Lacking In Substance

Photo by Jeswin  Thomas from Pexels

Have you ever felt like your holidays were more empty than festive? It seems many feel that way. Tis the season when we are told that we are supposed to be happy. We're supposed to have a holly jolly Christmas. Life is supposed to be cheery and bright. And yet, for many this is the least wonderful time of the year.

I use to associate Christmas with a number of very negative life events. My parents announced their divorce during a Christmas trip to grandma's house. That year felt like over the river and through the woods to total devastation we go. As a teen I totaled my mom's car right before Christmas. A year or two later I watched my mom cry after receiving my first college report card. I wish I had gotten to the mailbox first that day. For a while it seemed as if my Decembers were cursed, marked by failures and tragedies enough to make anyone have a blue Christmas.

This might sound odd for a Christian to say but for many years I found nothing of  substance in celebrating the birth of our Lord. I was too encumbered with Christmas past to get anything out of the holiday. I did all the things I thought I was supposed to in order to honor Jesus but there was always something missing. My focus was on doing what others said was necessary. Meanwhile I was treading water waiting for the next big wave, in fear it might be the one in which I drowned. The pageantry of my religion only made matters worse.

It took something greater than religion to turn things around in my life. It took a relationship with the One whom we celebrate as being born in a manger on the first Christmas Day. I discovered His offer as described in the narrative of the nativity. Because Jesus was born and because He died on a cross, being resurrected on the third day, we have the opportunity to share in a relationship with the creator of the entire universe. The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of God's love and of the fact that He wants us to walk with Him daily. It is the celebration of Christian adoption by which we can call, "Abba, Father," knowing that He hears and cares.

No, life's problems did not go away. But now in all situations I have hope based on my relationship with God. When I am sad or overwhelmed I have something more than just religious practice to which to turn. I can turn and seek the glory of God knowing He responds with open arms. It is in His love that my life and the things I get to do around Christmas become substantial. Knowing we celebrate the birth of my closest friend makes the season grand.