Why Christmas?

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

Happy Christmas by John Lennon

For many of us, Christmas is that time when we look back at the year nearly gone, we rush to get presents and we try hard to enjoy quality time with friends and family. All as it should be. All very good aims and endeavors.
For me, Christmas is also a realization that, as John Lennon said, "And what have you done?"
What have I done that I can claim to be a good person?
A person worthy of believing I can dictate my relationship with the Creator of everything?
What could I possibly do that can elevate me to divine status?

It's an easy answer for me - nothing.

There is nothing I can achieve, do or contemplate that would make me worthy of experiencing God's concern and care. Yet, I believe I benefit from those things. How can this be?

Christmas is the answer. Whether one takes the Mary and Joseph stories in the Bible as literal truths or not, to me this represents the ultimate reaching out by God to humans. Just like an intervention with an addict, the healthy one took the needed first step to put things right. Why?

Love.

Same reason one of us would stage that intervention for someone we cared so deeply about. Just like an addict getting well, the intervention represents the beginning of the cure. I'm not going to say that I know exactly how it works between us and God. That'd be pretty audacious. That's something each of us needs to work out on our own. But sometime during this holiday rush, I hope you can find just a moment to think about it; take a pause to consider there are other things greater than each of us and wonder how we fit into the puzzle. Ask, "Why?"

Here is my Christmas prayer for all of us:
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear