OPINION:
It’s OK to be reflective and a little sad at Christmastime.
Christmastime is characterized by parties, celebrations and dinners with family and friends. Why, then, is part of it melancholy? Why are some of the most popular carols the saddest and most emotional?
The melancholy in Christmas is a direct counterpoint and result of the “great joy” heralded by the angels. The holy day compels each of us to carefully examine what progress we are making on our journey and brings into relief what remains to be done.
Lew Wallace, the great novelist, soldier and statesman who wrote “Ben-Hur,” described this journey: “Your whole life is a miracle. … There are many paths to God. … I hope that yours will not be too difficult.”
From a purely temporal perspective, as each year comes to a close, it is only natural to think about what has been and what might be in the new year. Even corporations, the most soulless of all institutions invented by man, assess their performance at the end of each year.
Moreover, Christmas is always going to be tangled up with memories and reminds us of what once was and is no longer, of who used to be with us and who is not. Everyone above a certain age has lost people they loved. At Christmastime, we remember those people with special intensity as we look around the table and note their absence.
At the same time, we happily note the presence of new faces.
Christmas is especially connected to rituals among family and friends; almost every family does something very specific at a certain time during the season. With age — and hopefully wisdom and awareness — we come to the understanding, first vaguely, then clearly, that these rituals existed before us and, hopefully, will be performed long after we are gone.
One day, we will be among the absent, hopefully after we have passed along some of the light we received. Considering one’s mortality is always a moment for somber reflection. That is why people routinely avoid it.
So, it is normal to be a bit melancholy during the season. It is more important, however, to remember that there are those who are suffering. To the extent you can, love and care for those who may be scuffling a bit — and we are all scuffling a bit.
The list is long: lonely people, single mothers struggling to raise their children and work, married people going through difficulties, single people who wish they had someone, old people worried about sickness and their impending moment, children worried about the social tyranny of their peers, the sick, the poor in body or in spirit, those who have not heard about Christmas, the millions around the world who suffer active persecution.
The world — now as always — provides endless opportunities to do good things, to help people, and to focus on the needs of others rather than on one’s own challenges.
During the Christmas season, there is always so much to do, and the weight and burden of responsibilities sometimes seem overwhelming. Try not to worry about being all things to all people. Most people really want only to know that you love them and think about them from time to time.
Finally, Christmas is about promise. The promise of a new life and a child who carried with him the promise of redemption. It is no acciden that Christmas is focused on children. The infant in the manger is like other infants — he embodies hope and optimism.
In the same way, children are living expressions of their parents’ hope for a better world. They, more than most of us, embody the optimism for the future that the holy day promises and celebrates.
As we travel through life, sometimes our own hope, promise and optimism become enfeebled, and we become compromised by our deficiencies and by our accommodations — small and large — to the world. On Christmas, we sometimes reflect on those deficiencies and accommodations and are naturally sad about some parts of our own journey.
The good news from Bethlehem is that God loves us — with all our deficiencies — and wants us to be happy. So be of good cheer, and have a merry Christmas.
• Michael McKenna is a contributing editor to The Washington Times and co-hosts the podcast “The Unregulated.”
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