Happy Christmas?

“Have you heard?” over the phone my daughter’s voice echoed with dread – a signal that she carried news no-one wanted to hear. Hasn’t 2020 been challenging enough? The entire country is barely getting back on its feet as this ‘once in a hundred years’ pandemic sweeps its way around the world. Many of our overseas neighbours are still buried neck-deep in this insidious mongrel of a virus. Meanwhile Australia is literally living up to its ‘lucky country’ label and with all borders open we, like thousands of others, are preparing for family to arrive for a wonderful Christmas together.

“No, what’s happened?”

“There’s been an outbreak in Sydney.” Her voice broke as the words tumbled out. “22 cases with more predicted to come in the days ahead.”

My heart dropped. I knew what this meant, not just for us but for those who had contracted the virus a week before Christmas, their families and the knock on effects for our country. “Oh sweetie. No, I haven’t heard.”

And so it is, borders are closing, again, people are isolating, again. Restrictions are returning and families are kept apart at the ‘most wonderful time of the year’.

Happy Christmas? The tendency is of course to dwell on what we don’t have. We won’t have the Christmas we thought we would. It’s ok to be sad and frustrated and yes to express all those emotions.

The saying ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick’ is true, yet whilst we are disappointed and upset, we are not without hope. Our family is important, very important, but they should not be our salvation. People, including our loved ones, those we see as family, are temporal. They will come and go. They will sometimes let us down. They, like us are bound by the rules of nature. Sickness & health. Life and death. Yet there is One who is outside of these forces. He is our hope, our anchor in the pandemic storm. Christ alone.

Do I wish things were different? Of course I do, but wishing won’t change the facts. The only thing any of us have control over is the way we respond. Let’s take that opportunity and throw it square in the face of this virus. We can still practice peace and goodwill wherever we are and whoever we’re with.

Happy Christmas? It’s your choice.