A sparkly blanket of crystalline snow covers the ground. The lake’s inlet wears a thin sheet of ice. An annoyingly cute squirrel insists on raiding sunflower seeds from our birdfeeder. It is cold. It is winter.
But even more, it is the season of Advent. Christmas is coming, ready or not: gifts or not; cards or not; carols or not; cookies, wassail, roasted chestnuts, turkey and pumpkin pie or not. Christmas is coming, ready or not: hardened or quickened hearts or not; questing or self-absorbed hearts or not; hopeful or despairing hearts or not. Christmas will soon be here.
For so long, I didn’t get it. Christmas stood alone as the well-lit, decorated season of goodwill and cheer - a time to share good things, good wishes, good food, and good times with others. The time for pretty tinsel, beautiful china, flickering candles, and aromatic smells in the kitchen. I didn’t know the much, much larger story. I didn’t understand how the first Christmas altered the world forever with long-awaited, long-predicted, long-expected hope. How it changed the course of history. How it promised to rewrite the end of the story for humanity.
Perhaps I’m just beginning to get it, because every year there’s more. More humility, wonder, and awe. More grace, mercy, and compassion. More understanding, insight, and heart-stirrings. More mystery, and more faith to match it. More confidence, and more willingness to share it.
Christmas is coming, bringing more than before. More life, more light. More for me. More for you.
At sunset just now, shadows crawled across our deck. Darkness is coming, but eternal night will not prevail. “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12
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