Christmas Reflections

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. 




There were so many smiles today. So many grateful looks exchanged and moments of joy shared. The paper and ribbons are now crushed and cast aside, but the joy is not. 

 Advent - the season of waiting, of expectation - is by its very definition a build up of excitement and anticipation. We work and plan and prepare for Christmas, and frequently experience a sense of loss once the festivities conclude. We have spent a month shaking the snow globe and when the glitter settles the mundane returns. So often we feel depressed when the revelry ends. Tonight though, I was struck by a new perspective: this day is over, but Christmas is not. Christmas is a celebration of the coming of Jesus, and that is the very promise from whence our hope comes every day.


As I reflect tonight I am acutely aware of the coexistence of joy and sadness in my heart. I’m not sure I’ve ever been as cognizant of feeling them simultaneously as I am tonight. They are both so present, so tangible, even physical. But to my surprise they’re not battling within me. They’re coexisting, side by side, each occupying its own rightful space in my heart. It is heavy, but I have hope.


 Today we celebrated the beginning of our salvation; the launch of God’s plan for reconciliation. I am so thankful for that perfect hope; thankful for that light in this broken world. Thankful that there is cause for joy in the midst of suffering. I am still brokenhearted, but not beaten. I am still still downcast, but not defeated. In the midst of the storm I remain rooted in the fact that I belong to a good, good Father. He is the Holiness of this holy day, and I believe His perfect holiness is the reason I am able to experience the joy with the pain - and His perfect holiness does not let the darkness of my pain extinguish the light of his joy. He is the light and the joy, and He has come to conquer the darkness and the pain once and for all.

Psalm 29:2 "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness."

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. 




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