by Kat Cornett
As the day of Christmas draws near, I find myself more and more drawn to memories of Christmases past. The times when our children were young and bubbling with excitement.
Why is it that Christmas seems to be a time of great nostalgia? It is a time when I turn the record player on (yes, I have one of those.) and listen to the scratchy sound of Bing Crosby croon “White Christmas.” I stare at the bubble lights on the Christmas tree. I smile at the handmade ornaments from when the children were little.
The season lends itself to a time of remembering and longing. I remember the Christmases when I was a child. Memories of going to my grandparents home and of my mom and dad watching as my brothers and sisters opened presents. I can still smell the cedar trees that my dad always went to the woods to cut for our Christmas trees.
Why all the nostalgia and remembering? I think C. S. Lewis was right when he said,
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
I find my greatest feelings of nostalgia come when I read,
“For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
“’Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger’ and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’”
As Isaiah saw the future and longed for that day, we see the Greatest Gift of God- Jesus in a manger- come to save us from our sin. Our greatest longing fulfilled by God coming as a baby who would grow to be the perfect sacrifice for a debt. A debt we could never pay. Jesus, the God-man, the perfect payment, the risen Savior, and the soon returning King.
What C. S. Lewis wrote of, we see and long for, the Baby of Christmas returning to take us to the world for which we were made.