A Thrill of Hope - the Weary World Rejoices

This year is my son's first Christmas. This year is also a last Christmas for many. In light of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, Christmas is feeling a little dismal this year. For where is the light in all this darkness? Where is the hope and joy in all of this gloom. The anticipation that usually comes with this shiny season is tainted with the bitterness of loss.

I can't help but think of the presents for your little ones that will go unopened this year. Presents that were undoubtedly picked out with love and care and wrapped in boxes with ribbons. The anticipation of watching your baby's face as the wrapping was torn off will go unknown for this year.

I don't really have any words for the families who lost so much this year. I just have this gnawing ache in the very core of my being that stings with fear and trembling and sorrow. My heart goes out to you, dear ones. That's really all I can manage. It's not much, but the ache steals so many things that could be said.



For those of us who get to celebrate with our children this year, whether it be our first Christmas together or our 98th, let's just hold one another. Let's just lean into the tension together so we can heal together.

A friend of mine said it well. He is a very smart friend. And he remains hopeful.

Whether the problem at hand is guns, mental illness, school security, media coverage or our 'culture of violence', I'm going to say what may be an unpopular thing:

There is not a world in which atrocities don't happen. To imagine that any civilization or society is more advanced than its least desirable members is to blindly deny that evil exists, that you can't outlaw it, and that our humanity is broken and messy. You can take away all the weapons, try to lock up all the crazies, shut down the news media and have schools behind razor wire: nothing we do can prevent the unthinkable from happening. We cannot protect our children any more than we can predict car accidents or tornadoes.

This may sound heartless - but in fact I believe there is great liberty in it. If the world weren't dangerous, where would be the risk (and reward) in getting out of bed every morning? If we are motivated by fear of the unknown (always a running away from something) , instead of radical love in the face of impending (and inevitable) destruction (running towards something GREATER than the thing we fear), we will never achieve greatness, never transcend our weakest members, never teach our children that life is big, and in order to live we must put our fears to death.

I mourn for the deaths at Sandy Hook, even the death of the killer. I am all for searching conversation about how to prevent whatever ills we are able. But we must acknowledge that evil exists, laws are only a society's best guess at what works to ameliorate it, and I would rather have the freedom to live or die in a broken world, in an effort to love well and triumph, than live in perpetual fear of things I can't possibly predict or prevent.

And I will teach my children the same, so that they may grow up to be fearless and desperately loving in spite of all our brokenness.

I hope that this season, we can learn to love well. It's what Jesus did - loving well in the midst of fear and darkness. God saw us and in our pain and suffering, He saw something worth loving.


O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.


Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.


Much love this Christmas,
Me