REFLECTIONS…On enjoying Christmas ‘company’…

It was one of those “chance” meetings: I was at the church house decorating a table for the Youth Dinner on Saturday and D.A. Ratley was there to help Dave and a friend unload and set up a bouncy-house for the children’s “Happy Birthday, Jesus” event on Sunday.

D.A. began telling me about a poem he’d found while looking for something else, and I asked him for permission to use it for this column.

There are many in the Red Springs area who, like D.A., have — since last Christmas — lost spouses who were also best friends and soul mates. Many others have lost parents or children or siblings or neighbors and dear, dear friends.

For all who have faced these losses, any thoughts of Christmas are tinged with a deep dread of a day that will be sadly, painfully different this year.

In fact, everyone reading this column has at some point faced a ‘first Christmas’ after a loss that left a hole in our life as well as in our heart and in our family circle.

Those who are believers in Jesus and whose loved one was as well can know that our loss, though devastating, is not permanent: We will see him or her or them again when we are summoned to Heaven, where every day is “Christmas” and “Easter” and Homecoming reunion!

And we can, along with D.A., imagine our loved ones reciting or singing the following anonymous poem, distributed through Young World Radio, 3003 N. Snelling, St. Paul, MN 55113.

It is entitled “I’m Spending Christmas with Jesus Christ This Year.”

“I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below, With tiny lights, like Heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow.

“The sight is so spectacular, Please wipe away that tear, For I’m spending Christmas With Jesus Christ this year!

“I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear, But the sounds of music can’t compare With the Christmas choir up here.

“For I have no words to tell you the joy their voices bring, For it is beyond description to hear an angel sing!

“I can’t tell you of the splendor, Or the peace here in this place. Can you just imagine Christmas with our Savior, face to face?!

“I’ll ask Him to light your spirit as I tell Him of your love. So then, pray for one another As you lift your eyes above.

“Please let your hearts be joyful, And let your spirit sing, For I’m spending Christmas in Heaven, And I’m walking with the King!”

Yes….Those who died “in the Lord” this year are spending Christmas with the Christ! It’s an amazing thought!

But may I close with a reminder to all of us who are still Earth-bound this year: If we don’t lose Him in the hurly-burly busy-ness of shopping and wrapping and decorating and cooking and eating, we can spend Christmas with Him, as well!

In that reassuring realization, let us indeed pray for one another and begin in earnest “walking with the King,” too!

Have a good week!