As bad as things look, it's Christmas
12/25/2008

It’s Christmas, the “most wonderful time of the year,” and my husband has no work.  He’s one of millions who, through no fault of his own, finds himself without income.  He’s 54 years old and has spent a lifetime acquiring skills, education, a solid reputation, satisfied customers, excellent credit, and plenty of obligations.  He just doesn’t have any work.

            Countless find themselves in similar—or far worse—situations, and find it more difficult than usual to “relax!  Have an eggnog!  It’s Christmas!”

But in a way, it’s perfect.

Consider the first Christmas and you’re Joseph: your girlfriend’s pregnant and she’s got a whopper of a story.  Suffice it to say you know you’re not the father.  Taxes are due and an unsympathetic government has ordered you and everyone else to take a hike to the town of your birth for a census.  It’s winter, cold, you arrive, and there’s no room at the inn.  Your girlfriend gives birth in a barn, for Chrissake.  Then some shepherds show up, telling you angels directed them to your stall, literally.  Days later, “wise men” appear bearing gifts.  Gold you can use; but what the heck do you do with myrrh and frankincense?

Faith, Joseph.  It’s a faith walk.  The whole allegory has a point, and it’s “Don’t be fooled by appearances.”  The baby in the manger is the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace.  The Son of God is born in a barn.  Not the way the world judges significance, is it?  Yet as bad as things look—unplanned pregnancy, no wedding, no ring, no job, no income, no reservations—it’s still Christmas.  It’s still the dawn of a new era, the promise of a bright future, because change is coming.  In fact, change is already here.

For the last eight years, millions of us have longed for change.  For the last 30 years, we’ve talked about finite resources, the folly of an economy based on petroleum, the need to develop alternative sources of energy, along with efficient transportation and appliances.  We’ve fought to preserve agricultural land, to resist urban sprawl, to protect endangered species—and society has collectively pressed the “mute” button.

Now, at long last, change is at hand.  The old order is crumbling; the new order has not yet been built.  We’re in transition.  In childbirth, transition is painful but it ends with the more “productive” phase of labor: pushing out the baby. 

Whether we wanted change or not, we all have to endure the transition.  Knowing the baby is coming is what gives us hope, and makes the pain worthwhile. 

So, in this Christmas season 2008, this year of layoffs, foreclosures, and malfeasance of the highest order—be of good cheer.  Look for the gift.  It may come wrapped in poor man’s clothing.  It may add nothing of value to your portfolio.  But the gift is present.  Don’t be fooled by appearances!

God bless us, Every One.