CHRISTMAS 2023

 

  Christmas 2023

This is the day a Savior was born.

This is the day God came to earth.

This is the day that the churches in Bethlehem

Silenced the bells that ring out Jesus' birth.

For darkness covers Jerusalem,

The memory of horror as fresh as the blood

That seeps from the rubble in Gaza.

"Where is the justice when vengeance is all?"

Says the newborn awake in the hay.

"Did my Father not say that vengeance is His?"

Says the newborn awake in the hay. 

"Who will help me bring peace to this earth?  

If I will sacrifice all, will that be enough?" 

Says the newborn awake in the hay. 

Today the angels are raising their voices as they try to be heard on high.

Try to be heard above wailing and bombing and the noisy demise of hunter and prey. 

Eyes open, breath still as souls leave the bodies not ready to die.

This is not new we are sorry to say--

Lives lost on the battlefield, refugees pawns 

In a game of hunger and thirst that they didn't start, 

Well, I believe in original sin, don't you? 

The sin that the baby awake in the hay,

On a Friday that isn't that far away

Gives His life to atone for, rampant today. 

Today is the day that we say Merry Christmas and hold onto the ones that we love.

We say, "I forgive you.  Do you forgive me?"

We say, "Let's start over.  Let's work harder.  

Let's do more, be more, give more. 

Let's pray without ceasing for peace on this earth, in my heart and yours. 

Everywhere we go let us listen for the angels no matter how tired their voices, how tired our own.

Maybe not Merry, maybe not Bright, but Christmas is here.

Let us Rejoice.

Nina Naomi, Christmas Day 2023

THE IMPERFECT CHRISTMAS

Christmas is over and the New Year is here.  It went too fast, not just this Christmas but all of them.  The ones when my grandparents were alive and got to our house in time to see me and my brother wake up to Santa.  The one when my husband and I got engaged.  The ones in London with our baby where like the gift of the Magi we each gave the other a long winter scarf.  The one where we were planning that baby's January wedding.  The ones where the grandchildren were all in cat-in-the-hat pajamas.  

Our old analog photos show a young woman in a pink velveteen sheath dress flashing her new engagement ring for the camera, a handsome equally young man by her side.  A couple of years later the analog photos show a bald but happy baby in her infant seat next to the table-sized tree in our London flat.  The best gift.  But not all Christmases have been Instagramable.   More like imperfect Christmases to be exact.  There was the year my volatile aunt threw the dinner rolls across the table at her husband.  Worse, the year my parents drove to our country parsonage separately because they were living apart that winter.  Then the year the baby, the first grandchild, had an undiagnosed ear infection and couldn't be comforted.  And the year (this very year) I finally gave away the winter lace dress left at my house from the January wedding because that marriage is over.  

This is how life is isn't it?  Our Christmases are markers, sometimes marking blessings we'll never forget--the newborn in our arms, the red bicycle under the tree, the elderly parent presiding at table, the whole family together in church.  Sometimes marking a year that for one reason or another we are thankful to have survived. Sometimes a little of both.

As we enter the New Year I'm content with how life is and if your holidays follow a similar pattern I hope that you are too.  All things considered this was a good year.  My gratitude list is long.  I took out my 2020 brand new Prayer Journal this morning to tell God about that. But I bet God already knew.  With thanksgiving, Nina Naomi