But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 …And that’s the reason for the season.
Even if you don’t celebrate its religious aspect, embrace Christmas as a time to be joyful, a time to hope for a better future, and a time to commit to personal renewal.
My Christmas wish for everyone is that you find meaning, dignity, and fulfillment in your life. If you already have those things, you are wealthy, so be thankful.
Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year.
Hello Dan and Merry Christmas to you as well,
I was encouraged to see your reference to the message of Christmas from the second chapter of Luke’s account. Pity that we sometimes shun those that believe that message in favor of political correctness.
It seems obvious to me that you’ve given some thought to the fact that, at the end of the day, we all will have an “end of the day”. I think we would all intellectually acknowledge this (the data is hard to refute!) but sometimes we may find ourselves living as if we really don’t believe it.
I make the following observations not as one who has it all together (far from it), but only as someone who realizes who does. Not as one who is promoting a guilt trip, but as one who has a need to be pardoned from guilt.
The baby of Christmas grew up to be the historically confirmed Jesus of Nazareth. We each choose to accept or reject the message of Christmas – that God exists, reached out and pursued mankind’s redemption with the gift and eventual sacrifice of His own Son to pay the sentence that mankind’s rebellion deserved.
We can choose to reject the message either actively or passively. We can reject it actively and outright – choosing to construct our own reality via intellectual rationalization, sticking our heads in the theological sand or attempting to pick and choose what we accept from the message (which places each of us in the driver’s seat of our own existence – defining our terrestrial lives as if we were responsible for them coming to be in the first place). I may decide to reject the reality of the law of gravity and construct my own version of reality, but that will matter little if I walk over a cliff or fall from a building.
We can also attempt to avoid making our decision about the message of Christmas until “later” (which is passive rejection and presumes that we know what the length of our own days is – taking our next heartbeat for granted)…
Or we can accept the message as the one true source of hope and joy for today’s “real time” and for the eternity that follows our own individual “end of the day”.
Time and our definition for it is no barrier to the Creator of the universe. The Jewish prophet Isaiah foretold this same Christmas message centuries before Luke’s time(Isaiah 9:6) “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government (the governing of eternity) will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
My best to you and yours at this time when God condescended to embrace each of us with perfect love in the form of His own Son.