by Joanie Butman
Years ago during yoga class, our instructor was introducing a challenging pose. After a number of clumsy efforts by the class, she had us lean against the wall to experience how the pose should feel. When you feel the safety of the wall, you can lean into it knowing you won’t fall. This allows you to stretch much further than if you were trying to balance with no one to catch you. I immediately thought to myself – isn’t that just like faith?
When you have Christ, and ideally the fellowship of other believers on whom you rely for support, your faith can be stretched to unprecedented levels. Christianity is not meant to be a solo endeavor. We’re all in the same class often struggling with difficult positions.
Never is this truer than in tragedy and suffering. Tragedies don’t isolate us; they bring us together, which is right where we need to be when experiencing the dark night of the soul. I see it again and again as people rally around those suffering, to be the wall into which they can safely lean for support. This comes to mind because I feel guilty preparing for Christmas while others are struggling with hardships of all kinds. Too many people I know are grieving the loss of a loved one or spending their Christmas season by the bedside of one, walking them home. In some cases, both. Sadly, pain and suffering don’t take holidays.
I’ve heard a number of people comment that losing a loved one during the holidays must intensify the loss. I’m not sure I believe that theory because gone is gone. Would the loss be any less painful had it happened in July – absolutely not.
The gift of Christmas is the hope of heaven given to us through the birth of Christ. It’s into this hope that we can lean for support and comfort knowing it is the only thing preventing us from falling into a pit of despair. During times of intense pain, I can’t think of anything I need more than to feel the presence and peace of Christ. Yet, in the midst of suffering His presence often feels elusive. It’s during those times I cling to His promise to “wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4). As Joni Erickson Tada commented this week, “Christmas is a reminder of a promise yet to be fulfilled.”
There are no words of comfort to offer that will ease the pain of losing loved ones. We can, however, choose to stand with the grieving and bear witness to their pain. In the darkness of unimaginable sorrow, we can choose to pray that the hope of heaven and the light of Christmas will eventually carry them through to the other side of their pain.
I will leave you with this verse:
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
This is the true meaning of Christmas and something we need to celebrate, especially in the midst of suffering. There’s no shortage of pain in this world. I don’t know anyone who couldn’t benefit from an infusion of the light of Christmas for comfort and healing of all kinds.
