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The Minister’s Musings
Season’s Greetings! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I pray that the seasons of Advent and Christmas will be even more special and meaningful.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas has always been a favorite time of the year for me. It is a time not only of being with family, but a time that centers on themes of thankfulness, hope, faith, joy, love, and peace. I always try to focus on these things in my own consciousness throughout these holiday seasons, and rarely have I been let down when doing so. Nevertheless, there have been times that I, like many others during these seasons, have been faced with feelings that are not always quite as joyous and happy as we strive to make them to be.
So much attention is given to this holiday that it can either be a positive or negative experience, depending on how life has been recently. Christmas is one of the saddest times for many people. Sorrow, fear, anxiety, and even dread can be at their apex at this time. For those who have never felt alone, despondent, overburdened, heartbroken, or despairing during the holidays, this may not make much sense that some do not anticipate the holidays with joy in their hearts and peace in their minds. For these others, Christmas is indeed the happiest time of the year.
The Christmas “Spirit” certainly bears witness to the positive rather than the negative, and many may attest that the Christmas “Story” does the same. But are we looking at the whole story if we believe Christmas is “only” about peace, love, and joy?
We that are Christians believe that Jesus’ birth brought hope, faith, love, peace, and joy to the world. How can that be anything but a cause for celebration? The singing of tender, inspiring, and heart-warming songs inspires those attitudes in us, and also give us an opportunity to share that attitude with others. These carols tell of the love of Jesus’ parents, the awe of the shepherds, the respect of the magi, the joy of the angels, and even the peaceful contentment of the friendly beasts who shared their stable with the one who would bring all people (and creatures) together in love and harmony...people from every walk and station of life, from every nation and race, and even from every specie. But what about “the rest of the story?”
I consider what it must have been like for Mary to have been told by an angel that she was going to become pregnant and give birth to the Messiah. The biblical text reports her consternation at this at first, while her faith had to play catch-up. Once she did accept that she would bear a child, it must have produced a lot of anxiety and dread in itself. What would her fiancé, Joseph, think when he found out she was pregnant? What would her family and the entire community think? Would they all reject, abandon, and banish her? Since there were stringent laws concerning such matters, would she be imprisoned or even stoned to death? Who could possibly believe her side of the story? And what would it have been like in Joseph’s situation? How saddened, angry, broken-hearted, and despairing was he when he discovered that his fiancé was with child – a child that was not his? Could he believe her? Imagine the vexation he must have later had in seeing the angel. Who could believe his story? Could he even fully believe the angel? The vexation, anxiety, fear, and dread that both Mary and Joseph had concerning the birth of Jesus was compounded in that they were told he would be the savior of the world. How could any set of parents take on such an overwhelming responsibility to care for whom they were told was God’s own son?
The original Christmas story is thus filled not only with numerous causes for celebration, but also for numerous causes for consternation, anxiety, dread, and despair. And perhaps this is why it is a part of “the greatest story ever told.” In this way it reflects life as we ourselves know it. The most meaningful and inspiring parts of our life are often the ones in which we do not know the outcome, and in which we may even fear and dread what our practical minds tell us is likely to be the outcome; but, yet, in which our faith tells us to hope and trust in something that will save us from the despair and will guide us like a star to a place where we are reassured and inspired by the presence of God’s love and grace in our lives.
Life is not always easy when we have faith. Indeed, that we, like Mary and Joseph, even “need” faith indicates that it is not easy. But faith is what gives it meaning and purpose amidst the trials, struggles, and hardships. Purposefulness is not gained by remaining in the calm port of our own understanding, but is found as we lift our sails with faithfulness on life’s great ocean amidst the uncertain winds and unnerving waves of anxiety, fears, and dread. By accepting the challenge of our hearts and acting on faith, we become participants in the greatest story ever told – the story of the liberation of all creation.
The Christmas story reminds us that despite our anxieties, fears, bewilderment, and worries, these unsettling states of being need not have the last word on our voyage. It reminds us that we have the greatest opportunity to experience the birth of meaning and purpose in our lives when we open ourselves up to the possibility of hope and faith – even when it seems our ship is sinking mid-ocean. This is the Christmas Spirit: it blows into our lives, fills our sails, and steers our rudder to a world where love, peace, and joy await our arrival.
We do not acquire this Christmas Spirit by ceaseless hours of ease, but by acting on a faith that extinguishes the seemingly endless flames of apprehension, anguish, and discouragement with the quenching love and peace of God. How this happens may pass the understandings of our mind; but if we open ourselves to it, then it may light a different fire in the hearth of our heart – one that does not destroy or incinerate our peace, but warms and lights our way. My prayer for each of you is that you have a very meaningful Christmas that is full of faith.
May love, peace, and true joy be with you and yours this season!
Pastor Bret
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