Three Christmas Observations

Christmas Snow: Heaven Touches Earth

We rarely get a white Christmas, and when we do it is usually just a dusting that barely paints the grass white. This year was different. This year the snow fell fast and thick for twelve hours and we have a truly white Christmas.

Have you ever been out in the country right after the snow, when all you can see is white for miles around? The sky is white, too, and you can't see the horizon. It is like the earth has swallowed the sky, or the sky the earth. They are one.

This is what happened at Christmas. Heaven and earth became one when Christ entered our mortal world, so that you could not distinguish where God ended and man began inside this one person. When the snow covers the ground and fills the sky, earth is heaven. It is a wonderful foretaste of what will come. On the last day the earth will be remade and Christmas work will be finished, the barrier will the lifted, the horizon gone. We will be with God.

Christmas Light: Jesus' Work Goes On

People emphasize that Jesus is the light of the world, but at Christmas we don't light one huge light, we light millions of tiny ones. Small candles or bulbs that don't do much on their own but create something marvellous against the bitter darkness.

Standing at the end of Christmas Eve service singing Silent Night, we each held a light, be it a candle or a glow stick. Jesus brought the light, but even though He is gone the light is not. We are the light, each one of us ignited by the Savior to continue His work. The lights on the tree and our houses, the the candles we hold, represent Christ in us.

This is what Christmas is all about. The light came into the world and ignited it. We bear the legacy of that work, and continue the task. We are Jesus here and Christmas' work continues today in each one of us. We are the hope of the world, we are his hands and feet.

Christmas Quiet: Peace is Here

Christmas is known as such a busy holiday, with people getting ready and all sorts of events going on, last minute shopping and traveling. Yet Christmas day is the quietest time. I love to step out my door in the morning and soak in the silence.

Stores are closed. Roads are nearly empty. Everyone is tucked away inside enjoying family and presents. This is probably the quietest day of the year, the only holiday we have left where ninety percent of businesses close. The peace of Christmas is there for each of us to find, if we only pause for a moment.

Jesus' gift at Christmas was this chance at quiet, at stillness, at perfect peace. Every day we go out searching for it, but it is at Christmas that we get the best taste. So pause and be still and know that God is Good, Jesus came, His Spirit is in us. Heaven touched earth, the light carries on, and our victory is assured. Rest for a moment in God's perfect gift.

Merry Christmas