Keeping Perspective at Christmas
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
You are reading the fourth draft of a devotion I cannot seem to write. I’ve had some interesting ideas and even found appropriate quotes, but after two or three paragraphs, I ended up erasing them. I am so frustrated. I stopped, prayed again, and realized I was trying too hard. When I push my own agenda, it usually doesn’t end well.
Pushing too hard is a Christmas season tradition. We want everything to be perfect for the holiday. We overspend on presents, some of which aren’t even appreciated three days later. We struggle with the demands of extended family and being pulled in too many directions. Some of you even have the added burden of traveling long hours by plane, train, or automobile (yes, the movie pun was intentional). Most of us are bored with routine until the holiday demands have us running in all directions.
Ironically, the Bible reminds us that Christmas has always been a chaotic season. Before you complain too much, think of the first Christmas. A very pregnant Mary and Joseph are traveling to Bethlehem. It wasn’t a vacation or even spending time with family. No, the first Christmas travel was for the census so that the Roman government could tax the people. Every minute of their trip was filled with the aching fear that Mary would give birth without assistance, which was dangerous. Even after Mary’s successful birth of the baby Jesus, they had to flee to Egypt.
The recipe for a meaningful Christmas is about perspective. The Christmas process was never intended to be perfect. All the chaos and discomfort allow us to focus on the one perfect thing to come out of Christmas, the Messiah. God came to us in the most humble and vulnerable way to share in life’s chaos. Since Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child endured Christmas struggles, our uncomfortable Christmas moments can become spiritual moments of solidarity with the new family in Bethlehem. The sacred family overcame perilous travel, gave birth in a barn, and endured threats from a nasty political figure named Herod. If they could survive so much in the first Christmas, then we should be able to keep our Christmas travails in perspective and experience our holy joy by embracing the gift of the Messiah on Christmas night.
