A Christmas Pause and Santa Clause

I can’t really put Christmas into words. Or can I? Christmas is families gathering, love for the needy, church festivities, Advent worship services, neighborhood light shows, Snowflake Parades, The Nutcracker, letters to Santa, cards and gifts for loved ones, special appreciation lunches, Choir Concerts, Pageants, and parties. It seems that Advent as a time of celebration just lasts and lasts. It doesn’t stop between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It doesn’t pause…until you see the light in that child’s eyes when they hold the candle at the Christmas Eve service.

That pause is when the person who opens the gift smiles and says, “I love it.” It happens when a friend sends a card with a beautiful picture of their family. It happens when you swing by the break room at work and there is a Christmas Cake. It happens after you pick up your 

Eggnog Latte 

and head over to the Nutcracker Ballet to see Clara. Clara is once again entranced by her prince who conquers the Mouse King, and off they head to the Land of Sweets. Pause. It happens when you see the lights strung up on a house to warm the neighborhood and people are gathering in the streets to see it. It happens when a sweet little girl and boy say their lines in the nativity play. 

This pause happens when we gather with loved ones and reminisce about years past and make dreams for the future while enjoying the present.

As I reflect on the first Christmas, I think of Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus. I reflect upon her exhaustion on that journey to Bethlehem. She must have thought she could not travel another step as her labor began. This may have led her to question: 

Could this be happening to me in this place without my support system? 

Have I been abandoned by the very God who sent the Angel to speak to me? 

The journey to Bethlehem may have seemed impossible as she rode that donkey. But there was no turning back. With divine courage she gave birth to Jesus in the lowly stable. 

Then, she paused. 

She paused as the Angels sang in a heavenly chorus, “Hosanna in the Highest.” She paused as the shepherds came to welcome him. She paused as the wise men came with gifts for her dear son, conceived in her by the Holy Spirit. She was part of this great miracle she paused and celebrated.

With Mary we pause to see the many wonders of Advent. We are caught up by so much activity: decorating, going to parties and shows, and gathering with loved ones. These activities may lead us into a frenzy of busyness. But, when that moment comes, we pause. 

Can we put Christmas into words? Can we share what it means to us? Possibly not. We can only pause.