So here we are. It's Christmas. To some of us, this day means that we got to open up a lot of cool gifts (and a package of socks) and spend time (for good or ill) with family. For some of us, this is a day that means absolutely nothing. For me, this day has become increasingly important as I have grown in my faith. This year, for the first time, I honestly feel like I am being truly moved by my understanding of this time of the year, and I am eternally grateful for that.
The question of how to express that gratefulness is something which has been bugging me for the last few days. Of course, being that it is Christmas, related Facebook statuses abound. Not to hate on people's choices, but to me Merry Christmas just doesn't have a ton of meaning anymore. It has become cliched to the point that it is known more as that thing you're not supposed to say if you work in customer service than an honest expression of joy and a declaration that peace now has the opportunity to reign in our lives because of what God did.
So what then? What shall I do to express my joy as I sit here in my new scarf (thanks Corbin, even though you're six years old and I don't think you even know what a blog is and therefore probably aren't reading this)? The only thing which comes to mind which even comes close to fulfilling the task is to share with you where this joy has come from for me. Let this act as your que to exit stage-left if you don't want to hear me talk about God. I honestly hope you keep reading though.
I've often wondered at why God doesn't show Himself more visibly in people's lives. Around Christmas time, churches do a lot of talking about how spectacular a gift the coming of Christ into the world was. The key thing that has always acted as a catching point for me was the tense in which this was proclaimed. This WAS a gift. Jesus WAS sent into the world. Then He left. In the most beautiful and loving way imaginable, granted, but He still left.
I think too much of the time I let my thinking stop right there. Jesus left, we've been given the (incredibly hard to understand at times) Holy Spirit to act as our counselor, and God's Son has been forever left to being discussed in the past tense.
It has been in this area that my understanding of Christmas has been changing in some huge ways. The event which Christmas commemorates cannot be looked at as a singularity that just simply happened. Jesus didn't stay a baby forever. He grew up. Why? So that He could die on a cross for every single person who would ever live. This, in turn, gave each of us the opportunity to have a relationship with God. We didn't do anything to earn this. In fact, to earn this amazing act of love, humanity (God's chosen people included) lived in active rebellion for quite a few centuries. Nonetheless, we have been given the opportunity to connect with someone who doesn't let who we are, what we've done, or who we've hurt keep us from His love.
This is how I've started thinking about Christmas. Not as that one holiday that commemorates the birth that didn't even happen in December, but as the start of something so beautiful that I am unbelievably excited to spend the rest of my life and beyond thinking on, experiencing, and understanding it better. Jesus birth didn't "just happen". It was the start of a chain of events which opened up a life we could not have found and still can't find in any other way.
For many of us, the fervor of Christmas is beginning to fade. For others, this time doesn't have any spiritual meaning at all. As I encourage myself, I encourage all of you, however, to think of this time as a celebration not of just one event, but the beginning of a movement that changed all of human history. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have an absolutely wonderful Christmas, wherever you are and whatever this time may mean. May this be a time filled with grace, peace, and joy.
With His love and hopefully His grace,
Taylor
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