Christmas, something many long for and others dread. It often begins before fall decor is finished being placed in stores, and most don’t wait until Thanksgiving is over before the tree wreaths and ornaments make us feel very “holidayish”.
Interestingly enough, it is a holiday that is greatly commercialized, and yet no price tag can be put on the ultimate gift Christmas represents. Whether you give gifts, fill stockings, or totally ignore the two-month focus on Christmas, it comes, is seen everywhere, and you can’t help but hum along with the tunes heard in the stores, radio, elevators, and holiday programs.
Christmas, beautified by the trees, lights, garland, and wreaths, and yet for many, the hurt inside is masked by the decorations. Christmas, the holiday focusing on, coming home for Christmas, and having the Hallmark family with the dog sleeping by the fireplace. Christmas, that first Christmas, the awkwardness of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, the almost certain criticism that would be background mutterings, yet that first Christmas left Mary pondering all those things in her heart. Ponder, I love that word. Mary pondered all those things. In other words, she probably lost sleep thinking, rethinking, and holding those thoughts in that precious place in her heart.
Ponder, it wasn’t just the birth, the miraculous birth of a child, but the angels, the shepherds, the fulfillment of prophecy, and yet if I were Mary, I would imagine her pondering began months before.
Enjoy the beauty of the season. God allows us beauty, moments, family, memories, and tradition to cement love in our lives. But take the time to ponder. Ponder how you would have felt as a young girl, approached by an angel. Ponder how you would sit beside your mother and find the words to explain something you couldn’t explain. Ponder the sleepless nights, the baby moving, Joseph hearing God say it’s okay, and knowing it would be. Ponder, by definition, is to meditate, to consider deeply, or to muse, daydreaming in remembrance. Ponder is intentional. Ponder, not just the birth, the miraculous birth of a child, but the angels, the shepherds, the fulfillment of prophecy, and yet if I were Mary, I would imagine her pondering began months before. Ponder: even if the memories bring a tear, as you ponder. When the empty chair reminds you of one gone on, ponder. The gift that came wrapped in a baby grew to be a man, healed the sick, raised the dead, and wrote in the sand lived a life that caused people to ponder. Ponder. How has that gift changed your heart? Is it more than the carols, the cookies, and the carefully wrapped gifts?
Take hold of the season, to party, give presents to the ones you love, some wrapped and some in kindness, and ponder. If you have a tree, sit in the dark with only the lights twinkling, and ponder. Listen to Isaiah 7 and ponder Isaiah 53. Intentionally mediate on the beauty of a gift that’s wrapping deceived many and disappointed others.
In a culture that is stepping on Christian beliefs, swing the doors of your home and heart, and invite others for open houses, carol sing-alongs, and cookie exchanges. Embrace the opportunity for those where your shadow falls to embrace the beauty of Christmas. Let the skeptics argue about when Christ was born, what time of year, and whether it was a cave, a manger, or in a house. You ponder the point of Christmas. Let your light shine on the hill, the hill of hope that Christmas brings. The theology of the carols moves the heart, the laughter jingles bring, choose to be joy, a living ornament that hangs on God’s tree, which is illuminated by the light of the world.
Christmas, something many long for and others dread. You can make a difference in how others embrace Jesus, by pondering the manger, being a disciple of the Messiah and live looking forward to the master’s return. It can be as simple as sharing your ponder moments with another heart.