A Perfect Christmas
#185
Friend,
Spoiler Alert: This Christmas will be disappointing.
It may be a small thing. You might overcook a roast, run late to the Christmas Eve service, or forget to grab your Aunt’s present.
It may be a big thing. Someone is in the hospital, the family secret is not a secret,so Christmas dinner is more than just a little awkward, or there is an empty chair near the Christmas tree that’s never been empty before.
We all want a perfect Christmas, but that isn’t possible. We don’t live a Hallmark movie ending, and I’ve never wished anyone a “Perfect Christmas.”
Most Christmases are more like the middle of the Hallmark movie than the end of one. Some misunderstandings and uncertainties don’t get resolved. Stress overtakes us, and grief overwhelms us.
The power of this season is not in the perfection of Christmas, but in the perfect redemption through Christmas. As it says in the Christmas Carol, many of us will sing tonight,
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
Love,
Aaron