Christmas Morning

Dear Friends,

As I write this, it is 2:15 am Christmas Morning.  St. Nicholas has come and gone leaving behind a bulging stocking, an empty glass, and one half-eaten cookie, as though he just didn’t quite have time to finish.

I sit in my living room in the glow of the Christmas lights.  To my right the mantle holds a beautiful Nativity scene lit with shining white.  Mary and Joseph hover near their precious charge.  Shepherds, complete with following sheep, file in from the west.  The Wise Men and their loaded-down camels carry from the east the gifts they bring for the King of Kings.

To my left a lovely tree glows in rainbow colors. It is decorated by loving hands with treasured ornaments.  Below there is simply not room for all the gifts, so they spread out around it. 

 The tableau displayed on my mantle plainly tells the story of that long ago day.  The tree, with its decorations and gifts reflects the same message. And though that message is not always so plain in our modern trappings, it is no less powerful today than it was then.

The ever green of the tree shows the eternal life Jesus brought us, and even its shape points our eyes toward Heaven.  The gifts we give our loved ones represent not only the gifts brought by the Wise Men, but also the greatest gift that God himself gave us on that day.  As the gifts overflow the space under the tree, I am reminded that God sent his Son to bless my life and fill it with His love to overflowing.

As for the decorations…There are lights, to represent the Light of the World.  There are angels, calling to mind the messengers God sent to tell the shepherds of Jesus’s arrival.  And high atop the tree, let us not forget the star.  For it was with one such bright beacon that God drew the Wise Men from their homes, and brought them into the presence of his Son that they might worship Him.

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas, and praying you are able to see Christ in every piece of your day.