I got home from work and have been doing some minute-before-last-minute Christmas prep. (Last minute stuff will be done tomorrow.) I was thinking, as I have all this Christmas season, about how .. . well . . . terrible . . . "this Christmas" has been for me. And it's not even Christmas yet. But, "Christmas" runs from after Thanksgiving Dinner all the way through Christmas Day. And it has been rough this year. I love Christmas. Always have. Always will. I love it this year, but I haven't enjoyed it. I lost something. I can't do what I second-most want to do for Christmas. And it's, metaphorically speaking, killing me. It hurts.
Even as I write this, I know that there are untold numbers of people out there, some that I know personally, that would joyfully trade their problems for mine. Mine, I hope and pray, is temporary. It can change. Others have known such losses as I cannot fathom. They are deep, sometimes tragic, and often permanent losses. There is no hope or prayer that will change such loss. So I am not by comparison holding my problems up as "poor Dennis" worthy. What I am saying is that we must all be careful of the way we mark Christmas.
Christmas is a powerful time. It amplifies whatever we are feeling. It makes good better and bad worse. I don't have time or room for my explanation of this here and now, but it just does. When we are children, we mark Christmas by what we get. We enjoy everything else about the Day and the season, but we don't realize that yet. When we are older, we mark Christmas by what we have, what we give. What we have are memories, family and friends, experiences. What we give are memories, love, experiences . . . and gifts. I realized tonight that this Christmas, for me, is in great danger of being marked by what I lost.
I think a lot of people, year after year, mark Christmas by what they've lost. I don't mean to minimize the impact of any kind of loss. Christmas is a time to reflect on all sorts of things, from what we have to what we've lost, to what we hope for for ourselves and those we love. It's a time to focus on what we have in the greatest of gifts, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Not only did He save my soul, I think He has been a real life saver this year. I don't think I could have made it without Him. I know I couldn't. I 'm not saying I would have physically died. I'm saying that whatever is left of me He is holding together. I can't tell you how many times I have thanked Him for simply being here. Not that He is "simply" anything.
Tomorrow, later today actually, I'll probably regret being this open. I tend to pour it all out at 2 am. So all this is to say to you, please don't mark Christmas by what you lost. In Jesus, we all gained everything, . . . more than we can know. And the great gift Jesus brings covers ANY loss we can suffer in this life. We have to bear them for a while, but, He WILL take care of our losses ,whatever . . . whoever . . . that might be. It won't always be in this life, on this world. It can't always be. But He will. Maybe you need to find a new way to mark Christmas. If that is the case I join with so many others in hope and prayer that you will.
Have yourself a Merry Christmas! I will. (Somewhat embarrassed, I'm sure, but I will.)
Connected,
Dennis
