An
Exceptionally Good Christmas
"I think we're going to have an
exceptionally good Christmas."
If I had written these words I would
probably have been thinking that our family would all be together for a white
Christmas. I would probably imagine that well ahead of time all the cards had
been mailed, all the preparations made and everything would be "just
so." We would have a brightly lit tree and lovely red and green
decorations, filling my heart with good memories. There would be the just-right
presents to bring delight and joy to each one. There would be singing and
laughing, playing games and a festive meal, with everyone decked out in their
Christmas finery and caring for one another. And
I would find a fresh way to present the Christmas story at just the right time,
which would be meaningful to all. There would be no worries, no loneliness, no
health issues, no one missing from our family circle, either spacially or
emotionally. At our house Evie would be singing "Come On Ring Those
Bells" to welcome everyone in!
"I think we're going to have an
exceptionally good Christmas."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote those words
to his fiancée while
he was isolated in a dark, cruel Germany prison as World War 2 was raging. He
went on to explain:
"The very fact that every
outward circumstance precludes our making provision for it will show whether we
can be content with what is truly essential. I used to be very fond of thinking
up and buying presents, but now that we have nothing to give, the gift God gave
us in the birth of Christ will seem all the more glorious, the emptier our
hands, the better we understand what Luther meant by his dying words:
"We're beggars: it's true." The poorer our quarters, the more clearly
we perceive that our hearts should be Christ's home on earth."
Letter
to fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer, December 1,
1943
Because of God's priceless gift of
His Son, may each of us have an exceptionally good Christmas, content with what
is truly essential. Content whatever our Christmas looks like this year.
Carolyn Roper
The selection from Bonhoeffer comes
from the work, God Is in
the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas; compiled by Jana Riess
