We’re almost there! It’s the eve before Christmas Eve – don’t you just want to say, “and all through the house, not a creature was stirring…” But, no, I’ll start again.
It’s the eve before Christmas Eve, and after years of battling our way through a pandemic that turned into an endemic pandemic, political discord, racism, school and mass shootings, and so much more, including personal tragedies, how do we find the magic of Christmas? What appears to be a quickly escalading downfall of our nation which shows fear, hatred, anxiety, sorrow, illness and self-interest (selfishness) on a new scale speaks to us of a new way of life.
But this really is not new. While these issues have always been with mankind on some level or another, we were not exposed to the magnitude of them before media and social networks became far reaching arms, bringing us closer, and yet in many ways pushing us farther apart. How do we sit in front of our sparkling trees (and TV’s) and not be anxious or terrified for ourselves or our children and grandchildren? How do we justify our cushy lives with the homeless, the broken, the violence, the human trafficking, the poverty that invades so much of our world? Those of us who have a family, a home, a job, or are living well, did we work harder, have more luck, or was it fate that gave us a life that’s a bit easier to handle financially or emotionally?
If you believe in God and Jesus, there’s an easy answer and He lay in a stone manger over two thousand years ago. We place our trust in Him and His love no matter what is happening around us – and no matter what version of Him we believe in. (I believe God is so much bigger than we can imagine, and His love is so huge it encompasses all in whatever way He can reach each of us. He’ll take care of the final call to everyone, not us.)
If you don’t believe in God or don’t believe God loves humanity, then perhaps you can find solace and joy in the season because there is also good in the world. There are wonderful, giving people who do amazing, selfless acts. There are beautiful places on this planet that help soothe our souls. Believe in the good. Believe in the possibility that we can work toward a better life for everyone. Then take a step in the right direction. Be the person who does an amazing, selfless act. Be a light in the darkness for someone struggling. Do it again and again. That’s how we see things change for the better. Eventually, the seeds of goodness you sow today will come back to you or go forward from you.
Believe. Be. It’s a whole lot easier to look at our blessed/fortunate lives when we are striving to make someone else’s life a little bit better.
Believe. Be. Better.
The lighting of the tree, Lawrenceville Georgia.
Excellent.