OnFire #131The Year We Found the Gifts

Merry Christmas Folks:

We have our tree up and Jan and the boys did a great job decorating. We had an adventure getting it at a U-Cut lot. We took friends who are hosting an international student from Columbia, so we watched him cut his first Christmas tree. That was fun.

Otherwise, we’re doing the normal Christmas things. Our church’s concert is this Sunday. We’ve been part of a few community services and activities already. Mark’s school concert was last night. And we’re getting ready to host both of our families over the holidays.

Blessings for you this week.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One Christmas my brother and I went looking for our Christmas gifts. We knew Mom kept stuff in the “cubby hole” in the bedroom, so we decided to look one day while she was out. Jackpot. We giggled that we were so clever and outsmarted Mom. In other years we had to rely on the usual methods of poking, squeezing, lifting flaps and shaking our presents. “Somehow” the corners would get torn, and that would reveal a little more. But not this year. We found the gifts and we were excited.

The excitement lasted for just a little while, until we realized that we had been sneaky and, in fact, had ruined our own Christmas. The only anticipation would be opening the gifts from relatives that had already been wrapped. You know the ones - the clothes, the soap, and the socks. Not the fun toys, games, and gadgets that we had already found.

To make it all the worse, we would have to pretend to be surprised and excited. It was true that we would enjoy the gifts, but if we did not act surprised, or if one of us were to say something stupid we might end up in a heap of trouble. So, we had to keep quiet about these things.

Just as we kept quiet about our Christmas discovery, there are some parts of the Christmas story that we keep quiet about. They aren’t the cute bits like the birth of a baby, or the fun parts like the angels scaring the daylights out of the shepherds. We like the wise men bringing gifts, and Simeon and Anna show us that they could see the Messiah’s eyes looking out from under the infant’s covers.

In Matthew 2:16-18 we read that Herod was outraged that he had been outwitted by the Magi. In his fury, he commanded that all boys under 2 years of age in the area of Bethlehem be killed. What an unspeakable nightmare. Only the words of a poet could sum up the feelings: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning - Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.*” (Matthew 2:18; see also Jeremiah 31:15). This is the unspeakable part of the Christmas story.

At Christmas time, my heart goes out to many people who are going through trials during this season. For many, Christmas will bring a lot of fun and joy, but for others this year brings troubles. This fact is another one of those unspeakable parts of Christmas. The old saying, “Laugh and the world laughs with you - Cry, and you cry alone,” seems especially true during the holidays.

There is hope, however. Matthew 2:19 begins with the words, “After Herod died...” Such words do not normally bring hope, but we can understand that Herod was the source of the difficulty, and so his death brought hope.  In fact, the word used for Herod’s death means literally to come to an end. Herod met his end. So will our troubles. No matter their source, we need to remember that they will not continue forever, even though we may feel that way.

A month before Ian’s first Christmas - he would have been about six months old - Jan was finally diagnosed with severe post-partum depression. It was not an easy time for Jan, especially, but we all found it difficult. It seemed to take forever to find out what was wrong with her, and then, finally, for the medication to take effect. She didn’t want to be left alone, she couldn’t sleep, couldn’t drive, couldn’t even read the newspaper. Her life was falling apart.

That feels like so long ago, now, but its over. All this is to say that our troubles and trials, the unspeakable parts of Christmas, will end. We can substitute our troubles for Herod’s name in verse 19. “After our troubles came to an end...” We can look forward to the future with hope because our troubles will meet their end.

Hope this helps. Be on fire,

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. To be added to or removed from the ON FIRE list contact him at onfire@eastlink.ca . Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com This letter published Dec 12, 2007. *New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society.