Editor’s Note: Although this column was first published just a few months after 9/11, its essence remains just as meaningful today as it did then. Especially during this time of economic uncertainty in our country, may our celebration of Christmas be a reminder that no matter what we have or have not there was a gift offered to all of humanity more than 2,000 years ago that is still available today to all who will receive it.
IT’S BEEN a dark day in America’s history since Sept. 11 brought our nation to its knees.
Our confidence has been shaken, our weakness exposed, and we are suddenly faced with uncertainty and fear.
And for many of us, in the midst of it all, celebrating a season that evokes goodness, peace and joy for mankind, may not make any sense at all.
But the truth is, it makes more sense than ever.
That is, if we stop long enough to strip away the layer upon layer that have come to define Christmas and find the true meaning of the holiday.
The shopping, the getting, the giving, the lights, the food, the wreaths — all are exciting and fun and make us feel good. Yet they become short-lived and fleeting emotions.
If we’re fortunate, we manage to keep the spirit alive until Jan. 1. But after the last package has been opened and last glass of eggnog emptied, the Christmas spirit fades away and our lives resume as before.
But behind the tinsel and turkey, there is a reason for the season that gives lasting hope rather than seasonal feelings: It’s the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem of Judea, more than 2,000 years ago, who promises, to all who believe, peace and joy amidst a world of turmoil.
He wasn’t just any little boy, nor merely a traditional symbol used to help us define the real meaning of the season. He was the Messiah, his birth, life and death prophesied years and years before. He was the Savior, Jesus Christ, for whom the nation of Israel, under the oppression of the Greek and Roman empires for many years, had been longing.
However, he came not only to deliver the nation of Israel. He came to deliver and bring peace to all nations and people.
He is the reason we celebrate Christmas, “Christ’s Mass,” each year.
But in a society fraught with a need to be politically correct, we have virtually stripped the Christmas holiday of the power of Christ’s birth, the only source of true hope and peace for mankind. We’ve diluted what was once the “Christmas Program” to the “Seasonal Celebration,” our children sing “Frosty, the Snowman,” instead of “What Child Is This,” and many of our public displays of the Nativity have been replaced with Santa and his reindeer.
We’re left with a holiday that celebrates little more than ourselves. And that’s too bad, because in times like these, we need a solid foundation and an anchor of hope that can become a legacy for our children and our children’s children.
Sadly, these last few months have shown us that answers and solutions will not be found in any hero of sorts, or any one body of government, nor any promising politician. These have their place, yet in themselves they all fall short, and cannot adequately provide for this world’s underlying need.
So, this Christmas, in the midst of the chaos, take a moment to rediscover, or it may be to discover, the baby in Bethlehem, whose life, and ultimately through his death on a cross, offers every man, woman and child that eternal peace and hope longed for by a fearful and needy world.
mikkokantonen (anonymous) says...
Awesome!
December 20, 2008 at 3:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )