2020 has been a year, or like ten years in one it feels like. But 2020 is not over. We’re left in this strange time. Holidays are coming up, we want to celebrate with our friends and family but we hear all these things about how we shouldn’t, how we should distance, how we should celebrate in new ways.
Some of us will meet with family and friends for dinners and parties. Others of us will choose not to do so and will celebrate alone or by ourselves. It’s one of those weird times when we’re all trying to do what is best for us and our families and or everyone else around us and nothing ever seems to be the fully right decision.
The good news is the Christian year actually starts with Advent. So by the time this newsletter hits your mailboxes, we’ll have already started the new year. The bad news is that the change in the year, the number at the end of it, isn’t going to change what is happening in this world.
We all have so many hopes and dreams for the future. We want to stop putting our lives on hold. But look at what happened in the scriptures during this time. Look at how Mary and Joseph put their lives on hold for a baby, for a census, for the King decreeing all male children under the age of two being killed and them having to go into exile in Egypt while they waited until it was safe to return.
Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to for the safety of others. Sometimes we have to make decisions that don’t feel like decisions at all. Sometimes we have to postpone celebrations and life and dreams in order to make room for bigger and better things to happen.
This year, I challenge you to find new ways to celebrate. Create new traditions. Try something you may have always wanted to do but haven’t because you haven’t had the time. Do something to enjoy what we have of the holidays, to celebrate the real reason for the season, that Jesus Christ is born! He is here. He is with us. He has saved us.
Merry Christmas!