I have been thinking lately about a particular scene in one of my favorite Christmas time movies, Clarence is being assigned to help George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life. Clarence is told that George needs his help and he asks, "Is he sick?" One of the other angels responds, "No, worse he is discouraged." All of us at times have been discouraged to some degree, hopefully not to the level of George Bailey. Life throws difficulties and discouragement at us constantly, it can begin to wear us down, make foolish decisions, and even give up on things we want most. Fortunately we have the opportunity every year during the Christmas season to remember that there is hope. We can reflect on the words of the angel of the Lord who said to shepherds, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." I hope that this Christmas Season finds you and yours happy and healthy, and that the hope of Christ will remain with you throughout the year. The following a friend sent me and wish to share it with you here.
The Three Levels of Christmas
By: William B. Smart
This is a beautiful time of the year. We love the excitement, the giving spirit, the special awareness of and appreciation for family and friends, the feeling of love and brotherhood that blesses our gatherings and Christmastime. In all the joyousness, it is well to reflect that Christmas comes at three levels.
Let’s call the first the Santa Clause level. It’s the level of Christmas tree and holly, of whispered secrets and colorful packages, of candle light and rich food and warm open houses. It’s carolers in the shopping malls, excited children and weary, but loving parents. It’s a lovely time of special warmth and caring and giving. It’s the level at which we eat too much and spend too much, do too much and enjoy every minute of it. We love the Santa Clause level of Christmas.
But there is a higher, more beautiful level. Let’s call it the “Silent Night” level. It’s the level of all our glorious Christmas carols, of that beloved familiar story. “Now in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus…” It’s the level of the crowded inn and the silent, holy, moment in a dark stable when the son of Man came to Earth. It’s the shepherds on steep, bare hills near Bethlehem, angels with their glad tidings, the new star in the east, wise men traveling far, in search of the Holy One. How beautiful and meaningful it is, how infinitely poorer we would be without this sacred level of Christmas.
The trouble is…these two levels don’t last. They can’t.
Twelve days of Christmas at the first level is about all most of us can stand. It’s too intense, too extravagant. The tree dies out and needles fall. The candles burn down. The beautiful wrappings go out with the trash, the carolers are up on the ski slopes, the toys break, and the biggest day in the stores for the entire year is exchange day, December 26th. The feast is over and the dieting begins. But the lonely and the hungry are with us still, perhaps lonelier and hungrier than before. Lovely and joyous as the first level of Christmas is, there will come day, very soon, when mother will put away the decorations and vacuum the living room and think, “Thank goodness that this over for another year.”
Even the second level, the level of the baby Jesus, can’t last. How many times this season can you sing, “Silent Night?” The angels and the star, and the shepherd, even the silent, sacred mystery of the holy night itself, can’t long satisfy humanity’s basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, be disappointed and empty.
No, for Christmas to last all year long, for it to grow in beauty and meaning and purpose, for it to have the power to change lives, we must celebrate it at the third level, that of the adult Christ. It is at this level—not as an infant—that our Savior brings his gifts of lasting joy, lasting peace, lasting hope. It was the adult Christ who reached out and touched the untouchable, who loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in his agony on the cross, he prayed forgiveness for his enemies.
This is Christ, creator of world without number, who wept because so many of us lack affection for each other…and then willingly gave his life for all of us, including those for whom he wept. This is the Christ, the adult Christ, who gave us the perfect example, and asked us to follow him. Accepting that invitation is the way, the only way that all mankind can celebrate Christmas all year and all life long.
Have A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year! CHS
Have A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year! CHS
