now, we all know the real meaning of Christmas. It's why we call it Christ mess. It's celebrating the birth of Christ that is the reason for the season. And so if you're going into the holiday season, and that never crosses your mind, you're not celebrating Christmas, you're celebrating consumerism. So I want to take a moment here before I dive into some of the practical ways you can bring the Christ back into Christmas here for you and your family. I'm going to share with you personally what we're doing around the holidays in order to do this, but I want to read to you Luke 2, 1, 20. This will take just a couple minutes, but I think this is such a powerful thing for all of us to meditate on and read to our families. And if you've got kids, read to them around Christmas. Maybe it's a tradition you start around Christmas Eve or Christmas morning before you open gifts to remember. Christmas isn't about gifts and consumerism only, and gifts are great, but it's about Christ. So this is Luke 2:1 20. In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. Now, this was the first census that took place while quot was governor of Syria, and everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house in the line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring to you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born unto you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be assigned to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, in heaven and on the earth. Peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angel had left them and gone into heaven, the shepher said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told to them about the child, and all who had heard it were amazed at what the shepherds had said unto them. But Mary treasured up these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told. And then Matthew 2:1 12 says this. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the time of King Herod, the magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, where is the one who has been born, King of the Jews. We saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and the teachers of the law asked them where the Messiah was to be born. In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me so that I may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with the mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. You know, this story is so powerful to read together as a family. And I also want to say, you know, there are different versions. I actually like the King James version and new King James Version for this. The language is sort of rich and reminds me of my childhood, which is not what I just read, by the way. But I do think that that is a great. I mean, really, any version, I think is wonderful to read. But I do think there's a richness in some of those older versions there with the way it verbalizes a story. And also, one thing we'll do with our kids again, we have a four year old who we're going to sit down with and we will read the Bible together, but we'll also read it as a. There's a children's book we have that narrates the story in that way as well that I think is easier for kids to connect with in some instances. And then we'll ask our daughter afterwards, we'll say, hey, listen closely. And we will give her certain surprises if she gets the answers right, like where was Jesus born? You know, who came to visit Jesus? You know, right answers are angels along with shepherds and wise men. And so we'll ask her these questions so she can remember and actually learn the story of Jesus. And we will ask her. We'll say, and we've already been doing this right now. And so we'll ask Arwen. Our daughter will say, hey, what is Christmas about? It's the birth of Jesus. That's right. And so she knows that's what we're celebrating, if God sending his son here for us as the Messiah. And so she knows that. And so, you know, ask your kids those types of questions. Also, let's talk about Santa Claus. We recently had a conversation. Our family, you know, I have some extended family and they're very big into Santa Claus. And so they will, you know, throw flour on the ground and make footprints. They'll leave out milk and cookies and have them partly eaten. They'll actually have a big bag, you know, that's velvet that Santa had, you know, all the things. And, you know, Chelsea and I are going to take a little bit of a different strategy than that. You know, we're going to, we probably will let our kids know right from the start that even though Santa's not real, he was a real person and he was very generous. And so we're going to let our daughter know this is who St. Nicholas was. And I want to tell you a little bit about who he is so you can share this with your family if you feel led to. And St Nicholas was a 4th century bishop known for his generosity, particularly towards children and the poor. And he would bring gifts to these kids and very, very generous. Now, he probably wasn't overweight. I don't know if he had rosy cheeks, but he sort of transformed from a saint. I mean, a literal saint. Think of Mother Teresa. Okay, he wasn't. He was a saint that took care of orphans and widows and children, and he gave them generous gifts. And over time, his image transformed into modern Santa. Often depicted as an overweight, jolly man delivering gifts. Which shift the focus from charitable deeds to commercialized gift giving or telling kids whether they're naughty or they're nice and putting them on a list and having parents bribe the kids based on if Santa's gonna give them Christmas gifts or not. I'm not saying that's gonn completely wrong. I'm just saying that's a big part of what Christmas has become about versus I think there's so much value in celebrating Christ number one. But saints like Santa Claus number two and talking about, hey, this was a man that took care of kids in need, that took care of