dark

Sometimes real life really clashes with the Christmas season.

That’s how it felt over the first weeks of this December, when a family friend teetered at the edge of life and death after open heart surgery. Although they’re actually thousands of miles away, I felt very close to his children, my friends. With them, I was caught up in the waiting, the updates, the ups and downs, the sometimes gasped-out prayers for healing. (And rejoiced when he finally turned the corner toward life!)

Some folks dread this time of year. Why does Christmas underline the pain of the lonely, sick and isolated among us, the widowed, the divorced, the deserted, the depressed and broken? Is it because we expect it to be a glittery, glowing, warm, and family holiday, when there is peace on earth and good will to men?

Listen. If you’re surrounded by darkness, today is for you. Because really, truly, the natural habitat of this story is overwhelming darkness.