Why I love Christmas – Absent Friends

Happy Christmas Dear Reader,

One of the things I ponder during the quiet times of Christmas are the people who are not in my life for one reason or another.  The people I love, I love deeply and permanently.  The human condition gets in the way and some of those people are no longer a part of my life.

Whether it is absence due to strife, life, or death I miss people and they come to mind when I am pondering and praying.  I have ornaments to remind me of those who have left this life and gone on ahead of me.  When I am alone I whisper their names to God and wish them a quiet Merry Christmas.  I suppose I should explain to my Daughter that this is why I get a obsessive about certain ornaments being on the tree. 

There are also those friends who I do not get to see simply due to the way life carries us.  I will make time to reach out to some of them and wish I could give something to all of them.  Some are across town and some are across the world.  Some I hear from often and some not at all. 

I devote an evening every Christmas season to these friends.  I sit when I am at home alone and recount their names to God in gratitude for the good they have infused into my life.  I wish to become better at communicating with all of them and perhaps this year I have cemented a plan to do so.  I will share more on that later.

The last category always fills me with a deep sadness.  It is those absent friends who have moved out of my life because of sin and strife.  Sometimes the fault is mine and I have tried to mend those wounds.  Not all wounds can be mended by me.  Some are people who refuse to communicate with me for one reason or another.  One is an open wound that never seems to close.  I pray for these people often and ask Christ to heal them whether they return to my friendship or not.

One of the reasons I love Christmas is that it is the wellspring of hope that all partings will be one day over.  Christ left complete physical presence with his Father to journey with us so that this could be true.  His departure yields all our eventual reunions.  In the celebration of Christ is all my hope for that day when absent friends will no longer be absent.  Death will have no victory.  Time will no longer hinder.  Strife will no longer separate.  That is truly a good reason to love Christmas.

NOTE: There is no known recording of the song below.  I wish there were.   

Missing You at Christmas – Michel and Sarah Sharp

Snow  is  drifting  on  the  meadow,

Post -man's  ringing  at  the  door,

Bring ng  cards  and  packages  by  the  score.

Ornaments sparkle  from  the  fire  flame,

Lights  are  twinkling  in  the  lane,

But  I  find  myself  missing  you  again.

And  I'm  missing  you  this  Christmas,

If  I  tell  it  true,

I  wish  I  was  Christmasing  with  you.

Memories  both  heal  and  haunt  me,

Joy's  elusive  with  you  gone,

But  I  hold  your  picture  close  and  carry  on.

Nephews  and  Nieces  filled  with  won -der,

Sister  is  busy  with  the  meal,

Just  a  moment  to  call  you  can  I  steal,

The  phone  rings  on  with -out  an  answer.

I return to the frolic feeling blue.

Wishing I was Christmasing with you.

Lovers  dance  a  final  waltz,

Then  for  home  depart,

I  guess  I  must  be  satisfied

To  hold  you  in  my  heart

Alone  in  the  evening  sorting  mail  I,

Wish  I  were  sitting  with  you,

Pond ‘ring  over  sweet  things  that  you  do.

My  eye  recognizes  your  hand  writing,

Anxious  I  open  up  the  card,

Hungering  for  your  words  to  touch  my  heart.

Tears  fall  on  the  card  you  sent  me,

If  what I read is true

Tomorrow I’ll be Christmasing with you

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store." 

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