The All-Clear From Heaven
Christmas means that everything is all right.
As far back as 70,000 years ago, men and women were looking to the sky and wondering: Are we ok? Are we acceptable in the sight of God? Almost universally, they thought not. And so began the endless sacrifices meant to appease whatever God was up there.
The Incarnation—God becoming human for our sake—is God’s eternal sign of reconciliation. This is the angels’ message: “Peace upon earth among people of goodwill!” No more sacrifices. Christmas means we don’t need to do anything to get into God’s good graces. In fact, there is no longer any “us” and “God,” no fearful gap that must be closed.
We are still the same flawed and faithless people we always were, except now Jesus is one of us. His inhabiting a human body means it’s good to be a man or woman, with all that entails.
It’s ok to worry
to feel lonely
to ache with regret.
It’s normal to hurt
to wish we hadn’t said that
hadn’t left anyway.
It’s ok to be faithful one day and a screw-up the next,
ok to make promises we weren’t meant to keep.
It’s ok because Jesus, the one crying right now and reaching for someone to hold him in the cold, is on team human. He’s no different from us; he really isn’t. And at his birth this morning, God is looking on, adoring this baby, loving everything about this child and every one of his sisters and brothers. That would be us. You and me.
On this morning we have the all-clear from heaven.
Merry Christmas
P.S. Thanks for being part of this Advent trek together. Special thanks to my wife Pam, for editing each piece and making it far better. And to my daughter Maggy, for creating the graphics for each post. Thanks, most of all, for reading along, for sharing your own experience in the comments and for helping us all to get to Bethlehem.
Merry Christmas, David. Thank you for all the words this Advent – they made the journey to Bethlehem special. Peace, Johnna
And thank you for your Advent blog as well—it was good to be on this path together.
Thank you, David, for this profound and timeless message, and for all that came before it. Merry Christmas!
Ellie
Thanks for sharing in the joy of Advent—and Merry Christmas.
Thank you for taking time to write and share. I feel it was meaningful to you, and it was multiplied to be meaningful to many. What a blessing! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Merry Christmas to ALL the Anderson family. David, you have made the Advent journey more meaningful than ever and on this Christmas day I am grateful for you and the magnificent, life saving gift of Christmas!
Anne Kimball
Thanks so much for reading along, Anne. Nice to stay in touch this way. Merry Christmas
Yes, it WAS meaningful to me. How do I know the truth unless I write my way there? Merry Christmas.
Thank you, David! I have really enjoyed these meaningful messages.
Thank you, Marta—we can all hold onto the blessings we found in this season.
David
Your writings have made the Light of Hope in Advent even brighter. The past four weeks have provided a path for reflection on how our lives can be better lived.
You too are a blessing
Hope—that’s your word, Bob. Merry Christmas to you.
Merry Christmas, thank you for the Advent postings, they were very meaningful
Merry Christmas to you, Mary—and thanks for reading.
Promises not meant to be kept–that’s a good one. And this whole post, the final Advent post, couldn’t be more perfect, connecting Incarnation and Grace.
Loved trekking with you….
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for reading, Michael—some of your comments were post-posts! So insightful, wise and good.
Lovely thoughts, David. A very merry Christmas to you and your family!
Thanks, Clive—blessings to you.
Thank you David, Pam and Maggie, It has been warming to be with you each day.
Merry Christmas and wishing you a healthy and happy New Year. Best
Thanks, Roger—I’ve enjoyed this month more than I can say!
Thank you David. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, Betty
David, you greatly aided our efforts to stay focused on Advent, and connect with God. Even with effort it is difficult! So we needed your daily support with those insights and then the discussions that we had after we reflected on your writings. We thank God for your continued ministry!
Thanks for being on the journey—and really glad the pieces sparked further discussion. That’s the best.
Your writings are always so helpful to me on my faith journey. Thank you for this Advent series . I would love a series like this for Lent !
Lent–I’m thinking hard about that!
Please !!!!
I loved every word !Thank U for making it possible for non bloggers to receive it! I looked forward to reading it each day, It helped me think about Advent in a fresh & more meaningful way!🙏
Thanks–it was total joy being on this Advent trek together.
David
Great to have been a part of your Advent series. Thank you.
We had a Christmas dinner in the Florida Keys with family. Used some of your observations as comments. Also referenced this piece about friendship
NYTimes: Why Jesus Loved Friendship
Why Jesus Loved Friendship https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/23/opinion/jesus-love-friendship-christmas.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqYhlSlUZACbSRdkhrxqAwvrC26Enw3v5MiXQRyxDwuIZGIiB4wLGZbBifMc21i_dRMNENPVnYs1O-dJlHh4nTRi08NzDkY4ZIi4xpMXqATpugp-XDfVhr2SwKzToeL46leCytlfWYDTgWabf1iYlLQZ1sNAyIwHRrH8Pw6nGG-V-y4M-ia9nXsYmMG9GMCqavPDoCAF9O8GGanzf6Qo3X-JaW1LDjILWquJAIEgJVwWwHD4o6n086dhdJNoUIK_1ShYgc8D5ir0QYXd6mOV6aJWmHR-RTTEQoXFBpw
Glad the pieces sparked some conversation in this wonderful season–and thanks for the piece on Jesus and friendship–I saw it when it came out, but didn’t have time to read it in the moment–love Peter Wehner’s writing.
Thank you, David for always telling us “it’s ok,” even when it’s probably not! Your comforting, inspiring and forgiving words have been a joy this season.
That’s the best, Brian–knowing that things are all right, even when they’re not. Ha! That is pretty much the spiritual task in a nutshell.
I think you can see by the many comments that we all loved your daily readings. Thank you for this beautiful gift of reflection and insight. Keep writing!