Today marks the beginning of a season of upheaval for many. Some are dreading this holiday season having lost a loved one to the virus or to another illness or devastation. Some are separated from a loved one currently fighting the virus or another illness or injury. Some are separated from their loved ones while they fight illness or recover from injury. But this is not new. The truth is that every year a holiday is altered and marred with grief or agony or uncertainty for someone, for many someones. Perhaps the real difference this year is that we're all invited to join them on this journey, to experience the separation, the uncertainty, the unfamiliar. We are all invited into grief and mourning with those who mourn. We are invited to creatively celebrate with those who rejoice in births and love and new beginnings even in the midst of all this other. Maybe it feels more like a forced evacuation than an invitation. I hear a lot of complaining about Thanksgiving or Christmas being "canceled." I tell you the truth--no one might ever cook a turkey or wish someone else a "Merry Christmas" ever again in the history of humankind. But that will not cancel giving thanks. That will not erase the birth of a Savior who brings peace and hope. The changing of the traditions we keep surrounding these holidays can never eliminate the spirit or the truth within them. We may grieve the loss of those precious traditions, but we can revel in the memories and we can anticipate the challenge of creativity.
So today, I invite you to embrace the change. Imagine Giving Thanks anew this year--on Zoom or with your immediate family, sending packages or posting your gratitude journal. Look for others who need encouragement and find a way to creatively connect with them from a distance. It can be done. It has been done. How can you add to the beauty?
Today, imagine preparing room for the God the universe to dwell with you--Emmanuel. What a gift. How can you give Jesus to someone this year? How can you welcome Him into your heart, home, community?
Look for truth in the origin stories of this land, and you will find it. You will find love and hate, peace and war, faithfulness and betrayal. You will find the humanity. And you will find ways to commemorate the truth and pray for change.
Look for truth in the birth story of Jesus, and you will find it. You will find love and hate, peace and war, faithfulness and betrayal. You will find Divinity in the Flesh, the Savior of humanity. And you will find ways to worship Jesus and love each other.
Don't be afraid of the change. Welcome it with love and humility.
"Sit with it, April." I sigh to myself. "Let it stir and change you."
I hope you enjoy these two songs from one of my favorite singer/songwriters Sara Groves.
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