Thursday, December 25, 2014

Today is not about MY family

Dear Mass Media,

Today is not about MY family. Today, for the first time in my life, I find myself watching television on Christmas. As I watch commercial after commercial, you say, "the holidays are all about family." The commercials are followed by beautiful stories of families reunited after prison, illness, and living far away. The implication is that Christmas is about my family. 

American media, you are wrong. For the first time in thirty-six years, I have come to the realization that Christmas is not about MY family. It is Christmas Day. I have no husband because he walked out on me. I am not surrounded by nieces, nephews, and countless loving in-laws. My sisters are in two different cities. Today, my mother and I have taken shifts with my dying grandmother. My family life feels destroyed, in shambles, and turned upside down. 

And yet, last night, despite MY family, Christ was born. Because this is where Chris is born - into messiness and brokenness instead of picture perfectness. He is born in a barn instead of a clean hotel. He is born into the literal feces of our mucked up lives. He comes to comfort those who mourn, feed those who are hungry, and to release the captive. He comes to bring peace, love, honor, wonder and hope. In a world where we are often hard on ourselves and others, he is born an infant of sweet tenderness. 

I am not saying Christ is not present in a perfect family picture, gathered around a table of ham. Christ always gathers where people call on his name. However, if we think Christmas is about OUR family instead of THE family, we may miss the point.

Sent from my iPhone