Sugar Plums and Mangers

What young girl wouldn’t welcome a magical journey through the Land of Snow?  Where snowflakes turn into dancing maidens?  Where the Snow King and Queen usher us and our handsome Nutcracker Prince into the Land of Sweets, Mother Ginger, and the Sugar Plum Fairy?  Most of us relish our once-upon-a-time dreams, especially at this magical time of year.  Imagination is a wondrous thing!

Yet sometimes we tend to mix together what’s real and what isn’t.  As our kids get older, some of us parents hasten to say things like, “Um… well, yes, honey.  You’re right.  Santa Claus, elves, and reindeer don’t really fly through the air delivering toys to girls and boys; but the spirit of Santa Claus—the spirit of giving—is very much alive. THAT is what we celebrate!”  Other parents, for perfectly valid reasons, choose the less fanciful approach and focus solely on the celebration of Jesus’s birth – not on roly-poly Santas and skinny chimneys and half-drunken glasses of milk.

Whatever our tradition regarding Santa Claus, let’s focus on what truly matters:  that God loves us all so much that He sent His one and only Son to dwell among us—and to dwell within us.  That is what we celebrate as Christians.

Hear now the voice of Linus, a child created in the imagination of Charles Schultz, as he tells us the true source of our deepest joy.  From the Book of Luke, Chapter 2, Verses 8 – 14:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not:  for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everybody!  May we welcome God’s gift to us with open hearts, open souls, and open minds.

With love,

 Photo by Flickr (SammyDavisDog)