Christmas at Tania

There were no Christmas lights hung on my house this year.  I didn't decorate cookies with my niece and nephews, and I haven't eaten any of my mom's homemade peanut butter balls or lady locks.  I have caught no snowflakes on my tongue, have scolded no students for throwing snowballs at their classmates, have built no snowmen in my yard.   I have not watched Rudolph, and I have not even seen the greatest Christmas commercial ever made on TV.  I did not spend Christmas Eve at church, singing "Silent Night" by candlelight as the wax dripped on the hymnals.  I did not wake up Christmas morning at my parents' house to exchange gifts with family while eating warm cinnamon rolls by the tree decorated with ornaments handmade by my siblings and I in the early 90's, with a fire roaring in the wood stove.

For 30 Christmases, my routines and traditions looked very much the same.  The lack of those routines this year meant it didn't really feel like Christmas in the days and weeks leading up to December 25th.  But Christmas still came.  "It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes, or bags. ...What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps means a little bit more?"

It was told by the prophet Isaiah that the coming Messiah would be called "Immanuel," meaning "God with us."  The God who was divorced from us in the Garden of Eden broke down the walls separating us and came down to live among us as a baby on Christmas, and that's what we celebrate:  that 2,000 years ago, God came among us.

But I can feel more this year that this is something we can still celebrate, because God is still among us.  When Jesus told us that, where two or more are gathered in his name, he's there, that means I didn't just celebrate Christmas with the Kigundas, we celebrated with Jesus.  When Jesus told us whatever we do for those who are vulnerable and in need, we do for him, that means I'm not just loving the kids here who have nowhere else to go for Christmas; I'm loving Jesus.  The same Jesus who was visited by shepherds as he slept in a barn was in the dining hall at the Tania Centre as we threw a party to bring joy to these kids who have no one else.

We don't just celebrate a God who came to earth as a baby over 2,000 years ago--we celebrate a God who is still present with us on earth today.  He was present when I celebrated with my family in Pennsylvania for the past 30 Christmases, and he was present today when our staff prepared a special meal for our children, as we shared small gifts with these kids who so rarely see gifts, as I played Christmas carols on my cello for everyone.  It didn't look the same as any other Christmas I've celebrated, but God was still among us.

I pray that I can always remember to look for Immanuel, God among us, not just on Christmas, but every day.