Merry Christmas

Well, it is 11:38PM on Christmas Eve, I'm just wrapping up things here (figuratively and literally) as my wife has hit the sack already, and has my son. We attended a very encouraging Christmas Eve service at our church and came home afterwards to get ready for tomorrow, when we will be going to our parents' place. Once we got home, we went through the annual tradition (10th year now) in reading "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey". Our son actually asked questions this year, rather than a repeat of the attention-span deficient experience from last year. Shortly after that, both son and wife turned in, as we have a busy day tomorrow. I am pretty exhausted after a long day of work and activities, but I want to put the final touches on the gifts tomorrow as well as spend a few minutes in quiet meditation about how truly blessed I am, having a great family, all my needs cared for, family and friends and colleagues who offer support and encouragement, and for the generally good health we as a family have experienced. The blessing of a child on the way next year. Most importantly, the fact that we can celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who personnifies God's giving humanity a second chance (and I can speak for myself how grateful I am, as at one point of my life, I know I would have ended up dead 15 or 16 years ago, had God not intervened in my life. God continues to not only provide for me, but has continually exceeded my expectations in that His timing is impeccable in order to teach some life lessons (I'll just leave it at that).

So honestly, while I may complain about things occasionally (OK, very often), it's nice to have nights like tonight where I can just bask in the truly many blessings that I do have. And laugh at the seemingly trivial things that seem to take up our attention on a daily basis. I overheard a fierce argument between two co-workers last Friday at the end of the day, and what a shame that was, as one of them was leaving for the Christmas break and not returning till the new year. These two have been friends and colleagues for longer than I've worked with them (which was been an unbelievably long time). I know they didn't exactly leave on a good note. But we all get into those types of situations sometime, it seems, don't we? I was trying to encourage him today in sharing my own experiences of making some truly embarrassing foibles at work in regards to losing my temper.

In the end, I guess it's all about perspective. People can gripe about Christmas shopping and what a truly pain in the ass experience it can be (and it can be), but they don't realize that much of the people in the world don't have the luxury of even having choices for material things - I know it's a cliche, but it's true. Even in Canada, there are lots of people who live below the poverty line and can barely afford the basics, that we all naturally just assume is a regular expense. And then, of course, there are other things that happen. A guy at my church whom I don't know very well - his father died today from a battle with cancer, and while it truly sucks that stuff like this even happens at all, I'm sure it's considerably worse when it happens in what is commonly perceived as a happy season (with an emphasis on perceived). I don't know what he's thinking right now, but if I were to put myself in his shoes and I lost my Dad over Christmas, I couldn't care less what was under the tree, or whether it was professionally wrapped or not - I'd just want my Dad back. But people seemingly bicker about the stupidest things over Christmas time, but I can tell you, there's nothing better than some quiet moments to reflect on why we seem to act like this. Our pastor aptly reminded us of this tonight through a very penetrating sermon about dispelling the notion of hallmark card moments. I've been sort of thinking about this anyway the past few days, just seeing how people seem to act - you have those who put on the fake "tis the season" happy face, be-nice-to-everyone-until-Boxing-Day mentality, and then you have those who take the consumeristic opportunity to indulge in their own selfish desires, buying extremely large TVs and what not for themselves, as if they somehow deserve this after a long year in which they put in their time on this planet. Guess as much as you think people change, it still goes back to the base me-first attitude, even if it is disguised under a plethora of Christmas-y type of of nomenclature.

Regardless, I do want to wish those of you out there who read this in the world (and I can honestly say that now since I have received emails from a few places around the globe). Be safe this Christmas, have a very merry Christmas and perhaps if I can leave you something to think about, I'd encourage you to reflect on the difference between happiness and joy, of merriment and contentment, of satisfaction and gladness. What the world sells as Christmas cheer or warm fuzzies roasting chestnuts over a open fire, is only a temporary emotional stop-gap in the whole scheme of a year. Don't believe me? Wait a week or so, when the hoopla dies down - things will inevitably go back to the way they were before this week (they always do). What happens then?
In my view and from my experience, there's only one true source of joy and contentment and gladness that will last all-year long, and that is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. I'm not saying this because I have nothing else to tell you - I truly believe this myself, and know it from experience (so it's not just head-knowledge). Let's face it - it is a foregone conclusion that people will let you down - if it hasn't happened to you yet, it will. Even loved ones and close ones will leave, abandon you, and disappoint you. One of the many aspects of the good news of the Bible message is that God keeps his promises and He promises He will not leave those who trust in Him. Even during times where life sucks, God is there. Even when you fail Him, He won't leave you. That is really the excitement of the season, and truly worth celebration.

I wish you and yours God's richest blessings in the days and weeks ahead.

-Jeremy