Christmas! It’s a birthday!

It’s a day we remember and celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world. We sing…we rejoice…we greet one another with joy and a wish for peace.

I carry a memory of the time I was privileged to visit Bethlehem. I found it quite easy to move beyond the tourist atmosphere and really enter into the mystery of the Christmas story. My wild imagination easily bypassed the many lamps and lines of people to create my own space in this special moment in my story. It’s about a birthday! A new beginning!

We ring bells and bake favorite foods. We share gifts to show our love for people special to us. Even our pets get a gift. We visit neighbors and friends and family members. We decorate our homes and our outdoor surroundings. We add colour and sparkle and lights, inside and outside.

It seems for this season, other things that matter are suspended, put aside, while we take “time out” for Christmas.

And even today, in 2023, both here where we live, and in the Holy Land, where Jesus lived, people seek shelter, as did the Holy Family. People need each other. People fear conflict and war, bombs and rockets, hunger and suffering.

In our time, all this is very real. People pray for peace, hope for peace, work for peace. I want to keep my gaze and my thoughts on the star, so prominent in the Christmas story. The star can lead us, guide us; its light is for us.

I like to recall the Christmas hymn written by a student I knew.

We Are Meant to Shine

We are meant to shine into the darkest night As children of the light, the light of Christ.

Let your light so shine That all may see

The glory of the Lord in you and me.

We are meant to shine for others, All our sisters and our brothers;

Bring the light of Christ to everyone. We are meant to shine for justice,

Peace and harmony with kindness; Bring the light of Christ to everyone.

(by Rev. Laura McCue)