My husband, who loves everything Christmas, has patiently dubbed me Scroogilla. I usually have so much to do preceding Christmas that when it comes, it seems like a huge monster waiting to be dealt with and conquered.
- Merry Christmas
So it’s Christmas Eve and here I am again, Scroogilla Meets Godzilla. Today will be busy – my sister wants me to make Italian Casatta cake for our family Christmas dinner. I only have one present. My wreaths are still waiting patiently to be hung up, and although the Christmas cards are addressed, they need to be posted. All of this creates what I call “The Monster”, that is, the thing full of stress and distraction that perches on my head and makes itself at home every December 24th. And, true to form, The Monster threatens to unhinge my joy again this year.
The Ghosts of Christmas Monsters
Most of us have monsters to face at Christmas, some of them humorous, some mildly irritating, some enormous. Disappointment at Christmas, for example, can be the steroid that pumps an enormous monster up. After all, this is the time of year we take stock of our situation, comparing it to where we hoped to be by now. There’s always a gap between where we hoped to be and where we are, but when the gap is too huge, it can turn Christmas into a dreadful reminder of our pain and bewilderment.
Maybe that’s why Christ came silently. He didn’t come bouncing in saying “Ho, ho ho, everything’s great!” because of course, it wasn’t. Everyone was being taxed, inconvenienced, and stressed (familiar?) Nor did He charge in with judgment and thunder declaring us all to be sinners unworthy of the season. His first tiny cry was God’s reassurance in saying,
“I’m here with you in your humanity and your situation. I know, and I feel with you, the disappointments and hardships that mark your life. And in the midst of this, as one of you, (God in the flesh- the Incarnation) I say plainly, there is hope in this life and the next. Because I’m here and because I’ll stay.”
God With Us
So Scroogilla, enter into the Silent Night. This night peace has been declared, joy has been enabled and hope has been ignited. The lonely exile we’ve found ourselves in has been met by Emmanuel. He’s conquered the monster in a small, still manger whispering love and redemption. O come, let us adore Him!-R
Resource: I reconnected with an old friend and brilliant Christian musician this year, Bob Bennett. He has a new Christmas album, ChristmasTide that I think would bless your socks off and be a great resource to worship this Christmas – please check out his site at http://www.bob-bennett.com/
Sonya,
Well, said! I hope that for each and every one of us as well. There is no other way to peace and forgiveness but through knowing Him. -R
As far as I am concerned, Christmas could be all year round! I love everything about it: lights, decorations, music ( I do play that year round!), trees, movies, plays, tv specials, turkey and dressing, shopping, presents, Christmas cards, caroling,…the miracle of Christ’s birth, Santa and Rudolph….ALL OF IT!!! However, I do understand that not everyone feels that magical spirit, especially at holiday time. For me, in the midst of my personal pain, marital grief, and all the other misery that goes along with my current circumstance, Christmas is the very symbol of hope. Hope for a new year full of blessings, hope for peace in my home, hope for a brighter tomorrow, hope for a continued recovery for my broken spouse, hope for the healing of my own broken, betrayed heart, hope. Just hope. Christ is that hope, and Christmas is a joyous symbol of that hope.
My hope for all of us who stay in touch on this site, is that we embrace the hope of Jesus Christ every single day, not just at Christmas time, and that we lose ourselves in a deeper, stronger relationship with Him in 2010.
God bless you all.
Sonya
Wow – you’re a Scroogilla? I guess it happens to the best of us. I guess I could be considered that once in a while too. It’s just hard around the holidays when you’re still struggling in your marriage and finding it hard to communicate and all.
But this post helps – knowing that God is with me (us) in our humanity and understands and came to help us. It makes me humbly grateful, and more willing for forgive and look for ways to do good, and not get stuck in my unhappiness. Thanks for your post, Scroogilla… now that you’ve met the Silent Night, I guess I won’t call you that anymore!