She had spent most of her life alone. A hermit of sorts – or is that a hermette? Most would have said she had fallen through the cracks of compassion. Without a family or friends and not even a church she called home. It was Christmas Eve and she had scheduled a visit with me, her Pastor. I had never met her but I had been told, or rather warned, “She is a bitter old bat.” “She is mean spirited and spiteful.”
I found her nothing of the kind! She was nothing but kind to me. Certainly, no contemporary Scrooge, but lonely and alone with her thoughts. She had a tormented, troubled life. She was scarred by sadness and bruised by the bad faith of others. Her husband had beat her without mercy until the night he committed suicide by crashing their car into a pole. Their only son was in prison and their daughter walked the streets of New York City. In the past ten years, no one had come to her home to even say Hi!
Eventually, we turned the conversation from pain to pleasure, as we spoke of Christmas and the promise of joy. She sighed deeply and said, “Pastor, Christmas is for brightly wrapped presents and parents with pleasant children – and not for the poor and lonely.” I replied, “But the angels first sang to lowly shepherds.” Smiling she said, “Sure, but when the angels stopped singing – the poor were still poor and the lonely, alone. Nothing truly changed – nothing at all!
Sooner or later, the decorations will find their way back into the attic. The tree will be stripped and die in some field. We will pull the plug on all those colored lights. Life will return to its usual hectic and hassled pace. Smiles will no longer be open but almost short-circuited, more self-centered. But maybe there is hope for when the angels stop singing – or is there?
I prefer to believe that one night will make a difference. A difference in us! But mystery and wonder of Christ can not be confined to one night. Even a night filled with angels’ voices! The real wonder of Christ can be experienced only by those who choose to worship and follow – long after the tinsel has tarnished, and the presents are packed away. But that takes more courage and commitment than most of us are willing to give. When we turn from the crib, we face the cross! And when the angels stopped singing, we were summoned to begin serving! The angels had a message for the shepherds who heard their song. “Go to Bethlehem and see this that has come to pass. Find the Baby and worship Him.”
She had said, “but when the angels stopped singing, the poor were still poor, and nothing had changed.” I could no possibly disagree with her more! Everything had changed – and has continued to change wherever the Spirit of the Savoir born in a stable had been active.
Chris is active still! Wherever His followers plant their feet, He is active. With those who are lonely, with those who are hungry, with those who are homeless, and with those who are heartless. When Christians pay it forward as a couple did last evening for us at HEB. When a kind word is spoken to encourage the questioning, Christ is active!
When the wonder of this night has worn thin and the enchantment has ended, Christ will still be waiting. Waiting for us to come and commit to His ministry of mercy and compassion. He wants humanity to reach outside themselves to, first notice the human suffering all around us, and then to do something constructive to help alleviate it.
When we listen with care above the voice of angels singing, we will hear Christ asking, “Is there someone whose loneliness we can lighten? Is there someone whose burden we can bear? Is there someone whose sorrow we can share?
Make Christmas about presents again! Give, not to fill a list or to stack the piles, but to help someone around you remember, “It’s all about the Baby!”
