Hello Everyone! Don't pass out. I'm posting something after almost half a year of idleness. Sorry, but I've been extremely busy teaching and learning. Besides, I haven't felt like I've had anything worthwhile to say.
But this all changed with Christmas.
The tinsel. The holly. The family. The friends.
Everybody sing with me: It's the most loneliest time of the year!
Still wonderful, don't get me wrong. But for many people, Christmas can be very, very lonely.
This year, I --a single woman living alone in a foreign land (Elkhart, Indiana) --accepted an invitation for Christmas dinner at Nettie and Ed's. I thorougly enjoyed their hospitality.
However, for the last 19 years, I've spent Christmas alone. Perhaps you have experienced this. Spending Christmas alone is like the plague. Being alone on Christmas feels like a big bad disease eating you alive. And for those folks who spend Christmas alone, being alone on Christmas is ironically easier than being with people that are not close family. That is, except for Ed and Nettie.
Over my spending Christmas alone years, I've tried a number of cures. I tried working at the homeless shelter. I tried church hopping to Christmas Eve services. I tried sleeping all day. I tried positive thinking. I tried wallowing in self-pity. I even tried shopping, but the home shopping channels are off the air on Christmas! Even they are with family on Christmas. In one final desperate attempt to squelch the loneliness, I resorted to watching the special Christmas programming offered by the home shopping channels.
My conclusion: Nothing helps the flesh-eating loneliness that is part and parcel of spending Christmas alone.
But this all changed with Christmas.
The tinsel. The holly. The family. The friends.
Everybody sing with me: It's the most loneliest time of the year!
Still wonderful, don't get me wrong. But for many people, Christmas can be very, very lonely.
This year, I --a single woman living alone in a foreign land (Elkhart, Indiana) --accepted an invitation for Christmas dinner at Nettie and Ed's. I thorougly enjoyed their hospitality.
However, for the last 19 years, I've spent Christmas alone. Perhaps you have experienced this. Spending Christmas alone is like the plague. Being alone on Christmas feels like a big bad disease eating you alive. And for those folks who spend Christmas alone, being alone on Christmas is ironically easier than being with people that are not close family. That is, except for Ed and Nettie.
Over my spending Christmas alone years, I've tried a number of cures. I tried working at the homeless shelter. I tried church hopping to Christmas Eve services. I tried sleeping all day. I tried positive thinking. I tried wallowing in self-pity. I even tried shopping, but the home shopping channels are off the air on Christmas! Even they are with family on Christmas. In one final desperate attempt to squelch the loneliness, I resorted to watching the special Christmas programming offered by the home shopping channels.
My conclusion: Nothing helps the flesh-eating loneliness that is part and parcel of spending Christmas alone.
Except for God.
As unexpectedly as the birth of a Babe in a manger, God helps Christmas alone loneliness.
I recently watched a video series by Christian musician, Michael Card. In this series, Michael teaches about lament, the deep sorrow and contrition one feels over life's painful circumstances. According to Michael, when a person prays, they often pray for God's provision. I know I prayed provision prayers many times throughout my 19 Christmases alone. I begged, I pleaded, I screamed, I cajoled. I asked God to do something to ease the loneliness I felt on Christmas. He never took the loneliness away.
Michael Card's teaching struck a cord with me. He suggests that when we are in a state of lament, provision will not comfort us. It is not provision we need. We ultimately need God's Presence. We would be better off not to seek provision for our need, but to seek our deepest need, God's Presence.
Provision fulfills human desires. Presence fulfills spiritual needs. God's Presence is what I find as I lay down my human desires over and over again. In fact it is only God's Presence that allows me to lay down my fleshly needs and desires.
The Christmas story speaks to this. Mary and Joseph needed a place to stay. They needed provision. There was no room for them in the inn. They were forced to settle for something less than desirable. They stayed in a stable. Damp shards of hay. But then Jesus Christ was born. God incarnate. God in human form. For Mary and Joseph, the Presence of God came in the form of a baby, and suddenly the provision mattered far less. They forgot about their circumstances because they were looking into the face of Christ.
Are you lonely at Christmas? The Presence of God came to Earth to heal your hurting human soul. Seek Him and you will find the greatest "Presence" of all.
Glory to the newborn King!
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