I don’t know about you, but when I wake up on Christmas morning it just feels…different. I can’t really describe it totally, but it just feels like the world is at peace. At least for this one day. There’s a touch of expectancy in the air…not just for opening the gifts under the tree, and visiting and having dinner with family, but the expectancy that on this day, this year, there just might be a real time of true peace and love.
It’s as if the world is blanketed with a special kind of peace, as if snow has fallen overnight and made everything quiet and new…fresh shimmering snow before anyone has the chance to mess it up with footprints or car tires.
It’s a day for family and friends, and yes, a time of renewal and rebirth. The day feels like it’s expecting something wonderful. Just like 2,000+ years ago when the star appeared to the shepherds and the Wise Men to announce the most wonderful event in the history of the world.
I wonder if the day felt different to them as well. Especially when they saw the Christ child for the first time and KNEW He was the Savior of the world.
Even as children, we would get up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning, wake up our parents, and hurry into the living room to see what had been left under the tree. As we grew up, married, and had children of our own, the tradition continued with our own kids waking us up (or in our case, our daughter and the dog) by jumping on the bed and pulling the blankets off so they could rush downstairs to see what was under the tree. Somehow children, too, sense this day is different than any other in the year.
This year in particular we desperately need this time of peace and expectancy. Maybe for twenty-four hours the world can be without war, without arguments and strife. Historically, there have been cease-fires during war times for Christmas, whether the opposing sides celebrate the holiday or not. I pray this year will be the same, and that there will be an absence of violence everywhere as well. And if we can do it for twenty-four hours, why can we not extend it another twenty-four, and another?
May you all enjoy the very special feeling of this Christmas Day. If you’ve never noticed that it feels different than any other day, stop and take a few minutes to breathe in the Christmas air, and listen to the soft almost-silent sounds of perfect peace around you. That’s the love and joy that entered the world long ago on a night in Bethlehem.
Be blessed, and have a Merry Christmas!