The most _________ time of the year

We are but a few days from Christmas. For many, it will be a morning filled with family and laughter, presents and food. Songs will be sung or at least heard, including various versions of the classic, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

But is it for everyone, wonderful that is?

This season invites a spectrum of emotions for me. Today, December 22, would have been my mother’s 81^st birthday. In a little over a week, my father would have celebrated his 85^th New Year’s Day birthday. A few weeks ago marked the seventh anniversary of my father’s death.

As an only child with no remaining parents or grandparents and only a few aunts and uncles, I can relate to the pain some feel during this time of the year.

I do not share my personal situation to engender pity or sympathy, but to offer my acute awareness this may not always be the most wonderful time of the year.

This time of the year can be many things to many people. It can be the most…

Wonderful

Awful

Joyful

Painful

Exciting

Depressing

Friend-filled

Lonely

Time of the year.

I invite you to think about this reality as you encounter people along the way during the holiday season. In a time filled with hustle and bustle and the rush to get to that party, obtain that gift, or attend that event, we might miss the pain in our presence or unload our own anxiety and stress on unsuspecting recipients.

We all experience opportunities to offer peace or comfort to those facing what might be a not so wonderful time of the year.

Slow down and look around you. Be mindful of those who might seem grumpy, irritated, or even angry. Maybe, just maybe, this time of year isn’t so wonderful for them, and those emotions are the only language they have to express their pain.Extend hospitality in your encounters with both friends and strangers in your midst and like a homeowner two thousand years ago, you might just have a divine encounter. While your guest won’t be Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus, you will be welcoming one who has been created in the image of God; that in itself is a wonderful thing.