Emmanuel in the Pain
Heartache in the Midst of a “Joyous Season”
Confession: I love Hallmark Christmas Movies! I want to believe that even if our lives seem stressful or sorrowful, lacking in provision or love, that in the holiday season we WILL find “family”, love, and a little Christmas magic to help us along!
Even if we didn’t have Hallmark and advertising campaigns, I think we would still really want our lives, for at least a little while, to feel whole and happy.
The holiday season is touted as a time of love, fun, connection, and bounty! But what about when the holiday season doesn’t look like that for us? For many, the holiday season can be a painful reminder of the loss of loved ones from our lives (whether by death or be it estrangement). This season can be a time of feeling the pressure of financial stress: heating bills go high, holiday gatherings that require the purchase of extra food, new outfits, and gifts, not to mention travel! And then there’s the disappointment when the long awaited moments don’t meet up to our high (and maybe unrealistic) expectations.
Is this the part of the writing, where you expect to be shamed now into being joyful in this joyous season? “Count your blessings”, “Remember how much more fortunate you are than some”, “Volunteer”, “Give”…Just another list of shoulds and expectations. And, if you don’t do them or you don’t get the result you thought you would, you wonder: “What wrong with me?”, “Am I doing this Christian thing “right”?”
No, I’m not going to give you a prescription for joy. There’s PLENTY of lists you can get from a quick web search. To say nothing of all the “helpful” advice people are all too happy to provide, unsolicited I might add!
No, I’m here to say: It’s OK. I’ll say it again, “It’s OK.” It’s OK to not be OK. It’s ok to admit the holidays are a time that brings sorrow to your heart, that highlights the lack in your life, it’s ok to say, “I’m just struggling through this time”. For I believe THIS feeling, THIS lack, is what Christmastime is all about. Yes, finding ourselves in a place unmet expectations and sorrow, that’s at the very core of the Christmas story. When Jesus came into the world, that’s where many of the Israelites found themselves–a people beat down by Roman rule, disappointed that the Messiah had not yet come to rescue them as God promised. Even after Jesus starts to minister, dies, rises from the dead, and imparts the Holy Spirit to those who receive Jesus–life remains hard for God’s people.
AND YET…
And yet…Jesus IS HERE…Jesus IS PRESENT…Jesus is WITH US…EMMANUEL…God WITH US.
God with us, in the pain, in the sorrow, in the lack, in the disappointment. Jesus brings his comfort to us, his presence to us, his understanding compassion to us.
His WRAP AROUND Presence with us-–Holding us secure.
May the reminder of Emanuel, God with us, be enough—more than enough— for us; and may that somehow give special meaning for us in this “Joyous Season”. For truly, we can have joy in Emmanuel—in the midst of all our pain.
–Melissa Logsdon, Associate Pastor