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Note: Dustin Siggins is a D.C. correspondent for LifeSiteNews.com.

Dec. 24, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – I don't do “reflections.” I'm a Type A, left-brained, fairly aggressive guy living in the Washington, D.C. area who was raised in New Hampshire. Touchy-feely I am not.

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As such, it was my hope the fact that I've only been with LifeSiteNews.com for eight weeks would buy me a reprieve on the annual Christmas reflections tradition.

Alas, no such luck. So here goes…

I'm a Christmas cynic. A few years ago, I spent most of Advent focusing on getting people to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” It was miserable. My mother – one of the world's kindest, most generous people – reminded me that the spirit is what's important, not the words, but I tend to focus on definitions, and that year I definitely missed the forest for the trees.

I also refuse to listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, to give Thanksgiving its respect. Christmas in America is about sales, which is why stores have Christmas (er, “holiday”) sales starting in October.

And “Black Friday,” supposedly the real launch of the Christmas season, tends to end with at least one person dying over the purchase of presents. Material things we don't need, and half of us barely want. For shame.

Oh, and I've heard that Christ may have been born in May.

So these are things that enter my mind as we get closer to Christmas, in addition to the mental stress about the cost of travel and charitable donations – stresses that I need to grow up and get over.

I swear, I'm actually a happy person…

What ends up saving Christmas for me? First, a return home to New Hampshire and Massachusetts (where my parents now live) to see family and many friends. While I only saw one friend this year, I became the godfather for that friend's daughter, so that made up for not seeing other friends. Last year, I saw 16 friends in two days of traveling across New Hampshire.

Second, my mother's re-creation of a childhood-like Christmas every single year.  She still has paper hands that mark the outline of my sister's hand in 1990 – when Katie was a year-and-a-half old. Such things hang on the tree. She still puts a carrot and cookies out Christmas Eve, even though we are 15-plus years past when Katie figured out Santa isn't real.

It's hard to be cynical when your mother only looks at the positive, and has the kind of childlike happiness Christ says we should all have.

A recent realization that helps me see Christmas in a more positive way is the simple fact that while we celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th of December, this is the day that started Him on His path to death. That stark reality reminds me that if He can come into this world knowing exactly what slings and arrow He is going to face, and do it with joy, kindness, and charity, surely I can do the same with my more minor difficulties.

Oh, and while this year's Christmas has some difficulties that prayers would help solve – thanks in advance – the bosses are giving the traditional paid time off between Christmas and the day after New Year's. Which means I will have a whole week of limited time on the computer, getting outside during the day to soak up the sunlight (working from home means I miss most of the sunlight every day), catching up with friends in the Washington area, and getting lots of time in the gym, cycling classes, and yoga.

So this year, my cynicism is diminished somewhat by the post-Christmas break – the first time in my working life that I've been able to enjoy a substantial break around Christmas without worrying about how many vacation days it costs, getting my work done in spite of Christmas, etc.

I know this isn't much of a reflection – maybe Steve and John-Henry will let me run through highway traffic instead of doing a reflection in 2014? – but I hope you'll appreciate the honesty.

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