The Meaning of It All

December 21, 2012 is gone and, despite the fears of many, the world did not end.  Unfortunately, for the parents and families of the Sandy Hook victims, a big part of their world ended a week ago.  Here in our hometown, a sixteen year old girl died and her friend was injured when a sixteen year old boy hit them in a tragic accident.  These senseless deaths are magnified by the fact we are so close to Christmas.  For many people, Christmas seems meaningless this year.

Christmas is a cheerful, frivolous giddy time, but the real Christmas has more meaning than the shiny secular version.  Christmas is about a baby in swaddling clothes and the silent night filled with angels singing.  It's also about a power that is bigger than violence and stronger than depression.  We frequently hear that Christ is the reason for the season.  I don't think that's quite correct.  He is the reason. Period. End.  In all times, in all seasons, this year, next year and next Tuesday, Christ is the reason.

The most beautiful paradox is that while Christ is the power bigger than evil, He didn't come to earth that way.  Jesus became human in the form of a helpless baby in a violent world.  He was born into an occupied country.  He was homeless and poor.  Shortly after He was born, in an act of domestic terrorism (or genocide), the leader of His nation (not the occupying government) ordered the slaughter of all male children under the age of 3.  His parents fled to a foreign country in an effort to escape the violence of their own.  Eventually, he died a violent death.  He was not immune to senseless violence.  But in the end, Christ conquered death to show us that ultimately, God brings good from even the most horrific events.  We wait in joyful hope for that good.  Hold on to the simplicity of faith in a baby who brings healing to a broken world.

Merry Christmas

cindy

Christmas Comfort

We're finally putting up our Christmas decorations, and once again I feel a sense of comfort and familiarity.  I don't know about anyone else, but I put my decorations in the same place every year.  I tend to group similar items together.  Snowmen go in the kitchen, nativity scenes on the piano, and angels on the bar.

Some of my favorite decorations are in the main bathroom where the Santas live.  I can look at every decoration and remember where I bought or received it.  Here's my favorite:

I still have a hard time looking at these guys without laughing.  Their looks seem to question why they are there.  I also have this cute Santa and Mrs. Claus.

I bought these about 12 years ago at a craft fair at my church.  The woman who made them subsequently died from cancer and her husband loved hearing that I still had her creations and displayed them every year.  Santa has to lean on the Santa candle because he can't stand on his own, but I can't imagine decorating this room without him.

One of my newer areas is my bar adored with angels.

This is one of my favorite angels that I bought about 5 years ago at of all places, a copper mine.

It makes me feel good putting all of these pieces in the same places every year.  I guess it reminds me of Christmases past (or I'm just too lazy to think of a different way to decorate).  Either way, it's part of the comfort of Christmas.

cindy