Remembering Christmas

     Have you ever had a bad Christmas? I have. Well, maybe it wasn't Christmas day itself, but the days before.

     School had dismissed for the holidays. My sister and I, both teaching at the time, were home alone. Our parents planned to return from their current job late Christmas Eve. 

     I don't remember exactly which tragedy struck first. One of them, however, was the lack of firewood. It was cold, at least to a southerner, and there was no way to heat the house except for a feeble space heater or two. 

     Things soon went from bad to worse. The lights started flickering and dimming randomly. When we tried to run the microwave it refused to operate properly. We checked the breaker box. Nothing wrong there, but something was clearly amiss. Because it was late, we turned off all the electrical items we could and sat huddled in jackets and blankets under the dim glow of a single lamp.

     That was the same Christmas there was a water leak Christmas morning that caused the entire community to have the water shut off until an hour or two before lunch. 

     It was Christmas, but I for one did not feel joyful. Instead I suffered from an acute bout of self pity.

     There is another Christmas that stands out in my memory. I was no older than eleven. My parents had warned us children that there would be no Christmas trip to visit far-away relatives. There would be no gifts either. There simply wasn't money. 

     But I remember that Christmas because it was one of my favorite celebrations ever. Our family spent the day in our tiny house. Mom turned down the lights and lit candles. We sat on the floor and played games. We laughed and sang and read the story of the first Christmas night. It's possible Dad made some of his famous caramel popcorn, but I don't remember the details. They weren't important. The thing that mattered the most was the true Spirit of Christmas, the Love we shared.

     Neither of these memories depicts a perfect Christmas, but the first Christmas wasn't perfect either. There was an inconvenient tax, a weary, travel-worn couple, and a dank and dusty stable. The characters in the story had every right to feel miserable. The shepherds were desolate on the hill, perhaps lonely and forlorn. The world lay in silence, hope nearly forgotten. Many believed the promised Messiah of the ancient writings was surely a myth rather than a Man. The darkness resting on the souls of mankind was heavy, suffocating, crushing.

     But then there was Love. Love, born into darkness. Love, lighting up the night. Love, taking away the loneliness, the fears, the desolation. Love, prompting shepherds to leave their sheep, moving Wiseman to embark on a journey of hundreds of miles. Love, moving the very angels of Heaven to break the subdued silence on earth with joyful songs and the proclamation that a Savior, the very definition of Love had arrived.

     Where do you find yourself this Christmas season? Have you found yourself cold and miserable, pitying yourself amongst the bleakness of the world around you? There are plenty of things gone wrong. You needn't even look for them. It may not be a lack of firewood or faulty electricity, but it could be a canceled trip. It could be bills overdue, a loved one astray, a mental struggle you are fighting, a hopelessness and disappointment in how life has turned out, a little voice that whispers it doesn't pay to try. Perhaps the world is big and black and ugly, and you feel cynical and afraid.

     But there is an answer for whatever situation you are facing.

     Christmas morning doesn't need to dawn a perfect day to contain the true Spirit of Christmas.  Love can saturate the most humble of celebrations.  Love can be felt when you forgive and welcome home the family member with whom you have shared differences. Love is there to warm hearts when someone tries to politicize the conversation over the Christmas ham. Love is there to light the way when it is the first lonely Christmas after you've lost someone you loved. Maybe it won't be perfect. Maybe there will be painful moments and even tears, but Love thrives in any situation when you let Him in. It doesn't matter if you are rich in earthly wealth. You can still be rich in Love from the Lover of All.

     Merry Christmas to each one!