We are almost there

December 20, 2024, five days until Christmas. What I am feeling right now is that God goes not want us to dwell on the past during this season. I see posts on social media about depression caused by people thinking about those who are no longer with us. I get that, but I doubt very much if that is a beneficial focal point. We should not be focusing on the past or the future. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow, and in Philippians 3:13 Paul exhorted us to be "forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." It is very common for people to think about the past during the holiday season, and one can understand how much depression and sadness too much of that kind of thinking can produce. So, what is the cure for that? I personally have for a long time had rather fractured Christmas seasons, because of various issues in my family. My late (half) sister once described to me how she and her brother (my half brother) were off and on every few years or so. This is greatly simplifying the situation to use it as an example, but, basically, she said that they would be at odds with one another for most or all of the year and then make up just in time for the holidays. I'm not sure how complete an explanation that was but when they were on speaking terms we would have Christmas together, and that was most of the time. They are both half-siblings to me and my brother, having the same mother but different fathers. Our half sister had told one of us that he had told her that after our mother died, he was not going to speak to either of us again, and that is essentially what has happened. In the middle of all that estrangement there was a lot of pain generated inside the family and now there is simply a gulf that cannot be crossed unless some people experience a change of heart. The sum of it all, as far as the holidays are concerned, is that I have no immediate family to be with on Christmas, but I learned years ago to enjoy every day with God. Learning to enjoy every day with God regardless of others' decisions is not something I learned overnight. I am just saying it is a work that God has done in my heart, and I really don't need anyone to invite me over to their house for Christmas even though I always appreciate when they do. What Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown is, "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'" (Luke 2:8-14). I made certain decisions myself in my life, early, the consequences of which have resulted in my present state. I married but did not have children, so I have no heirs, no children, no grandchildren. This is not the norm, even in our fractured age. So I am not like most people in my sphere of influence, as it were. Anyway, I have learned to live in this world with the friendship of God, in the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I believe that without this experience I have had in the Lord, I could be very depressed. I think of my atheist neighbor who says she "detests" the holidays. And she has attempted suicide in the past. I pray that she finds peace with God. When you think about it, it's just one day. On Christmases when I didn't have anywhere to go on Christmas I always thought it wouldn't matter, I could just go get a TV dinner, but I've never actually done that.I live life with other believers, in a small church body. It may be just one day, but it's really a whole season. People start revving up for Christmas on November first. We have Thanksgiving first, but we're all realizing we are in the holiday season as soon as Halloween is past. But we all look at it differently. I don't know how my neighbor gets through this season without faith in God and "detesting" the holidays. That must be very hard, because everybody is celebrating from Black Friday on. The radio stations are playing Christmas songs, the stores are having sales, everyone is "getting ready for Christmas." Too bad everybody isn't "getting ready for Jesus." That would be different. I, personally, love the weeks leading up to Christmas. I think they get more wonderful every day. I love the spirit of Christmas that is absolutely in the air, whether people are believers in Jesus or not. It's kind of mysterious, really. It's not mysterious to me, other than the fact that the whole faith walk is mysterious in one sense, because there are many mysteries about faith and religion and God and Jesus, but bottom line, the gospel of Jesus is the truth that binds all other truths together into one. I could dwell on some painful things still going on in my family, but I think God would have me dwell on him and the beauty and the glory that Christmas represents. That's what it's about. After the New Year, there are taxes and renew license plates and all that, and things go back to a semblance of normalcy, in general, but loving Jesus is forever, the life-changing fact that changes your life forever and for eternity. Jesus came, Jesus suffered and died for the sins of the world, rose again, is seated at the right hand of the Father and will come again to judge the world, and that's what we need to be getting ready for, not just to have found gifts for everyone on our list. Don't get me wrong. I love the whole gift exchange thing as much as anybody, especially the giving, yes, because that's what happens when you grow up and outgrow Santa and, hopefully, find Jesus, but Jesus in a life is peace and hope and strength and fulfillment, what Jesus called life "more abundant" (John 10:10). I am longing to see some people saved in my family, but I can't save them, only Jesus can save them. Meanwhile, I can pray for them and miss them and love them. And that's what I will be doing on Christmas. So, "God bless us, every one," as Tiny Tim would say. Come to Jesus, everyone, that is my prayer for all of you. Good night, we are almost there.