Into the Fire

What is often termed the Holiday Season can be a time of joy or a time of sadness. It depends on what's associated with the particular time of the year. I've said multiple times before here how much I love Christmas, but even for me it's a time of reflection for the losses in my life. This year will be the first Christmas without my brother. And although it's only been in recent years that we've been able to spend a day together with our extended and remaining family, whether before or just after Christmas Day, I've always gotten a call or a card from my brother for Christmas. Not this year. He will be celebrating with both of our parents and the star and reason for the season Himself! And although there will be tears shed here on earth when his daughters and grandchildren meet at our home to honor Christmas and his memory, most of us know he's well and truly happy. So this Christmas I will be without Mom, Dad, and my brother Dick. That's all there were of us. 

Mike Duran wrote a touching piece here remembering his father, demonstrating both the sorrow and joy of experiencing the loss of loved ones.

The special times of year which evoke intense emotion, the gathering of family, and, yes, even the giving of gifts, remind us of favorite times or, for some, of somber occurrences and bittersweet memories. Christmas was always a wow-occasion at our home. A fantastic big deal. Dad decorated outside, taped Christmas cards to fill huge brick fireplaces in the family room/kitchen and in the living room. Mom handled the tree and other delightful indoor decorations, making our home a celebration of Christmas indoors and out. I loved it. Still do. We'd have fabulous turkey dinners with my grandmother Lila and various other family members through the years. Lila, my mom's mom, would come over pre-Christmas and bake Dad's favorite date-filled cookies and Divinity: the melt-in-your-mouth kind, with walnuts, perfect. Mom would bake a variety of cookies, all delicious. I loved them all. (Unfortunately, I never acquired their love of baking. And I've always eaten my share of cookie dough of all kinds, ruining the yield of recipe projections.) 

Loss can be accentuated during times of celebration. We want all the pieces to fit together as we remember them. If the holidays presented times of worry or even danger from errant conduct, we often can't shed the anxiety of their approach. Either way sometimes it's hard to truly concentrate on the One who made the reason for the season. The Deliverer. Jesus frees us from the bonds of this sinful life and becomes the focus of what we really need in spite of or in addition to what we might want.  

If Christmas brings you sadness, I pray you will find joy in the reason for the season. The One who came suffered many things on earth but brought great joy to all who experienced His relief. He arrived, He gave, He died, He arose, and to this day and beyond He gives life to all who come to Him. Life on earth is not the ultimate. It's filled with sin and sorrow. But there are times of great joy to be celebrated and lived to the fullest no matter the circumstances of modest or extravagant existence. On earth all things come to an end. In heaven there's the sense of eternal surprise and discovery. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more conflict and ruin. Of course it sounds unbelievable – it's supernatural! Beyond our finite endeavors. It's beauty, truth, joy, and salvation. Exactly what we all need and desire.

Let your heart celebrate Christmas this year. May this "holiday" season be more than just another holiday to you. May it be the source of salvation for everything you truly need.

Father, thank you. Jesus, thank you. Holy Spirit, thank you. Words are never enough.