The minutes of 2021 are ticking down towards another year. I have written on all four Advent Sundays, and today, I write on Christmas day. Christmas Eve passed quietly as a dangerous, milky fog enveloped the earth and ice was the prevailing road condition. There seems to be no end to the pandemic, and many people are stubbornly refusing to wear masks. This is the second year in a row where I have not attended services on Christmas Eve. Last year, the church was closed; this year, I don’t want to put myself in a setting where I don’t know who is vaccinated or who is not. As a result, I turned to the services on-line.
The pastor of Riverside Trinity Lutheran Church in California used the idea that “we are all inn keepers on Christmas Eve, and all of us decide if there is room for Christ in the inn.” I have tried to keep Christ at the center of my heart, and by my thoughts and actions, I have tried to gladly shelter Him from the cold. I must admit, the longer the pandemic has gone on, the more my spirit has struggled with how hard it is to be one of a few who abide by the health regulations of our country. As I think back on 20th century history, I realize that people survived the Spanish flu, two Word Wars, polio, and the Great Depression. They showed great resilience and strength and a deep abiding faith in God. Life would get better. Like Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,” I’m tempted to say, “Bah Humbug!”
My mother and father appeared in my dreams last night, and they told me that God will never let me fall. Nothing is impossible with Him. Perhaps to quell my fears about our country’s current problems, they suggested I would be visited by three angels: one from the past, one from the present, and one from the future. The angel from the past asked me what I loved about my early Christmases. I said, “I loved sharing happy times with my family in church, around the tree, hearing my mother and grandmother sing “Silent Night” in Hungarian, trips up the mountain in a sleigh, snow ball fights with my brother, and making cookies and hard candy.” “Then you have found the answer to your sadness; remember those happy times to carry you into the new year,” replied the angel from the past.
A fog slipped into my room with the angel from the present, who was wearing a mask. I asked her why she was wearing a mask. She said, “Just because I live in heaven doesn’t mean that I am not concerned about others here on earth. God is telling all of you to love your neighbors as yourself and to bring His Word to all who will listen and hold Him in their hearts. Faith, hope, and love abideth still, but the greatest of these is love. I must go now because there are many who I will be leading home tonight.”
After a few minutes, the angel from the future arrived, looking like a robot. He could not speak, but through pictures, he showed me what our world could look like if we do not turn our hearts and minds back to God. The angel said, “I know your fears, but only God knows the future. Look to John 3: 16. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ I am here to tell you that God still loves you and will continue to love you, even when you make mistakes.”
I need to focus on faith, hope, and love; they will help me to move forward knowing that God will never forsake me. He alone is the anchor of my soul. Like Tiny Tim, I will be healed and I can now say, “God bless us everyone!” As my mother and father turned to leave in the mist of my dream, I heard them humming, “In the Bleak Mid-winter, as if to say, “Keep the manger in your heart all year long.”
In the bleak mid-winter, the wind was coldly moaning, and the ground was covered in ice. Snow continued to fall just like so many years ago around that tiny stable. Heaven cannot hold the Christ child, and the earth cannot sustain Him. The stable would do for His shelter, and the animals crowded around His manger. I asked myself, “What can I bring Him, poor as I am? I would bring Him a lamb if I were a shepherd. I would bring Him special gifts if I were a wise man. I can bring Him my heart and soul.”
Anna Hartt
