Funny Sort of Christmas
Every year, before Christmas fatigue sets in around mid-month, I enjoy my first rush of “Christmas spirit.” This year, it snuck up on me nearly a month ago at the little church in Michigan that I wrote about in the last Uplift (Spiritual Connective Tissue), upon hearing the tiny choir express the essence of the season in the song “Bethlehem Wind.” The opening lines: “Blow, blow Bethlehem wind, over the hills and the valleys. Blow, blow, Bethlehem wind, God’s promise of love and salvation.” For me, it was the perfect entre to the season. Unexpected and moving. Thrilling in fact. It was the first Sunday of Advent. We are in Advent now, the first season of the Christian church year leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays, each with a theme to be discussed and unpacked: hope, love, joy and peace. If I experience Christmas fatigue at some point along the way, my “Christmas spirit” inevitably returns at the conclusion of our Christmas Eve service, when “Silent Night” is sung by the congregation with one voice, amid the glow of candlelight. These moments connect us to the sacred. They are sacred. You can feel it strolling the elegant beauty of the Hotel Del Coronado, decked out for the holiday with lights and colors. If you wander around back, just as the sun sets over the Pacific, you might be dazzled as the light fades into a pastel swirl of pink and orange wispy clouds, and you might smile at the kiddos circling the ice rink, just steps from the sand, squealing with delight, clinging on to their parents for dear life. The sacred can pay a visit in a million different ways: through a surge of insight while considering the “theology” of the season with a church study group. In the glow of a Christmas tree, decorated with lights and ornaments that are redolent with memories and meaning. In a Christmas song. Or by connecting with someone who is going through a tough time this holiday season and who is very grateful for your call.
We experience the sacred, and the divine, through the people, places, and things of our lives. St. Teresa of Calcutta puts this way: “It is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand.” Jesus says it this way in Matthew 25: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ I hear Jesus saying that we experience the divine through our everyday actions and through our actions every day. This Christmas, remember that no matter our gripes and grievances, be they numerous or few, trivial or serious, sacred moments swirl around us, waiting to be plucked out of thin air and savored. Most of all, because of this child whose birth we celebrate, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. And that, as they say, is “the reason for the season.” I hope you experience something sacred this Christmas and a shot of faith, hope and love. The song pairing is “Funny Sort of Christmas,” which was just selected for this eclectic Christmas playlist:
If you don’t have Spotify, you can hear the song here:
Until next time, stay safe, be brave and keep walking in the light.
Funny Sort of Christmas
It’s a funny sort of Christmas
since you went away
this year, it’s a funny sort of Christmas
without you here
The Christmas lights glow
sacred songs from long ago
parents with the little ones in tow
it’s a funny sort of Christmas you know
It’s a funny sort of Christmas
not to hear your voice
it’s clear, it’s a funny sort of Christmas
without you here
It’s a still and silent night
the tree is lovely but it don’t delight
I wish I could hold you tight
it’s a funny sort of Christmas tonight
The good Lord keeps me strong,
strong enough to carry on
but without you here
it’s a funny sort of Christmas again this year
it’s a funny sort of Christmas again this year