Christmas is a celebration
of a loving presence.
The presence of God
came down to earth
in Jesus Christ
so that God might be near us
to support us
and enliven our existence
in a thousand ways.
Benjamin Disraeli
once wrote these astonishing words:
Youth is a blunder;
[adulthood] a struggle:
Old age a regret.
How bleak,
how dismal these sentiments.
They express the hopelessness
and the meaninglessness of life
as some people experience it.
Part of the joy
of Christmas
is in fact
that Christ
comes to rescue us
from such a fate.
His coming
has put meaning and purpose
into our lives:
The Word became flesh...
and lived among us...
Out of the fullness
of his grace he has blessed us all,
giving us one blessing after another.
Thank God
we shall never have to say:
Our youth was a blunder;
Our adulthood, a struggle;
and our old age, a regret.