A dear friend alerted me to an article entitled, “What a lesser-known Charles Dickens Christmas story teaches about loss” by Spencer Klavan, published December 23, 2022 in the Washington Examiner. The Dickens story is entitled, The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain.

The author of the article states:

“It’s the whole point of the thing, the reason why we can’t feel Christmas joy without Christmas sorrow. The two are bound together, as the child born in Bethlehem with songs of angels must one day go to the cross. It is what he came for.”

This Christmas, my 72nd. Late, by myself, almost morning the next day; the day after. I sat in my living room with one candle providing a soothing glow. It is the Christ-candle on our Advent candle display. I gaze at the light, the flickering shadows. It is a time of personal reflection, introspection, peace, melancholy, sadness, thankfulness, happiness. 

This is not the first. Each year, since a child, I have this experience in different ways as my Christmas day slips away into the night and the day after. The relentless buildup culminating in expectations not fully realized. Never resulting in depression. Never debilitating. This mixture of joy and sorrow is always life-changing. Always healing.

Still, the reality of another Christmas, each second fleeing without hesitation into the night, finds me trying to hold it tightly in my grasp. I cannot. As with loved ones no longer present, sad they are no longer here, but so very thankful they were, we can only hold them in our memories, no longer in our arms.

The next day, the day after is nearly here, and I must embrace it.

May you experience Christmas joy, even amid Christmas sorrow. They are inseparable; they make us whole. Jesus was born a baby, died a man, raised to life eternal to provide us healing, wholeness, completeness. It is what He came for.

May you embrace His Christmas day gift. May you embrace the day after. It too is a gift.

Happy New Year!

Mike