Christmas Reflected

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 Posted by Debbie Legg

CONFESSION : I do a really lousy job with Christmas.

Oh, I do fairly well at the usual Christmas stuff, the part my family and others tend to see. It’s the heart of Christmas I really seem to, as my 13 year old son would say, “epically fail.”

I fail at the whole “find time to lovingly reflect on Jesus coming to earth in the most unlikely way” thing.

Somehow I expect that I will simply “find” the time to reflect, as if the clock will magically stop at the exact moment I feel I have a chance to work it in to my chaotic schedule. Christmas music and church services and the like help some, but often they are also one more checkmark on my To Do list.

And then it’s gone. December 25 becomes December 26, and it’s the New Year and resolutions and new school semesters. And I missed my chance AGAIN. The heart of Christmas remains out in the cosmos with the Star of Bethlehem instead of swaddled safely in the manger of my heart. I beat myself up with a handful of Christmas cards in one hand and my new iPod in the other. AGAIN.

But then an idea dawns, like the weak winter sun over the horizon, showcasing the glisten of frost on the dead grass of my heart. A gentle voice whispers to my soul, “It is not too late, My daughter. It is never too late to reflect on Me. Every time you sang a song of praise to Me this year, every time you read My words, every time you gave a cup of water to a thirsty soul in My name, you were reflecting on Me. You were reflecting Me. You will continue to reflect Me.”

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. (John 1:5)