Can You Feel It?

There’s a mounting excitement that’s palpable as we draw nearer to Christmas. The reasons are as varied as the excited. For some it is a time for family reunions. For others it is a time to give gifts, and likewise for gifts to be received. I can remember that for a child it is a season of magic replete with lights, songs, decorations, and amidst all that a story of a mother and father who deeply loved their newborn. It is a season of miracles and the miraculous, of joy, of hope, and of wonder. Those are all pretty good reasons to get excited. At the root of all this is the reality of hope that grips so many with a belief that things can get better than they are now, that love really is a way for us to get along with one another, and the faith that something greater than ourselves is behind all that we experience. This is not the kind of answer you would expect from a child asked what is so exciting about Christmas, but we need to look at the children’s answers because they will actually tell us what the excitement is all about. Yes, there’s excitement about getting things. But many children, especially in America, get things all the time. I suspect that those listening will hear (in kids’ terms, for sure) that the magic, the mystery, the songs, the lights, and the stories all point to an excitement grounded in the hope that God is with us and loves us.