Have you noticed how the holidays bring out the absolutely worst in people?  It’s almost as if Christmas and Thanksgiving institutionalize dysfunction. The worst example of this I witnessed on Christmas Eve.
It was about 9:00 AM and my wife had sent me to the grocery store to pick up some coleslaw that she had forgotten. I stopped at the gas station along the way to fill up when I saw the following incident.
As the car was filling up I heard someone yelling loudly at another person. I turned around and one man was leaning into the window of another vehicle screaming about his wife being cut off. F-bombs were being dropped left and right! After about 20 seconds of their exchange, I was ready to walk over, step in, and say “Guys, it’s Christmas.” Fortunately, the man’s wife walked over and pulled him away.
As he was leaving, he yelled one final expletive – “Why don’t you f-ing drive off!” Thankfully, the other person did. At that point I began to wonder what trajectory must a person be on that they would end up in the parking lot of a convenience store yelling expletives at another human being on Christmas Eve?
- What was his childhood like?
- What was his father like? Was he in his life? Did he come from a broken home? Was his father an encourager or always told him how bad he was?
- How did they handle conflict in their family?
- What were his dreams as a kid? Why didn’t they come true?
- Why would a woman marry a man like this? Did she think she had no other options?Â
- What is their marriage like? Do their kids stand a chance at all?
- Why doesn’t he feel the need to express peace and goodwill to men?
All of these are leadership questions and this was a significant leadership issue.
I was then reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus was born to give people a life of meaning and purpose, both in this life and in eternity. I’m pretty confident this man doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus. I hope somehow that he will also be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas…and soon.
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