Most people, when asked about Christmas, will give answers like: "It's Jesus' birthday. A time to spend with family and friends. A time to give gifts and drink and be merry." Me? Well, I have a much different perspective.
You see, in November of 1990 I buried my first child. After having lost one prior. And then this year I buried another-also in the month of November. I have been molested and abused, had a very rough start in life. I've tried to be positive, to set a good example, to be a good person, to do the right thing. Yet the pain in my life persists like a deep affliction. The years have molded me into someone who has paid the high price of great suffering, someone who knows torment and agony. I don't know why. I don't pretend to know. I only know the cards I've been dealt and it's been a bad deck.
So when I am asked about Christmas, my answer now will be, "A time to be grateful for what you have. A time to cherish those surrounding you on Christmas eve and Christmas day-and to remember that they don't belong to you. They belong to God. Because you never know when everything will change in the snap of a finger." And it does. And it will. It is inevitable. This life is not fair and it holds no promises. I never dreamed I'd bury my almost 19 year old daughter a week and a half before her birthday. Only three weeks before Thanksgiving and a month and a half before Christmas. You never know when the reaper must heed his call. So be grateful for everything you have in the given moment because life hold no guarantees.
I can definitely empathize with Mother Mary as she watched Jesus die on the cross. Losing a child is excruciating. Losing two is devastating. Three? Deplorable. It changes you forever and you must try with all your might not to become angry and jaded. It helps to know God, to believe in the beauty of Heaven. This Christmas, tell everyone around you that you love them. Even those you disagree with. It may be your last chance. You truly never know.
I leave you with this: Christmas is an attitude of love. Live it every day of your life. Make sure you do so that you have fewer regrets. Love brings out the best in everyone and this world is in desperate need of it. This world is full of suffering.
God Bless. Try to have a Merry Christmas.