Today is Christmas Eve, and I am
thousands of miles away from “home” and my family. This brings ambiguous and
conflicting emotions. I don’t really know what to say, but a part of me feels
this strong urge to write.
First of all, I am so blessed to
have a family who loves me and supports me. I have been able to talk with them
several times the past few days. Secondly, I am surrounded by an extended
family that has made it their job to make sure that I am not alone on Christmas.
From 6 pm Christmas Eve to sometime Christmas night, I have somewhere to be,
people to hang out with, games to play, and amazing food to eat. The question
then becomes why is it that I still feel a hint of depression and
loneliness.
Is it perhaps that I even after
all these years of following Him that I, deep in my heart, still don’t know the
true meaning of Christmas? Of course, my head knows the true meaning of
Christmas. In my head, I see and hear Charlie Brown asking, “Isn’t there anyone
who knows what Christmas is all about?” Then I hear Linus reciting the story
according to Luke. I know that Christmas isn’t about gifts or Santa Clause or
even spending time with family, but would it still feel like Christmas without
those things? I’m not a huge gift person, and I didn’t grow up believing in
Santa Clause, so the first two aren’t very hard for me, but what about the
third one. What if I spent all of Christmas at home alone? Would it still be
Christmas?
It becomes so easy for us at
Christmas time to do what we always do: spend time with family, eat yummy food,
exchange gifts, read the Christmas story, and sing carols. These are not bad
things, but I want Christmas to be more than just a tradition that we always
do. I want to let the story of Christmas to penetrate my heart. One carol,
"Joy to the World," has done just that. Check out the third verse:
No more
let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
The words to this verse struck
me because it explains that Christmas is about bringing all of creation
in to right relationship with the Father. We minimize it by making it
merely about the birth of Jesus. It seems to me that we, as modern day
believers, do a good job of saying that Christmas is all about the birth of our
Savior, but do we really act like it is. Do our hearts truly acknowledge it?
How I can better show that Christmas is about the redemption of mankind and
nothing else? The following video does a good job of telling a more complete
Christmas story. However, I still believe that it is lacking because it ends at
the manger. The manger is not the end. Rather it is still part of the rising
action. The cross and the resurrection are the climax, the turning point in the
story. We are still waiting for the final resolution. For this reason, we still
sing "Come thou long expected Jesus."
