The story of Christmas is ever evolving for you and I. The biblical story never changes but your story is always changing. How we celebrate and view the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus may change throughout life. We view the story one way as children when gifts around the Christmas tree are more important but then the story matures as we age.
We all have a lot of Christmas stories. I grew up in a large family- there were seven of us. I remember the very large Christmas tree my father would cut down in the backwoods and we would spend hours decorating it. I remember waking up early Christmas day filled with excitement as I saw all the wonder packages under the tree. Then I remember the Christmas dinners with all the relatives. Later we spent many Christmases in Florida. That’s where my grandmother lived. Later, I sold Christmas trees to make money to purchase gifts for my siblings. I could go on and on.
The years have passed by and my mother and father have passed. God rest their souls. The people we related to, heard from and spent Christmas with have changed. Life moves on. Some relatives have died, others have moved far away.
The story of Christmas is the same but it’s not the same. For some of us we have a difficult time even recognizing Christmas. What once brought us laughter, joy and even peace may no longer exist.
How you spend Christmas this year may be a distant memory next year. What you may dread or enjoy this Christmas may not even be possible next year.
In reality, very few of our Christmases ever look totally the same. Finances change. Jobs changes. Health changes. Death robs us of loved ones. Our residences sometimes change.
According to my friend, and columnist Glenn Mollett, “Mary and Joseph certainly never celebrated Christmas ever again the way they celebrated their first one. The birth of Jesus in a stable and placed in a manger will always stand out as the Christmas we will remember about that family. Hopefully they had a few easier Birthday celebrations for Jesus in the years ahead. Although it seems they may have had many more difficult ones as Jesus’ father Joseph soon disappeared from the Biblical narrative. We don’t know if Joseph died or left but his absence had to be a hardship on Mary and her family.
The story of the first family of Christmas was filled with ups and downs. What Jesus would face later in life was excruciating for his mother and siblings and certainly for him. The end of Jesus’ life story is the best part. The story for Jesus ends well. He was abused, humiliated, lived-in poverty, executed but came out of his tomb as the living son of God. According to the scriptures he was seen by hundreds of people. The person who had to be more thrilled than all in seeing Jesus after his death had to be his mother. The way she would experience and celebrate Christmas, her son’s birthday, would forever be changed. Her Christmas story became an amazing story of victory, triumph and great hope. Her story changed and it got better.”
My prayer for us all is that we each will experience hope, peace and victory in our ever-changing Christmas story.