Keeping Calm in spite of Circumstances

Luke 2:9
Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

When I speak in terms of a calmer Christmas, I don’t mean to imply that it will be non-eventful. Scary stuff happens in this world. Yet when such things happen around this time of year it seems to catch us by surprise, as if such things should not be allowed to happen over the holidays.

When a custody battle is lost, a personal relationship breaks, a job ends, a challenging diagnosis is given, a pink slip issued, or the house burns down—we consider it insult added to injury if it happens over Christmas—as if it would have been any easier if had happened in, let’s say, January.

The fact that so many of us think that such things shouldn’t happen over Christmas reveals just how far removed we are from the very first Christmas. But if we have the courage to enter back into the story, we can see a more realistic and less idealistic picture.

Scripture says that the shepherds were “terrified” when the angel of the Lord stood before them. In the Gospel of Matthew’s version of this story, every child under the age of 2 was to be killed by order of Herod with the hopes that Jesus would be among them. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had to flee for their lives. It doesn’t sound like a very calm Christmas, does it? And, of course, we just read a couple days ago that Mary and Joseph had to settle for manger in shed because there was no room for them in the inn. It was a VERY eventful Christmas for them and not particularly calm at all.

In a few days we’ll learn how the terrified shepherds eventually got their courage back. But for now, let us be content to know that the calmer way to Christmas has more to do with one’s mindset than one’s circumstances. If we get nothing else out of Christmas, let us at least remember that the whole point of Christmas is not an absence of drama but, rather the presence of Jesus in the midst of it all.