It’s Christmas!
The neighborhood is beautiful with gentle lights decorating so many homes. The air is crisp, the stars twinkle in the dark sky as all of Creation awaits Christmas.
There is something special about this time of year whether we are Christians or not. Yes, I know there is also a huge appeal by local stores to shop and buy, but honestly, there is so much more going on in the minds and hearts of people these days.
I watch people donating to local needs, to charities, to special projects. I see smiles in the eyes of people who smile at me as we walk down the aisles of the local grocery store. I hear music that evokes memories of years long past and the simplicity that was once part of my youth. I hear children laughing and talking about what they are going to ‘get for Christmas’ and what they want to do during their Christmas break.
I listen to the century old story of a baby born into poverty and imagine the animals and angels delighted they are part of such an unfolding in their time and place and the confusion of two parents about ‘what this could possibly mean’.
And in the stories I hear each day comes the echo of Christ being born through their lives of love.
- A woman sits holding the hand of her dying husband – that hand she has held so many times in so many other moments.
- A man struggling with his alcohol addiction differently this year because he loves his family more than the alcohol.
- A young single mother wanting her children to have clothes that her salary can’t afford and humbly goes to a thrift store hoping they can help.
- An old woman knowing her years are fewer now, lives in peace that flows from a long life of serving.
These miracles happen every day but somehow this time of year brings them into clearer focus. A focus on Love within each of our lives.
My heart overflows with awe and gratitude at all the ways I see Christ being born within each of us.
May each of our celebrations be filled with the awareness of the Light and Love that is in our world today and always.
IT IS CHRISTMAS!
