Travelers
Many years ago, before Heather and I were parents, I was working at my computer when an airline carrier offered a flash sale on flights from Nashville to Chicago in December for $29 each way. I called Heather and we both thought it would be a fun December getaway. We booked our flights to leave on a Thursday morning and come back Saturday night. It was a quick trip, but I knew I could not miss a Sunday at church in Advent.
We had a great time. The whole city was lit up for Christmas. It was brutally cold, though, and by Friday afternoon, it began to snow. The snow was beautiful and we enjoyed it, but it kept coming down and even picked up into Saturday. Flights started getting delayed after we arrived at the airport. At about 7:00 that evening, they announced that the airport was shutting down due to treacherous conditions. There would be no more flights in or out. We began trying to find a place to sleep for the night and someone to preach for me the next morning. Who could I get on such short notice? It was a very frustrating moment for me to be stuck away from home and feel so helpless.
I imagine I felt just a little bit of the anxiety that Mary and Joseph felt as they left their home and traveled to Bethlehem to be counted in the census, only to have Mary go into labor so far away from her support system. I’m sure Joseph felt helpless, too, unable to find an adequate place for her to give birth.
And yet, once we found a place to sleep and we got booked on a flight home, we had a great extra day in Chicago. We went to the zoo in the midst of all the snow and had a blast watching the animals frolic and play. Once we accepted our reality, we embraced it and the memories we have from it are special to this day. I think Mary and Joseph did, as well. In the Luke account of Jesus’ birth, it simply says that Mary treasured all of it in her heart.
Sometimes today, I wish Christmas was different. I wish loved ones who have died were still around the table. I wish for more opportunities to be with family. I wish life didn’t pass so quickly. But maybe, just maybe, one of the messages of Christmas we need to embrace is to wish less that our circumstances were different, and work harder at cherishing and treasuring what we do have.
Merry Christmas, friends!