“In the sad there is a greater need to draw close to Christ, that unchanging member of our Heavenly Family.”
Will Christmas ever be the same? Have you ever asked that question? Has someone ever asked it of you? What's behind a question like that anyway?
Sometimes that question is shrouded in our sideways glances at empty chairs around the Christmas tree. Since Christmas is a snapshot of who is, and who isn't in our lives each year, we often wonder if the magic of Christmas has been permanently marred by our losses. Some have passed on, others have left, all leave an emptiness that the tinsel and bows only exaggerate.
Sometimes the phrase, 'Will Christmas ever be the same?" is uttered with a hint of lost innocence. When you're a kid, Christmas rules. Lights twinkling on the tree transforms the living room into a place of wrapped-tured delight. Papered sentinels, all shapes and sizes, form a fortress of fantasy and wished-for dreams. Holiday traditions envelop us with a familiar warmth of belonging. To be a child at Christmas is to be the guest of honor at every family gathering, and the target of choice for every toy manufacturer! For a brief span of time, children reign supreme in a world where we were often ignored. We even got mail that was addressed to us! No wonder Christmas sparkled in the clarity of innocent youth. But there comes a time when the child no longer lives and Christmas magic is replaced with Master Card or Visa.
Sometimes the question isn't a question at all, because we already know the answer. This year is the first year that our children haven't been a part of the annual Christmas draw in Sheila's family. They are a bit older now and we've been away from Ontario for almost twelve years. It's been a least that long since we've been able to be at the family Christmas gathering. Sheila had a lot to do with the suggestion that toys not be exchanged, but still, there was a twinge and a tear that came with the realization that family has grown farther away than mere miles alone suggest. It's no ones fault, just a reality of life.
Well, where am I going with all this Christmas cheer? It seems to me that we miss the point of Christmas if we expect to always package it in the same paper. Because Christmas is such a strong reminder of the passing of time, we really shouldn't expect it to be the same experience every year. Some Christmases will be wonderfully joyous; others will be exceptionally sad. But that's ok, isn't it? In the sad we still have the march of memories that wash over our souls when joy touched our lives. In the sad, we gain perspective on the blessings that God has brought to our lives. In the sad there is a greater need to draw close to Christ, that unchanging member of our Heavenly Family.
It seems to me that our world has forgotten the message of melancholy. We've been so conditioned to seek happiness and shun pain, that we miss out on the reflection of a quiet soul before our God. Luke tells us that after Mary gave birth to Jesus and the shepherds had done their adoring, she treasured up and pondered all these things. (Luke 2:19) What did she ponder? Was it just the shepherds and what they recounted about the Heavenly host appearing? No, I don't think so. I think she pondered the visit by Gabriel. I think she pondered the difficulty back home when her tummy began to show signs of a growing baby, and her reputation was reduced to rags. I think she pondered the long bumpy road to Bethlehem and giving birth in a sucky stable. She pondered the poverty of their family and the future that would have to be lived out in faith. She must have asked herself "Why me, Lord?" with both a twinge of fear and honor. But as she stored away all these things, she grew in perspective, she grew in faith. She felt the pain of loss, but also the joy of faith. Things would never be the same, true. But God had his hand on their lives and that was enough.
Christmas is really about God reaching out to understand, to work, to relate, and finally to give hope to the hopeless. These aspects of Christmas will never change. True, Christmas may never be the same, whatever that means to you, or to me. However, instead of wishing it were the same, perhaps we would be better off pondering what it has become? If we do, despite the pain and the "poverty" of today's Christmas, I'm sure we'll see the hand of God. Take hold of it; be touched by it. Friends, it's still enough.