Upheld In Simple Christmas

Bustle, Color, and Fatigue

I love the color of Christmas. The bright lights. The pretty decorations. It’s a feast for the eyes. And the scents of pine, winterberry, and other sweet fragrances. It is like no other time of year.

The bustle can be fun and/or overwhelming. So many activities to choose.

And so many chores to do. That can bring on fatigue.

A Moment

At church yesterday, it was one of those mornings. Things just weren’t going as well as they could. I took a little break and had a moment to chat with a young woman. She had come into church frazzled.

We commiserated about the busyness of the season and laughed it off as “well, that’s Christmas.”

Whatever that is.

Except – that our Savior came.

Simple Christmas

Later in the service, she related our moment. And her storytelling was a treasure to me. She gave back to me the gift I had unwittingly given to her.

Our Savior came.

When all is stripped away, the lights, the ribbons, the carols.

Our Savior came.

That’s what Christmas is.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete” (I John: 1 – 4 NIV).