Dec. 23: Christmas Keeps People Alive

Last updated on: December 23, 2012 at 5:00 am by Patheos Daily Reflections

Dec. 23: Christmas Keeps People Alive 2012-12-10T11:49:31-05:00 Patheos Daily Reflections

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When Elizabeth Scalia’s brother was dying in a hospice in December, 2004, he read an article by a columnist denouncing Christmas. Despite his suffering, he responded to that article with a letter of his own that Scalia posted on her blog.

Her brother praised the doctors and nurses who took care of dying patients like himself, noting that none of them were as sour as this particular columnist.

He said, “Christmas, they will tell you, keeps people alive—even terribly, horrifically ill people alive—because it brings wonder, and it brings love, and love always brings hope. They will remind you that beyond Santa Claus and Frosty and going to the right parties, Christmas is a gathering of angels on a clear starry night…God condescends to join flawed, terrified, confused, sickened humanity—to confirm that life is worth living…He comes to say [that] love is worth dying for. It is worth living for, too, because the more you give away, the more you seem to get to keep.”

The sights and sounds of Christmas should always remind us of the divine life that came into our world more than 2,000 years ago.

He is the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)

Lift our hearts so we can see Your presence, Jesus.

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