“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
“I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
The song, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” croons across the airwaves every year after Thanksgiving until the end of December. But for many, the mention of “home” is especially painful this time of year.
Homeless people fill shelters, or wander the streets. Prisons are full of men and women who can’t go home for Christmas. Families live in cars because they have lost everything – their job, house, and bank account. Others suffer the death of a loved one, and so many suffer the pain of divorce or separation in a marriage.
Adult children are angry and refuse to come home or even speak to their parents. Loving parents hold out longing arms and cry out to God because of those broken relationships. Children wither mentally, emotionally, and physically because of parental abuse and neglect. Moms and dads have wayward or runaway children, some of whom are enslaved in the sex traffic trade, have been kidnapped or killed. Service men and women in combat overseas miss the comforts of home at Christmas time. For all these, and many more, the words “Merry Christmas” are painful, hollow and mocking.
Brokenness abounds.
I think of the homeless woman I’ve encountered at various times throughout this year. She pushes a grocery cart filled with her belongings as she hunches over the handle, reading a book, and making her way slowly up and down the sidewalks and streets. I saw her the day of my children’s book signing at the Family Christian bookstore in Manassas, and again yesterday when I stopped by there to do some Christmas shopping. The pavement had given the wheels on her buggy a worn flat spot making a “clunk, clunk,” sound with each step.
When I spoke with her a few months ago, she told me she’d lost her job and her home, and asked me for some money. I gave her some, and asked, “Do you have family in the area?
She replied, “Yes.”
Again I pressed her. “Why don’t they help you?”
Her answer: “We’ve had a falling-out.”
“Why don’t you give them a call and see if you can work things out?” I encouraged.
The homeless woman looked up from the book she was reading, and answered, “The ball’s in their court now.”
How utterly sad! An angry “falling out,” insisting her family come to her, prevents her from being home for Christmas! And she isn’t the only one with that story. Over the years, I’ve spoken with a few other homeless persons who’d had angry words at home, left the family to be on their own, and refused to make up.
“And in despair I bowed my head:
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said,
‘For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.’”
Indeed, Mr. Longfellow. Hate and anger at Christmas time when there ought to be peace? Dear God, tenderize our hearts! We can’t solve all of the world’s big problems – you know, wars and all the overwhelming problems of the world – but we are responsible for our own corner of it. One family member at a time. One neighbor at a time. Don’t play the blame game. “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18) Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. What is my responsibility?
Jesus said, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye but do not notice or consider the beam of timber that is in your own eye?...You actor (pretender, hypocrite)! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:41-42)
“Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32) “As you would like and desire that men would do to you, do exactly so to them.” (Luke 6:31) And, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:15, NIV)
We tend to forget how much God has forgiven us for. I don’t understand the love of God, but He sent Jesus, because He so loved the whole rotten, stinking world steeped in darkness and sin, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have God’s kind of life – everlasting life! (John 3:16, my paraphrase) Not one of us deserves even one teeny little bit of His forgiveness! He already freely extends forgiveness to us even though we didn’t ask to be forgiven. Think about that. Our part is to believe Him and receive the forgiveness He freely offers. What a gift to undeserving humanity! If you haven’t yet received His free gift of forgiveness, tell Jesus you receive it right now and that you believe in Him. Tell Him you want Him to be your Lord and Savior. And it will be so. Freely you have received, freely give – which includes forgiving others as you have been forgiven.
Everywhere I go, people ask me the question: “Are you ready for Christmas?” So, I ask you, dear reader, “Are you ready for Christmas?” If you have a meek and humble heart to welcome the Prince of Peace, you are ready for Christmas.
The final triumphant lines of Longfellow’s poem are fitting here:
“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.’
“Till ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men!”
All Scripture is taken from the Amplified Bible unless otherwise noted.
Copyright © 2014 Elaine Beachy
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