Like the enemy soldiers in WWI who stopped fighting on Christmas to celebrate and yearn for “peace on earth” together, we celebrate things that don’t seem to exist in real life. In our hopes and dreams at Christmastime, there is a yearning to return to Eden, a place where there is no hunger, shame, war, or loneliness. With shootings, terrorism, hunger, and greed everywhere we look, it can seem hypocritical to celebrate something like “peace” and “unity”. But for the Christian, this is not too unreal or escapist to celebrate richly and fully. The themes of Christmas are not merely sentimental. In fact, they are truer than the world we are living in. Our current broken world is passing away. The ice will thaw, the trees will bud, and the long summer days will return. The door to Eden has been reopened, and because of the blood of the Lamb, the door will never be closed. The bits of peace that we have will continue while all sad divisions will one day cease. Because these things are truth, then Christmas should put all other things into perspective, and we should not allow cynicism to eat away at our joy. We must take a break from our daily existence to joyfully remember together that the weight and pain of this life is not all there is. Something greater is coming, and the one who came on Christmas to open the door of Eden will return to rule as a king of peace and make all things new. Spring is coming, and summer light will return
Andrew Thomasson 