Joy to The World

JOY TO THE WORLD

My husband’s brother, Fred, was a happy person.  He loved Christmas.  He particularly loved the music of Christmas.  I have a lovely little clock that plays Christmas Carols on the hour during the day and every time it chimes I think of Fred.  I can hear him singing those beloved songs.  Sure, he was a bachelor and really didn’t have anything required of him at Christmas except to show up for dinner.  But his presence added an extra measure of joy.  

It is hard to feel the joy when the holidays begin with Black Friday.  Immediately the focus is on material things.  The pressure on women is especially heavy.  The cooking, the planning, the buying, the worry, the self-imposed expectations drive all thoughts of the meaning of the day away. 

C. S. Lewis wrote a piece called The Grand Miracle.  I admit I had to read it three times before what he was saying became clear.  His point was, that with all the attention to the preparation and to the Baby, we don’t give any attention to what actually happened.  God, the Almighty, the Creator, became a fetus.  He likened it to someone diving deeply in the ocean depths, into the pitch-black water, down into the mud and slime and then up again, his lungs bursting, into the warm sunlight. Bringing with him the thing he went down to get – human nature.  

The point is that Christmas is so much bigger than the frivolous trappings we are so used to. We still have to go ahead with the celebration because it is a legitimate cause for celebration.  But, we need to dig deeper into the meaning of this miracle. 

God became one of us by participating in the greatest miracle of all, human gestation and ultimate birth.  When you do that, somehow all the material stuff falls away and is replaced by awe. 

What Fred brought to the holidays was uncomplicated joy.  Our days of preparation would be easier if we kept the image of God’s magnificent miracle in the forefront of our thinking and felt that joy throughout. 

And what about the gift giving?  Remember God started it by gifting us with Jesus.

Blessings and joy, 

Carol Lemelin OPA