Sometimes we all need a bit more reminding of what is happening in our midst than normal…

I am sitting here, looking at our beautiful, though very tall, Christmas tree, and yet my heart is still lagging behind in seasonal cheer this year. We are not even halfway through the merry twenty-four days and I am tired. Exhausted. See so much work yet ahead (probably also because I’m a pastor and that’s just the reality of this time of year – and there are some really funny memes about that).

All of these thoughts make me think about what for me was the only redeeming thing to come out of the Jim Carey remake of the Grinch from the 1990s: Faith Hill’s song, Where Are You Christmas.

Where are you Christmas?
Why can't I find you?
Why have you gone away...
My world is changing
I'm rearranging
Does that mean Christmas changes, too?

In the case of the song, I believe it was speaking more to the realities of growing up. The natural jading process that creates cynicism within so many of us as we see too much of the world. For many of us, that automatically taints the magic of this season.

For some of us, though, the world changes for more dramatically. Far more quickly. In ways that are beyond the norm. Sometimes beyond the pale. Then Christmas, well, then it can just hurt. A lot.

The truth is that Christmas never leaves. The magic is always there to find. And the song is correct – the love is what creates the magic and holds us fast.

Nevertheless, for everyone who is feeling the stress or the strain or, far worse, the pain, you are not alone. Try to breathe if you can. Remember that the real heart of the season is a light that shines so bright that no shadow will ever overcome it and a love that is more powerful than even death.

Where Are You Christmas?