a bright christmas?

photo © 2008 Grzegorz Łobiński | more info (via: Wylio)
Merry Christmas Eve!  Or it should be merry, right?Christmas is supposed to be full of good things.  Family, food, gifts, music, beauty.  So why can't I shake this sense of sadness?  Oh, I know why I'm sad.  Some who were supposed to be with us for Christmas won't be here after all.  And we are sad about that.  As we should be, because their absence leaves a hole, and that hole can't be filled by gifts or food or any amount of fun.

But there must have been a hole in that first Christmas, too.  Mary and Joseph were in a town far from home, away from family and friends, sharing a stable with some animals.  And Mary went into labor.  How frightening would that have been?!  A young teenager having her first baby without her mom or her sister or her aunt or any familiar face other than this new husband who must have been wondering about this baby that was not his.  Was Joseph able to find a mid-wife to help her?  Or was she alone except for this frightened young boy and some noisy animals?  Either way, there was a big hole in her life here.  Her community should have been there with her to share in such a monumental journey.  But they weren't.  And that special baby wasn't waiting for the perfect Christmas to make his appearance.

But despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, that first Christmas must have been beautiful.  Because at the end of the day, Mary was holding a baby boy in her arms.  After all the fear and pain and loneliness, beauty broke in.  The hole in her circumstances didn't swallow the joy.

And the hole in our circumstance doesn't swallow the joy, either.  It doesn't swallow the brightness in my children's eyes or the thankfulness we feel to be with far-away family.  It doesn't swallow the blessing of being together.  And it doesn't swallow the reason we even have this holiday - God With Us.

So for all of us who are missing someone this holiday, or who are struggling with circumstances beyond our control, or who are not sure what control we should be exerting on our circumstances, I wish us a bright Christmas even when it's not always merry.  I wish you a day of beauty in the midst of any sadness or fear.  Today I will try to remember Mary, who must've been missing her family terribly but was also overwhelmed with joy.  For the Light of the World was with her, and is with us.