Will you be alone this Christmas? There is such pressure from families to BE TOGETHER. It works of course when families live in the same town (or country!). These days we find our relatives dotted all over the globe.
The chances are you may be alone. More than that, some of us may well FEEL alone in the midst of our family gatherings and all the tinseled celebration. And we’re supposed to be so JOLLY – that’s what the carol says anyway.
The truth is that for many Christmas can be very cold and bleak. Our minds are bombarded with so many memories at this time of the year – memories of those we loved who are not with us any more – of moments in our lives that can never be recaptured. It simply hurts.
What is it really all about then? There is no snow (or “snowperson”) for us to make in the Southern Hemisphere. The Father Christmas bubble has long been popped. And even our gifts are often not well received (observe the queues on the 27th December as the exchange ritual begins).
There are those who suggest that we do it all differently. That Christmas as we know it has been totally hijacked by the commercial world. It is suggested that we have a spiritual Christmas – a totally “religious” celebration sometime in September, where we focus on the birth of Jesus and its implications for us as Christians.
I suspect that somewhere in that new tradition someone will pull out a mince pie and a turkey or some other tasty bird. Why then do we need to turn everything into a party? Is this really a commercial plot?
Perhaps not. Perhaps our party natures reflect a need for something deeper - a need to really celebrate life. The problem is that many of us are like an awesome sound system – unplugged. Or dancers in a choreographed dance of life – who are deaf and can’t hear the orchestra play.
The true source of joy and celebration is still the child in the manger. We fail, however, when we leave him there as an infant forever. As a man he fulfils all our human expectations. He is all we could ever become. As God, He is the source of real joy and delight that goes beyond the Christmas elevator jingles and jazzed-up carols.
Listen to what He says: "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: " `We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." (Matthew 11:16-19a)
They could not pin him down. Neither can we in this generation. One thing is for certain, you’ve never danced until you’ve discovered the depth of His tune.
There is a song that He plays that is wider and longer and higher than your favourite Christmas music, more enriching than your most esoteric experience, more profound than the movie that revolutionized your thinking, or the novel that grabbed your heart. The angelic beings sang His song, and simple shepherds were riveted to the spot. They then abandoned their posts to investigate the heralded good news. The starry hosts were disrupted and wise ones traveled many miles to determine the exact nature of the jolting in the cosmos.
A young girl and her beloved sang His song as they guarded and protected this refugee child from a paranoid King who committed infanticide and ripped open the hearts of many a mother. In time men and women from all walks of life sang His song. Through the generations millions have sung it. Will you sing His song? Will you dance His dance? I suspect that for many of you the celebration has not yet begun. It can. Today. There is no need to be alone.
Have a lovely Christmas wherever you are!
Robin
