But then, on Christmas morning, while gathered around the breakfast table with my "adopted" family eating cinnamon rolls, it struck me. What is it that really unites us at Christmas? Is it my family traditions that I so value and treasure? Is it being around family and relaxing in the familiarness of their love?
No, it is the story of the birth of the Savior of the World. It is the truth that because of His birth, life, death, and resurrection, life can be transformed and we can have peace with the Father. It is the awesome realization that because of His coming, the trajectory of my earthly and eternal life has changed and I am in community with others around the world who have also surrendered their life to Him.
What makes Christmas, Christmas?
It seems almost trivial to say it isn't the lights, the gifts, the food, spending time with family. I know it isn't about those things. I know it is really just about JC. I know in my head, but sometimes in my heart, it really is the lights, gifts, food, and family that make it "seem" like Christmas. Not that that is wrong or bad, but when all those things aren't here, it really strips Christmas down to the basics of just being about Him.
This Christmas season, I was reminded of what Christmas is really about. The story of Christmas took on a whole new level of meaning. As I attended my Fellowship's Candlelight service, it was His story that rang loud and clear. When I went to a special Christmas Outreach in the slum, it was His coming that was proclaimed in a language foreign to my own. During the Christmas party we threw for the kids, it was His peace coming to earth that we told. As I helped a friend do the Christmas play at her apartment complex, it was the sharing of His birth that was central.
As I sat on Christmas morning listening to the true story of Christmas being shared, I realized that all over the world on this day, thousands of Believers would gather together, some with family, some with friends, some just with the One who came, and hear the story of His birth and remember the significance of His coming. I was in great company, the company of the Redeemed, in celebrating the Birth of our Savior.
Later on that night, as I Skyped home with my family, I shared in that uniting tradition with my own family. My brother read from Luke 2 and as I listened across the World Wide Web, my heart was knit to theirs in the sharing of the story. I read Matthew 2 and it was His story that made the day special.
I've been so blessed to be apart of a family where it has always been His story that made the day special. It was from His story that all of our other family traditions were birthed. I awoke early on the day after Christmas to Skype with the rest of my family on their Christmas night and I was so thankful for them and the common Peace and Hope we share together.
Christmas was very different this year and I'm glad to know that next year I will be back with my family doing all the things I missed doing this year. But, being away this year, provided me a valuable lesson. The day is really about His coming and the celebration of it is something I have the privilege of sharing not only with my family, but all those who believe His coming was "good news for all people...[that] the Savior has been born."
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