In the late fall of the infamous 2020, my daughter Kelli started her Christmas shopping. She picked up a few decorations that day for her house. It wasn’t until she was showing me on Zoom (remember what year it was) that the misspelling was noticed, and we all had a good laugh! I offered to add some embroidery floss to finish off the “P”, but it seemed more appropriate to leave it that way given how the year had been going.
Then my mom died on December 16, 2020, and the darkness of grief filled my soul and continues to impact me as I approach the second anniversary. Ruth Haley Barton described grief well: “There’s a river of sadness that runs under everything, and all I can do is let it flow.” My heart can’t help but sense the shadows amid the glittery glow.
It’s easier to read the Nativity story found in Luke chapter 2: “The babe was born and wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. The angel of the Lord visited the shepherds, and the star guided them to the place Jesus was laid. And they worshiped him” It sounds so serene, doesn’t it? So we read Christmas stories written for children because, who wants to read about the deep political turmoil and violence of the day? And yet “active shooter” drills at schools are the grim reality of our day.
As a few lines of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” go, “Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.” The more accurate context of Jesus’ birth lies in the unvarnished pain of grief and suffering. But we’re more comfortable with the lights and presents, me included. This Advent is causing me to read some of the more difficult realities of the first Christmas, as found in the new book, The First Advent in Palestine by Kelley Nikondeha: the confusion and difficulty of an unwed pregnancy, a long and arduous journey on a donkey to an unwelcoming place, and the bloodshed caused by a narcissistic ruler. We won’t find these stories in our typical children’s Advent books, but they remind us that life was hard then as it is for so many now.
May we all widen our embrace for those struggling this year and thank God for His rescue mission of love.
