I grew up in a great home and the Advent/Christmas season was always very special.For one thing, Grandma always came for the holidays, and the moment she stepped off the airplane, we were showered with blessings for the stomach and soul. Our first stop on the way home from the airport was Sees Candy and this was just to hold us over until she had the chance to start baking. Oh my, Christmas cookies, coffee cake, rolls, chili, and more. Grandma and I played endless card games and she helped me practice my spelling words. Sometimes I would study her face as she sat in front of the stereo and listened to Handel's Messiah in a trance like state.
This was as close to a Norman Rockwell Christmas as one could get. However, I do remember observing a stress, tension, anxiety on the face of my mother and older sister who seemed to bear the responsibility for making Christmas perfect, especially when Grandma was no longer with us but the same expectations continued on.
Years later, as a pastor, I saw how difficult Christmas could be for people for a variety of reasons. I also saw how the ideal American Christmas did not match reality for most people and did not match the reality of the first Christmas --- the birth of Jesus. Cow poop, genocide, and an unplanned teen pregnancy are not exactly what you find in a Norman Rockwell painting. But it is what you find in the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke's gospels.
The first Christmas was pretty messy, and life today is pretty messy --- but God shows up in the middle of the mess to bring goodnews of great joy! What are our own unrealistic expectations for the "perfect" Christmas? Maybe we can work on giving up on perfect and instead nurture simple awe and joy.
