Christmas Lament

 All is calm and bright this winter afternoon. Color dots the freshly-fallen snow as Christmas shine casts a peaceful glow. I hold light-strands in my hands and find myself praying hope into the soul. 

This holiday season, the hymns of advent seem to be penetrating differently than usual as a world strained by pain and division seems to be crying out for God to appear again. As did those Old Testament Jews who waited prior to His birth for over 400 years with no word or sign from God, it feels as though we've also been enduring a season of silence, calling out for "God with us" to show up, praying for the presence of our long-expected Jesus. 

Come, Thou awaited One, and pierce the darkness with Thy grace. 

I string white-glow onto the branches as carols fill the air. Somehow, because of Christmas, Heaven feels a little closer in this moment as I reflect. Carols playing in the background draw out a song in my spirit...a lament almost for what hasn't been and a hope for what is to come. 

In true Arctic fashion, the dark hours are plentiful this time of year. The sun's rays dissipate quickly and quietly, lasting little more than a few hours a day. This year in particular, the days have felt extra dark as the oppression of these hard days has taken its toll on us all. Somehow, I'm not surprised when I read the suicide rate is up 200%. Why wouldn't it be?! 

We've all suffered long and hard in 2020, and we need a dose of God. We need a heavenly peace to enter into all this mess and give us life. Because it was for this reason He came. It was in this humble way that He chose to become part of our mess in order to raise us out of it. 

Perhaps never more in recent history has the meaning of Christmas been so deeply apparent and needful than in this busted-up year we've lived through. When even the simple things of life are so uncertain and the comforts so often taken for granted have been cut short - when the wickedness in high places has threatened to steal our joy and the distance between human lives has felt a mile long - we need the reminder that Christmas brings. We need the assuring truth that God loved broken humanity enough to come in human form, to be born of humble origins, to live as we live, to feel as we feel, and to one day die on the cross so that mankind would have hope of eternal life. 

They say that a rare planetary phenomenon is taking place this month - of all days on the Winter Solstice...the darkest day of the entire year. For the first time in nearly 800 years, Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest in orbit to one another, causing the optical illusion of a singular bright "star" in the sky. It's called "The Star of Bethlehem" or  "The Christmas Star." Some even hint that perhaps it was a sight such as this that guided the Wise Men to the residence of baby Jesus so long ago. 

And somehow, it seems a fitting grace that God would grant a miraculous occurrence such as this in a year like 2020. A reminder that Emmanuel is forever present in all times and all ways, spanning the existence of Time itself and always stepping into the lowest places to fill the emptiest of hearts. 

Guide us to Thy perfect light...

Pictures pack my social media feed of countless families everywhere setting up their trees early, turning on the Christmas music, and throwing all holiday "rules" to the wind as desperation for a thrill of hope descends upon a weary world. Others are feeling it, too - this need to bring light and love and all things Grace into this dark space. Apparently, I'm not alone since God's people in all places are seeking His face with an extra longing this season. 

I notice that there's not enough ribbon to finish decorating the tree and, somehow, all of 2020 can feel like "not enough." 

But what if the perfectly imperfect is where the heart of the season lies? 

After all, didn't the Son of God arrive in conditions most would deem "not enough?" A lodging place for animals certainly wasn't the ideal by human standards, but it was God's ideal. To prove that, in our "not enough," He would Himself be our enough. 

Lyrics fill my mind as I think of all the lines symbolic to Advent - cries for a Redeemer, a Rescuer, a way out. Prayers for Emmanuel to come and make His presence known among us. Hearts waiting on a Savior, a Messiah to give us reason to hope. Christmas is coming as a welcome guest this year. I think we sense it grants us a fresh feeling of renewal as we look toward what, we hope, will be a better year ahead. 

Weeks have dragged on into months as I feel the weight of God's people all over calling out for Him to "ransom captive Israel that mourns in lowly exile" until His appearing. We long to rejoice, to celebrate, and here, in the midst of an on-going global and national crisis, we are making space for Him to dwell in our hearts. In this dark, the Light of the World is still shining, however desperately the world tries to snuff Him out. 

I string ribbon around tree branches and smile, even as my soul continues to lament this heaviness. For in this waiting, this longing, I know that an answer will come. In fact, He already has.