Christmas Reflection

Christmas is a time for family, reflection, enjoyment and, for our family, a celebration of the birth of our Savior. On December 24, I, my husband, and our four children traditionally arrive mid-morning at the home of my in-laws to celebrate Christmas with them. The format of the visit rarely changes from year to year, and there is comfort in the consistency and expectation in the well-loved traditions experienced in their home. My parents-in-law are wonderful, Godly people who celebrate both the historic and the Biblical components of the holidays, and open their home with welcome warmth. The yearly festivities they furnish are very reminiscent of the Christmas party that Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, hosted in his home (Dickens, 1991, Chapter

The fact that my Christmas Eve is filled with traditional observances such as music, food, games, and family means that I can celebrate all aspects of the holidays. My family, and my husband’s family, is not perfect, however. We each have our own struggles and make our fair share of mistakes individually and together. In fact, my husband has a brother who chooses not to celebrate Christmas with us, because he cannot find forgiveness in his heart for things that happened in the past. Dickens penned a speech by Fred about his Uncle Scrooge that resonated with me when I thought of it in light of my brother-in-law, “the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm” (1991, p.45). Ultimately, Christmas is about forgiveness, as it is truly the beginning of the Easter story. Without Christmas, you have no Easter; without Christ’s birth, you cannot have His death and resurrection. Without His resurrection, we would continue to toil and pay for our own sins, and never quite be able to atone for it all on our own. I can’t think of a better reason for Christians to come together and celebrate than the advent of our deliverance, and I can’t think of people I’d rather celebrate with than my