As a child Christmas was always filled with great wonderment and anticipation. The meeting with Santa Claus at the mall was a nervous experience as it seemed this person was the lone decision maker in whether or not I was going to receive any presents Christmas morning. The church Christmas program was also a highlight regardless of which role, Shepherd, Innkeeper or one of the three wise men (I was never lucky enough to be Joseph) I was assigned.
This year I am reliving some of those wonderful memories through my son. Now, as parents, my wife and I get to enjoy his wonderment around Christmas and all that it brings.
These moments are very much the idyllic picture of Christmas. It’s how each of us hopes to experience it. But our life circumstances are not always as perfect. I remember the year that my father passed away when I was 11 years old. The first Christmas after my Dad’s death was, understandably, difficult. Most people have experienced some life circumstance that made the Christmas season emotionally difficult.
This year I know of families who will experience a Christmas missing a child, a parent, or a grandparent. And few who saw the heartbreak of the parents who lost children in the awful tragedy in the state of Connecticut didn’t feel enormous empathy and compassion for those parents and the knowledge of how difficult this and future Christmases will be for them.
It is hardly a wonder that with the different circumstances that we as individuals have from year to year, that no two Christmases feels the same. Upon reflecting on the Christmas experiences that I have had in my life, the idyllic ones and the difficult ones, I’ve come to understand that while my life circumstances change from year to year, Christmas actually never does. There is a consistency to Christmas that is comforting if not always apparent. The message of hope and the miracle that came from the very first Christmas still remain today. There is still a special feeling of peace and goodwill that is unique to Christmas time and there are, more than any other time, obvious demonstrations of charity and compassion within humanity. Regardless of the changing circumstances of my own life, those things have always been there at Christmas.
And it is one of the things that makes Christmas so special. Regardless of what life is bringing us, the Christmas season always offers a consistent message of hope and warmth of humanity that isn’t duplicated at any other time of the year.
Whatever circumstances you have this Christmas, from the very best to the most difficult, I hope that the consistent message of Christmas helps to make it special.
Together with my wife Kim and our family, we wish each of you a Merry Christmas!
