It's Christmastime again, and it's a magical season. The air is a bit brisker to welcome the lights that now adorn homes, trees, and businesses. It's as if just before the land sleeps under winter's cold spell, everything erupts in one last bright, merry celebration. No matter the frustrating things of the season and all the reasons that we have to be bitter. For a short time, no matter how much we try to be dour, Christmas trees with a thousand lights and memories draw us back to an easy chair in front of a fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate. We all know what a merry Christmas looks like, and none of us has completely buried it out of reach.
It's not the most joyous time of year for everyone. This is the time of year that those who lost family in the last twelve months grieve the most. Countless people will toil at work straight through the holiday, whether they work for a scrooge or provide an indispensable service to the world. Shopping will certainly frustrate us, and family just has that wonderful way of making the best of us into a grinch. But what's so magical about Christmas is that it's possible, even if for only a fleeting moment, to reach through the mess and discover that the world in fact has a bit of good in it, no matter how miserable it seems.
For this is the time of year that God saw the mess of His own creation and compassion finally moved Him to action. Unable to wait any longer, he sent His own Son as a little baby into that world. If the world hadn't a speck of good in it, He would be that good. And just as a fearful child enters a dark room knowing what dangers could lurk behind every shadowy obstacle, Jesus knew that all the world was only waiting to be lit could he just make it to the other side to tear open the curtains and let the light pour in. For God knew that the good had not been entirely driven out of His creation, and that no man was beyond hope. At Christmastime, we remember that we are not without hope, and that even the darkest hour comes only right before dawn.
At Christmas, I'm convinced that if there is anything bad in this world, it is because those most able to make it good have withheld themselves from fixing it. If there is meanness, it is because we have lost the spirit of Christmas. If there is sadness, it is because we have forgotten the gift of this season. At Christmas, it's just a bit easier to believe - to believe in good. If this time of year we are kinder and merrier than any other, we can make this magical season last beyond the New Year. In the next year we can show kindness and compassion, we can choose to believe in the good, and we can choose to dive into the dirt and mud with both feet and cultivate it.
Adeste fidelis, and a very merry Christmas to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment