..
.
No manger scene this time unlike last year.
Only a cross. An empty cross.
An empty cross that speaks of the Resurrection.
Jesus came to be born and to die but also to be resurrected.
And because of his Birth, death followed, but then there was the Resurrection!
This Christmas is unlike any other Christmas. I am almost overcome by a sense of impending loss.
I have received news that a friend, a long time friend, very dear and very close to me, has cancer. He has 7 months to live if untreated. If there is viable treatment, a longer period.
At my age, I lose friends throughout each year. Losing another to death should be expected. It’s supposed to be normal.
However, this friend is unlike any other. We have stood by each other through good times and bad, through thick and thin. Our friendship goes back to the 1980s. Our common faith in God through Jesus Christ has bonded us.
As I look forward to Christmas, it is with a saddened heart. To lose this friend months later?
Yet there is the Christmas message, one of eternal hope, so my prayer is, “Heal him, O Lord!”
The Birth of Christ to be celebrated this Christmas.
Christmas brings hope.
“When I survey the wondrous cross…”
Amen.
..
weehingthong 