(December 23, 2020) It’s still dark outside this morning, and all is quiet as I sit in my favorite chair before sunrise. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. All the list-making, shopping, wrapping, and shipping are coming to a close. This Christmas will be different from Christmases past, for our family and many others. I’m determined to keep some kind of normalcy to it, though, and so there still are cookies to bake and meals to prepare. But, right now, I’m savoring the quiet of the early morning.
As I sit here, my heart goes out to the people who have lost loved ones to COVID, the thousands more who are still battling it in hospitals or at home, and the medical personnel or family members who are caring for them. I think back on the toll the pandemic has taken on all of us and the pain it has caused -- physical, emotional, financial, relational, and spiritual. I think ahead to what the next few days will look like. This year, for most of us, there will be no large gathering on Christmas. This year, the visiting and gift-giving will happen little by little over several weeks, and sometimes not even in person. To visit with those unable to travel, we’ll use technology to see each other on a computer screen, and we’ll be grateful for even that distant interaction. This year, many people won’t be going “home for the holidays.”
With everything we’re going through, we might not feel like celebrating Christmas this year. We may be asking ourselves, “What does something that happened 2,000 years ago have to do with me today? I have all this pain; why should I celebrate?”
Why? Because we’re not remembering only the birthday of Jesus. Rather, we’re remembering that Christmas is Emmanuel: God With Us. God is STILL with us. We celebrate because, through it all, He is still loving us, guiding us, holding us up, and helping us to love others if we but let Him.
Before Jesus came to earth with His radical teaching, we followed rules of fairness, like ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ But He teaches us what love really looks like: to humble ourselves, love our enemies, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive more times than we can count, and love our neighbor as ourselves (see Matthew 5:42-44, Matthew 25:35-40).
God uses our own situations – even the painful ones -- and the people around us – even the difficult ones – to show us His love. Maybe the doctor or nurse was especially kind to you and got a brief smile out of you. Maybe someone brought you a meal to lessen your burden. Maybe a friend called or texted to see how you were doing. Maybe a cranky neighbor surprised you with a plate of cookies.
We get a good feeling when we put cash in a red kettle, pay the bill for the car behind us in a fast-food line, call someone on the phone out of the blue, or do any act of good will for someone else.
God in His wisdom designed us to feel good when we get out of ourselves and shower our part of the world with love, even when we’d be justified in focusing on ourselves and our struggles. He shows us that when we stretch out our hands in love toward our neighbors, and people all around the world do the same, those hands reach around the globe and bring Peace on Earth.
Christmas may not look like others from the past, and that’s OK. Let’s celebrate Christmas anyway, in any way we can. Let’s celebrate Emmanuel – God With Us --coming to earth 2,000 years ago. And let’s celebrate that He’s still with us. May His Love bring you peace this Christmas and always.
Merry Christmas!
Gina
This article is a personal reflection by Gina Bedell. It and other reflections written by her invite the reader to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide the reader to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for their life. © 2020, Gina Bedell
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