I am writing this Christmas note on November 1st. Obviously it is several weeks prior to Christmas. Why so early, you might ask? Why would you write your Christmas note almost two months ahead of time? The answer is, I write to ensure that the editor of our paper meets her deadline. I write to support the ministry of our paper. While I do feel somewhat, that writing a Christmas message at the beginning of November makes it difficult to convey what I will be feeling a few weeks down the road, that it will unfinished, I am sure you will accept a heartfelt word of thanksgiving and prayers for blessing on you and yours, as you read this.
This Christmas, I know that my heart will be focused on the pain and exhaustion that people in every country are feeling. Over the past few months I have spoken with friends who are Christian, Jewish, and Palestinian. I have been reading article after article about financial and environmental wars in the world, and narratives about human fear, weariness, loneliness, and alienation, wherever people are found.
We are all so tired right now—almost too tired to pay attention to the slim glimmers of love and hope that still appear to us.
Please, do look for the Birth of New Hope this Christmas. Let’s lay aside our opinions and agendas as we encounter one another, in favour of seeing each other as a gift in the moments that we are given opportunity to share.
When I read the Christmas story, I don’t try to figure it out or analyze the text. I let the words rest upon my heart, being still with them, until at last they find their way INTO my heart.
That is an image I have of Jesus: crying softly over Jerusalem, praying alone in Gethsemane, and becoming an orphan while still a child.
My prayer now, and I am sure it will be still flowing to heaven for you on Christmas Eve, is to have the Words of Jesus find their way into your hearts.
Thank you for your prayers, devotion, and love through this past year. Thank you for supporting our outreach programs; thank you for opening your hearts to reading this.
May God’s Blessing be yours, this Christmas, and always.
