Depression in Celebration?

I have challenged the church family to “set their minds on things above” by reading with me the short devotional we provided.  This first short week took us to a pair of father and daughter thoughts.  Billy Graham spoke of a loneliness and isolation that seems to overflow the season in some hearts.  Dr. Graham gives the correct answer by assuring readers that true fulfillment in this Christmas season is only to be found in the person of Jesus Christ!

Anne Graham Lotz follows this same thought by presenting hope as the real gift of Christmas.  Quoting Isaiah 35:10, Anne claims the promise of “joy and gladness” when “sorrow and sighing” has ceased.  Both of these thoughts address a joy that exceeds the tree, the gifts, the food, the singing and the decorations. 

So why is there depression in celebration?  I want you to consider that one of the most obvious issues is the insistence on the imaginary during this holiday.  We have created a larger than life Santa, flying reindeer, world-wide travel in a single night, chimney invasions and a body of elves whose vocational specialty is toy building.  We sing songs about frost and snow and snowmen who come to life.  We tell stories of trips to grandma’s house in a sleigh drawn by horses when most have never seen or ridden in such a conveyance.  Overall, much of the holiday revolves around practices never practiced!  Have you ever roasted chestnuts on any kind of a fire?

What is the result of such contrived celebrations?  An entire season of songs, parties and get-togethers based on myth!  For many who cling to the thinnest thread of hope and reality in life anyway, this seems to be too much.  No real relief from a cookie snatching elf for those out of work.  No peace comes to fractured families when cherub faces gather in Victorian clothes around an enormous tree covered with fairy dust and sugarplums!  How do the folks in California sing and songs about Frosty the Snowman with a straight face?  It seems to me that there is a direct relationship in the disparity of real life problems and the wisp of frivolity in an imagined Christmas.

So, what is the answer?  Is there any genuine reason to celebrate this Christmas season?  Both of the Grahams have it right!  The truth is that loneliness is not going to be solved by an imaginary friend - it is to be solved by God coming to be with us (Emmanuel!) and He is to be found in the manger of Bethlehem.  A real baby, born in real time, God with us - is providing true hope for lonely hearts. 

Please direct the depressed to the Divine!