Celebrating Christmas

[O'Dannyboy]

By Charles Henderson

As oxen and ass, cattle and sheep, stones and stars, shepherds and kings came to the stable in that moment of wonder, so let us be still for a moment this Christmas and in that moment of silence rededicate ourselves to be the peace makers God has called each and everyone of us to be.

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, carve out for your self a moment of peace and serenity, to get in touch with the spirit of Christmas. Perhaps it can be that quiet time before everyone else in your household has begun to stir, or after they have retired, if you are a night owl. A time for quiet reflection in which you can let the spirit of Christmas speak, and let God's peace stir within you, touching your deepest being.

And it's not only the busyness of the season, it's the strain and pressure at work, or the news of the world which seems to drown out the deeper stirrings of the still small voice from within. Yes, this world is threatened by violence and by war at this very hour. Violence in our streets, war in distant places like Afghanistan or Iraq. How it must be for the families of those soldiers who are this very moment camped out on some mountainside in the still troubled Balkans.

Not a place anyone would choose to spend Christmas. Anymore than Mary and Joseph chose Bethlehem. For they too were acting upon orders issued by a higher authority. In two millennium since that first Christmas morning we have not found a way to weave the miracle of Christmas into the affairs of nations and empires, let alone make it a permanent part of our daily lives, such that we would no longer need these external props to remind us of what we have forgotten, neglected, or ignored.

So we need to be self conscious, deliberate and intent upon the task. Carving out that island of peace and serenity in which the spirit of Christmas can come shining through. And the strange thing is, the spirit of Christmas does manages to find a way of expressing itself despite all the things we do to keep it at bay; God's peace has a way of reaching out to touch and transform us, intent though we may be in upon lesser things.

Long ago Howard Thurman put it this way. "The spirit of Christmas--what is it? It is the rainbow arched over the roof of the sky when the clouds are heavy with foreboding. It is the cry of life in the newborn babe when, forced from its mother's nest, it claims its right to live. It is the brooding Presence of the Eternal Spirit making crooked paths straight, rough places smooth, tired hearts refreshed, dead hopes stirred with the newness of life. It is the promise of tomorrow at the close of every day, the movement of life in defiance of death, and the assurance that love is sturdier than hate, that right is more confident that wrong, that good is more permanent than evil."

At its best the spirit of Christmas is a mirror in which we see reflected the very best that life can be; at Christmas we see ourselves, moved by generosity, inspired by hope, uplifted by love, encouraged by hope, not only for ourselves but for this whole creation, even, and perhaps most especially for those things we usually find unlovable. The homeless family is transformed in our sight into the very image of Mary and Joseph; the abused little baby, abandoned in a garbage compactor in some squalid tenement house, has become the Christ child, upon which the hopes of the world are seen to rest.

And we too, are drawn into the drama, becoming agents of God's plan for the reconciliation of the world. Let this be our common prayer: that the spirit of Christmas more and more becomes that life giving presence in which we live and move and have our being. Such that one day, the holiday, with all its excess, shall fade away. Not because it is forbidden, banned our outlawed, but because it simple truth finds complete expression in the pattern of our daily life.