Needing a little Christmas

There is an unwritten rule that has been in my family for a least a generation, a rule that prevails in my own household today, and that is, we don’t decorate the house for Christmas until the 24th, Christmas Eve. Period! Usually, there are no exceptions, accept for this year.

In the past, I have resisted those radio stations playing Christmas tunes, avoided the malls and such. Yet, over the past few weeks, I have given in. I am particularly drawn to Jerry Herman’s, “We need a little Christmas,” and find myself humming along as I drive my car through the crowded streets of the Five Towns, past streets that are still littered with storm debris and refuse from damaged homes. Indeed, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, an early Christmas is most welcome, and I think it safe to say that we need a little Christmas “right this very minute.”

Some 2,000 years ago, into a world in chaos, suffering and despair, in a world of uncertainty and unrest (sound familiar?), God, out of His abundant and steadfast love for the world intervened, and as it is written, “the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). Christmas is that wonderful culminating moment in human history when heaven and earth, God and humanity met and were one. In that moment the veil that separates heaven and earth was lifted, and the world would never be the same again. We were saved! There was hope! The storm had ended! A new day had begun!

This Christmas will take on new meaning and have greater significance for many people. I know that it will for me and my family. Indeed, there will be those individuals and families who will be celebrating Christmas in a different home, having lost theirs in Sandy’s path.

There be those who will be replacing those items that were lost and destroyed, wherein some of the nuance of gift giving will be diminished a bit. There are others who will be feeling the acute absence of loved ones lost to the storms wrath, and so on. In all of these differing circumstances, there is one constant that binds all of us together no matter where we finds ourselves, and that is God’s deep and abiding love for us and for the world.

Christmas reminds us of that love, that sustaining, uplifting, healing, and transformative love, and I pray that the love and Spirit of God will comfort, guide, uplift, and sustain you this Christmas and beyond.

In short, God loves you! Have a Merry Christmas!