Finding Christmas in a Difficult World

This is the last Sunday before the Mayan prophecy of the end of the world hits us on the 21st of December.  Frankly, I’m not particularly worried about it.  I really believe that this world that God created and saved will go right on.  Doomsday prophecies seem to be a part of our heritage.  Every couple of years or so, there is somebody claiming that the end of the world is approaching.  It never seems to occur, even though we don’t seem to understand that pumping endless supplies of CO2 into the atmosphere is not doing it any good and that climate change is much more than a theory, that it is upon us and that we may at this point be beyond salvation.  We’ll have to see about that.

In the meantime, we are in the middle of Advent and getting ready to celebrate the birth of our savior.  If you can ignore the commercialism all around us, this is a good time to quiet down and meditate on the goodness that also surrounds us.   Every week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publishes a column dedicated to the kindness that is shown by people in the city.  They get letters about good things that people have done, such as returning lost wallets, helping children and the such.  It always makes me feel good to read these things.  I know that there is an innate goodness inside each of us that can transcend the badness that is so obvious.

When I had my prison ministry, I was always impressed with the way that the men in my group cared about each other, and the way that others in the prison population came to the fore when there was need.  That was not obvious to those outside the prison who held all inmates in disregard and who seemed to want increased not decreased sentences.  That is probably why our prisons are so full today.  We incarcerate one out of five people in this country.  That is one of the highest figures in the world.  We are on a par with China and Iran in this regard.

But Christmas is coming.  Once again we are reminded of God’s glorious love for all of humanity, particularly including those in prison and those in need.  Instead of our intense desire to gather more and more things around us, it would be better if we could focus our financial attention on those who live their lives without even the basic things that we all take for granted.

I know that if Christianity disappeared from the face of the earth, Christmas with all of its merchandising would go right on.  We long ago lost control of the theology behind it.  God’s love is a powerful part of the message of this season.  When we become calm and small and meditate on the real meaning of this time, we can see that the need of those around us is more than cards and baubles.  The need is certainly for food, shelter and care.  And more than that, the need is simply for kindness.  God blesses us richly when we provide it.  Do something nice for somebody today. You might get your name in the paper!