One of the definitions of the word “equal” that is provided by dictionaries is that of “being the same as something else”. For humans, the concept of things being the same in our lives is elusive.
Our lives change almost by the minute. Most often the changes are small and incremental but often they are very significant and life altering. Over the course of our lives change, big and small, is constant.
For me personally, many changes have happened throughout my life. We often measure those changes at special occasions like Christmas. My family and I are truly blessed at this time in our lives to have all that we truly need. At different stages of my life, such as after my father died when I was young, things were more of a struggle, particularly for my mother who had the responsibility of raising two children on her own at that time. Our lives have changed dramatically over those years, and there are few things that are truly the same.
That is true for the world as a whole and for nations as well. No two countries are the really the same. In Canada we are fortunate that we have peace and relative prosperity compared to the rest of the world. That changes in degrees as well and the Canada that we know today is very different than the one previous generations of Canadians experienced. But by any measure, we in Canada are among the wealthiest in the world and there will be far too many around the globe who will know nothing of the abundance that we will experience as Canadians this Christmas.
So there is little the same or equal that we can find in our individual lives or in the world. Individual lives are as different as the individuals who live them and the countries in which they are experiencing them.
And it is all that change and lack of sameness that makes Christmas so very special. Because the message of Christmas, the message of hope and of peace that came that very first Christmas in Bethlehem is meant to be the same regardless of individual or global circumstances. It is meant to be as meaningful in times of peace as it is in times of conflict. It is offered to those who are in circumstances of great wealth and for those who struggle for even the most basic of needs.
While all around us things change, the true meaning of Christmas does not, it is the same, equal, to what it always has been. And it is one of the reasons that Christmas is so special
My wish is that whatever life has brought you this year, whatever changes are happening around you, that Christmas brings you hope, peace and joy. Together with my wife Kim and son Malachi, I wish you a Merry Christmas.
