Christmas Should be Published

I just learned that my husband tested positive for Covid 19 which means Christmas as planned is cancelled, and my calendar for two weeks wiped clean. So far so good. He is fully vaccinated and boosted with no dire symptoms or complaints.

If I don’t have to bake cookies or cook a roast, what shall I do instead? Finish painting the trim in the bathroom? Catch up on laundry? It feels almost sacrilegious to let Christmas melt into an ordinary day.

Besides, my house is already decked out with twinkle lights and greenery in anticipation of wide-eyed grandchildren experiencing the wonder of the holiday, some for the first time, at Gramma’s house with their cousins. The table is covered with a scarlet cloth. The candles ready to light. Pinecones and silver balls, the perfect centerpiece. My childhood creche set up in the hutch to give the little ones tangible shepherds, angels, wise men and their chipped camel, all come in awe of the king of angels born surrounded by manure.

Of course, I’ve been praying for the added magic of snow. I got ice instead, but it was so beautiful, I ran for my phone and shared this pic on Facebook.

Paul the apostle talks about how God’s invisible qualities are made visible through the natural world, so his eternal power and divine character, should be obvious to all. (Romans 1:20) So, I wasn’t surprised to find comments like: beautiful, magical, heavenly, awesome, amazing capture, should be published. Published means made public, so I’m sharing my picture here as well.

Which reminds me of the angels’ news flash to the shepherds who were terrified by celestial radiance in the darkness.

⁸ Messenger:  ¹¹ Today, in the city of David, a Liberator has been born for you! He is the promised Anointed One, the Supreme Authority! ¹² You will know you have found Him when you see a baby, wrapped in a blanket, lying in a feeding trough.

¹³ At that moment, the first heavenly messenger was joined by thousands of other messengers—a vast heavenly choir. They praised God.

¹⁴ Heavenly Choir: To the highest heights of the universe, glory to God!

    And on earth, peace among all people who bring pleasure to God!

¹⁵ As soon as the heavenly messengers disappeared into heaven, the shepherds were buzzing with conversation.

Shepherds: Let’s rush down to Bethlehem right now! Let’s see what’s happening! Let’s experience what the Lord has told us about!

¹⁶ So they ran into town, and eventually they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the feeding trough. After they saw the baby, ¹⁷ they spread the story of what they had experienced and what had been said to them about this child. ¹⁸ 

Luke 2: 11-18

Christ’s birth was the amazing capture of God’s plan for the liberation of a broken world manifest in the natural birth of a supernatural savior. That’s good news worth publishing.

 I guess that’s what I’m trying to do here, even if I’m home with only my dear husband for the holiday. I want to spread the story of what has been said about the baby Jesus and make public what I’ve experienced with him as my liberating King.

One more angelic newsflash. While I was writing this, my husband received a message from his primary provider. There was a clerical error, and the results of his test were actually negative.

Hallelujah! Game on! Light the candles and let the celebration begin.

 Cover photo by Tess Rampersad on Unsplash