Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Christmas Can Be a Hard Time

Christmas Can Be a Hard Time

Last updated on: December 15, 2021 at 11:24 am by Mark Williams

Christmas Can Be a Hard Time 2021-12-15T11:24:53-07:00 Mark Williams

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Laura Slawitska/Ouray images

For many of us-you and me, Christmas can be one of the most painful times of the year. Funny how, in the Christian experience-this holiday, which is filled with nothing but niceness, can be so damning. Even Easter, the Super Bowl for Christians, doesn’t hold a candle to the pain one can feel during Christmas.

CHRISTMAS CAN BE A PAINFUL TIME

If you’ve lived much, you have life scars and those scars are reminders. I’m sixty-three, almost sixty-four and there is not a non-sore place on my body. Stuff hurts. I hurt my hand picking up my coffee! Life is A big bowl of sandpaper on my frosted mini-wheat life.

This time of year, it is ‘expected’ to be a Hallmark movie in our lives. Instead, some of us are dealing with life like a PBS documentary on the spread of a foot fungus.

There is much expected of us.

We are tired.

Things are demanded of us.

We are not sleeping well.

Our hip hurts.

The headache won’t go away.

What time to do we have to be there?

EVIL=SATAN

Look, I don’t know what fighting hole you are in. Maybe you’re ‘just fine.’ Maybe forcing that smile and saying you’re ‘just fine’ is really getting heavy. Maybe you are openly grieving. Whatever it is, there are things which can help. Some of which, YOU can do yourself and it won’t cost you a dime.

Well, maybe a dime.

Evil loves, and I mean Loves with that capital L, to keep our face in the dirt. Loves it. He creeps in to our souls and camps. Bastard.

He doesn’t destroy us. Some of us might wish he did so the pain would stop and the bills would go away. He likes the suffering lingering part. He smiles at that, but he is also risking we linger long enough we are able to pull our head up and see this weird unseen hand, move life around us. We hear a whisper of words we think say ‘be still and know….’ In that knowing, we find a molecule of hope.

Hope comes from God

That’s all we need.

Hope is deadly to Evil because it is God, through his son, intervening in our event. His plan for me is perfect. It is like a candle in a dark room. When your eyes adjust to the small candlelight, you can see everything in the room.

So, what will pull my face out of the dirt? Hope? Yep. Hope in what? We need to answer that one ourselves and what we might have tried before turning it over to Him. Then compare the two. It starts with me, because of Him. Jesus, being born a couple thousand years ago to cause the hope. I am still in the game, still alive, which means I still have purpose in this life. I have no idea what it is, but I know it is good and right and needed. Yes, you—me.

The God who created hope created it with me in mind. We are not done. Not yet. Reach up, take His hand and get up. Brush the dirt off your face. Sure, you can fall back down, but there will be that darn hand again helping you up—again. Evil hates that, the hand thing.

I have found music sometimes, at the right time, inspires, if only for a moment or two. Maybe it’s to get my face out of the dirt or maybe it’s just to take the next step. To me, Hope doesn’t measure distance, just motivates hearts. And Hope is the balm God gives me to sooth me in these times.

How are you with song lyrics?

I can’t recite song lyrics to save my life. I know people who not only can, but also spit out the entire history of the band who made the song famous. A lot of the time, there is nothing in the lyrics which I see as ‘spiritual.’ just a heavy drum beat and a guy in dark glasses and a nicely attired red coat singing words you need to look up to understand.

GOD MOTIVATES HEARTS AND GIVES HOPE

I think music, for me, is pretty good to wake up and git me bloody ars out of me fightin’ hole and git back in the game as my dead ancestors might say in Ireland and Scotland. Its Abba using what he created to help—me-today. And it’s just for today. Maybe just this morning. Tomorrow, well, I’ll deal with that tomorrow. For you, it might be a jog or a walk or a conversation with your pet pit bull.

For me, a song and maybe a wee dram of some war scotch (someday, maybe I will share with you my three types of scotch). Something harsh and burning and makes you want to squint until the burning stops and you think for a minute about punching yourself in the face. Then, the second sip is like soothing medicinal silk on your throat. Jesus’ first miracle was making wine. I can imagine what he would do with war scotch! Yeah, war scotch might be the thing this afternoon, while I play the song that God gave me to get out of bed this morning for the seventeenth time and start to wonder if those words really are true—

‘Be still and know….’

Enjoy the ride.

Today, if music is what Dad uses to remind you He is with you, play it loud, especially at the stop light. When the car next to you looks-wink and give them a nod. That will be their hand up help they needed today.

http://www.markjwilliams.com

Mark Williams, Author at Inside Our Gooey Minds (patheos.com)

Previous Post

December 12, 2021

God Lives In Us

Next Post

December 19, 2021 Living Alone After a Loved One Passes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category answering prayer death Does God Need us? engaging with God enjoyment Faith in Chaos fear Freedom from sin Gifting Give thanks God allows suffering God and Mothers God conquer fear God feeds us God lifts us God loves us God protects us God suffered for me God's acceptance God's design for us God's devotion God's freedom God's love God's perfect plan God's playfulness God's protection God's voice Gods mercy inspires us Jesus as Christ Jesus loves us Loneliness My gift old age Our Lord has a sense of humor pain prayer rest Send me Lord Stability in Christ Standing firm Uncategorized What if Jesus Widows work

Select a Month August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz