According to an old saying, the best Christmas gift of all is a happy family all wrapped up in one another. I hope that is true for you this Christmas. In that regard, one of my own favorite Christmases comes to mind. On Christmas Eve that year we sat around our cozy den, a cup of wassail in hand, and sang carols by the light of the tree while Mark played his guitar. It was one of those golden moments when I thought, “Thank you, Lord, this is what Christmas should be.”
The reason those moments are golden is that they are rare. How-ever much we prepare for the celebration, that kind of joy simply cannot be programmed. If we make the family circle big enough, most of us know some sadness, sorrow, or frustration connected with our families at Christmas.
There is the grief over the empty chair, a loved one has passed on since last year. Family tensions are always the worst and seem accentuated during the holidays.
Childhood memories of Christmases good— and bad—flood back at this time of year. The sights, sounds and smells of Christmas call up hopes and fantasies never realized. Loneliness is most severe. I have heard many say they look forward more to the end of the season than to Christmas itself.
But Christmas can be full of poignant meaning even without
golden moments of family joy. The first Christmas was full of family tension.
The brightness of Luke’s story is balanced by Matthew’s dark narrative. Herod’s
insane jealousy, the sound in the darkness of soldiers’ trampling feet, mothers
crying out as their babies were wrenched from their arms and put to death—all
of this was family trouble on the first
Christmas. Joseph and Mary were not fleeing to
The good news of Christmas is that God has come to be with us. Whatever the situation, we are not alone.
Immanuel.
“God with us.”
He is here.