the poor, and maybe that's part of a holiday tradition. Where you're doing that in a very similar way. Maybe part of what you're doing is giving. This is something Chelsea and I know feel very strong about. And I think there's power in doing it both locally as well as internationally. But I want to share with you some ways to put the Christ back into Christmas that we are trying to embody and live out in our family as well. And we're conscious of, number one is family time. You know, when we are around Christmas is we are finding time to have meaningful conversations and engage in family bonds. And so we are playing a lot of board games, we are having a lot of family meals, we're spending watching Christmas movies, we're laughing and talking about life together, we're doing games. I mean we are doing. It's a lot of family time. And so making sure that you're having meaningful family time that people aren't on tech and devices the whole time, that there are real meaningful things happening in terms of bonding. Number two, reading the Christmas story as I just did, sharing these stories and highlighting those birth of Jesus can reinforce the spiritual significance of the holiday. Another thing that we're going to be doing at our church here in Nashville is attending a Christmas Eve service, participating in your local church services, fostering community and reflecting on Christ's teaching. So there's so much powers and what we're doing on Christmas Eve is we're going to go to a service around 3:00 and then afterwards we're going to have our family over and do do dinner and watch Christmas movies, do games. And then with our immediate family, just Chelsea and Arwen and I will do Christmas in the morning and then we'll have the extended family over for Christmas lunch and time together then as well. So we're making sure we're really connecting there with family and Christ on Christmas. And then giving in generosity, emulating Christ's compassion by donating to those in need aligns with the season's messages. There are so many groups that are or bring together canned goods or clothes for people in need. And so going through your kids clothes and saying, hey, let's give some of these things to the poor. And of course you can do things as well. Volunteering at shelters and food kitchens and for food drives, doing those things as well. And then one thing that we like to do is finding somebody maybe that's local and then going out and buying gifts for those people. So like, you know, Chelsea will bring Arwen to a local store and buy a doll or some toys or Maybe something Arwen loves, like, you know, Bluey or Paw Patrol or one of these, you know, these animated characters in Help having Arwen help wrap the gift and giving it to that person. So I think that the more that you can do, and by the way, it makes Christmas so much more meaningful. It fills it with so much more hope and joy and it kind of takes the stress out of things. I mean, there are studies that show when you focus more on giving to others than getting yourself, and not just giving to your family, but giving to those outside, it fights depression, it fights anxiety, it builds more joy in your life. So I want to encourage you to do these things. Read the Christmas story together as a family. Attend a Christmas Eve service, spend family time together with meaningful activities. Be generous to those outside of your own home and possibly volunteer in some way, but do some things to help others outside of the home. And then if you want to continue to educate your kids, tell them about the real Saint Nick. Who is that person? I mean, there's, I'm sure some great online pages just about that. I do want to say this. I do understand that family gatherings can be sometimes stressful and sometimes you have to hit multiple, you know, Christmases up and that can be stressful. But go in with the right mindset of gratitude that you are a saint, that you are a priest, that you are called to serve and love other people and be a peacemaker, you know, so walk in with that mindset. And so when you're having conversations with people, walk in with wisdom, empathy, compassion, you know, avoiding contentious topics like politics, you know, can maintain harmony. Instead talking about things you know that can truly benefit, benefit the person. It could be health related topics, could be spiritually related topics. Those sort of things can bring peace and harmony and health in your household. Remember this Christ teaching emphasizes peacemaking. Approach family interactions with this mindset of service and love and aiming to resolve conflicts, not start them. And it doesn't mean you want to be open about conversations and not be a family that hides things under the rug, but do it in a way that is very with a spirit of empathy and understanding and compassion. And remember the Beatitude, Blessed are the peacemakers. So as you go through the Christmas season, just don't focus on the materialistic aspect. Focus on the spiritual essence of Christmas and engaging in Christlike actions and you can navigate the season's challenges and not just navigate them, but find flourish through them, resolve them, heal them, and help your entire family become closer to Christ and bring the Christ back into Christmas. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the show. I love you. I am grateful for you. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life. I also just want to say thanks to everybody who is subscribed to the show, who has commented or liked the show, and all of you that share the show. You sharing this show is such a gift to me and such a gift to so many people who don't know the truth about healing and body, mind, spirit. So just know I'm so grateful for all of you that are sharing this episode and all the others. And last thing I just want to say is Merry Christmas, God Bless and I'll see you on the next episode.