The Christmas season is without a doubt one of those seasons of joy. Maybe it’s even the most joyful season of all. We gather with our loved ones and enjoy the moments spent with them. We celebrate the most joyful occasion of all – our Savior’s birth. The days are filled with warmth and love and light.
And yet, for so many, the season of Christmas collides with a season of grief. Those days of warmth and love and light are now colored with mourning and loneliness. There is a chair around the table that sits empty; a missing presence felt so acutely, it leaves a gaping hole and an intense ache. Whether the spot has been empty for a few days or for several years, the ache is there.
I have a hyper-awareness to the existence of grief in this Christmas season. Perhaps it is because we know several friends and family who have laid dear loved ones to rest during the holidays this year. The heaviest part of my heart aches for them; the consciousness has affected how I view my own time during this season.
Often my struggle with contentment ramps up during this time of year. I miss my extended family dearly and mourn the holiday moments I am not able to share with them while living far from them. Being aware of those who mourn loved ones who have passed away helps to bring my heartache into perspective. In the process of sympathizing with them, I become thankful that I am still able to see my family and talk with them, even when we are not together. I try to fathom the pain of losing a family member during the holiday season; I try to feel with those who grieve and live with loneliness.
I wrestle with the difficult co-existence of these seasons: the joyful season of Christmas and the ominous, shadowy season of grief. How can the two be so alive and so very real in the same place, at the same time? How can the joy be the focus for those who drown in grief, whose Christmas season will never feel the same again?
And in my heart, I know the answer has always been and always will be Christ. The grief and agony always serve the purpose of walking us gently back to Christ. To His birth, His life, His sacrifice. To help us remember that this earth is not our home, and that the joy of the Christmas season here will always pale in comparison to the astounding joy of Heaven.
God sent His Son to earth, veiled in human flesh, so that by His salvation our fragile human hearts would be filled with hope. The tragedy and pain press down on us so that we are reminded to cling fiercely to that hope. Surely Christ is rejoicing when, during our greatest seasons of grief, He sees us lifting our tear-filled eyes Heavenward. He sees us believing in His birth and His salvation, knowing our loved ones have gone to be with Him while we yet remain. He tenderly places the assurance in our hearts that His loving arms are wrapped tightly around those we love who have passed from life unto life. As our grief gives way to peace, He spreads that peace like a soothing balm over the aching wounds on our hearts. He is the reason that the seasons can mingle together. That though we feel the grief, we are reminded to feel the joy. Though the pain seems unbearable, the peace will always encompass it.
If you are reading this post, please take some time to say a prayer for those who desperately need to feel that peace during this Christmas season. We have a responsibility to bear up under each other’s burdens, to help each other never lose focus on the joy and salvation set before us. Christ knows all of our needs exactly, and as the Prince of Peace, He will powerfully direct the peace and strength we pray for into the hearts of those that need it, whether we know those hearts or not. No matter the grief and tragedy and loss that strike us from all sides, this earthly walk is itself just a short season. Our weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning, all because of the birth and sacrifice of the Prince of Peace.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3: 1 & 4 KJV
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5b KJV
Comments