It is no accident that Christmas quickly follows the winter solstice. Four days ago, the sun stopped in its southward journey and turned around. However much hardship lies ahead (far less, we trust, than last winter), be assured that Spring, warmth and rebirth are already on the way.
The silent night of waiting, then the joyful birth. Wrap it all in faith and you have the Christmas message. In bleak mid-winter, carefully nourished hope yields an epiphany and the world has cause to sing.
Christmas, a Christian feast day, has worked its way into the secular culture not just because it provides an irresistible commercial opportunity but also because it wraps grand themes of the human drama in such an appealing story. The expectant mother forced to give birth in a lowly stable, the baby who fulfills a promise, the rejoicing of angels, shepherds and even wise men -- all of it tells of hope rewarded. All of it says: Rejoice!
No wonder Christmas has become a holiday laden with gifts. Joy shared is joy multiplied. But joy has nothing to do with size or expense and everything to do with warmth and feeling. Joy is a state of the heart, not a sales receipt or a bank account.
Underneath the glitter and the hype and the spirits bright, Christmas tells us that. It doesn't just tell us to adore and rejoice, its timeless story also shows us how and why. In a world where dark nights prevail, bright stars can still burst forth, guiding us toward the future, toward the expectations embodied in a newborn child. The long night of the solstice passes and, lo! a bright star banishes the darkness, telling to all who will listen that hope has touched the Earth, that angels sing, that shepherds have reason to rejoice, that even wise men can worship and adore.
Christmas is a season of hope, a time for giving and gratitude, a time when adults re-learn from children what awe is all about. Some would lament the inevitable, decrying the fact that the wonder rarely lingers. But that is the way of an all too wayward world. It is also a reality the Christmas story has room for. If a bright star bursts forth every night, what shepherd would take notice, what wise man or woman would set forth to follow?
There is time tomorrow to lament lost joys. Today, it is enough to feast on the wonders of bows and baubles and lights, to sing the familiar carols, to revel in family and friends, to savor memories and make new ones for the long nights ahead, to remind ourselves that the solstice brings the star.