Wrapped

I struggled again with what to write for our annual Christmas letter. I pulled out the one we sent out last year, only a couple of short months since Bridget had died. I read through it, hoping for more inspiration of how to approach the task again. The tenderness of the recent events in our lives was evident, and yet there was still something of inspiration.

December 2007:
...Through our sorrows, we are again in the Christmas season. This "Season of Joy" is celebrated in this region just as the darkest days in the year begin to grow more full of light. But even though more light begins to fill a day, the season is still so very cold and dark. What is a happy time of togetherness for many, is also a very real time of longing for togetherness for others. It becomes for those a Season of Hope. A time to Hope for a day when the season can once again be celebrated in the love and joy of reunions after such terribly long separations.

"Mortality is but a stepping-stone to a more glorious existence in the future. The sorrow of death is softened with the promise of the Resurrection. There would be no Christmas if there were no Easter."(Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Things of Which I Know," Ensign, May 2007, 83–85)

As we’ve reflected on our memories throughout the years, we have concluded that our favorite memories are those which are to come– what lies beyond time, one eternal round. With an eternal vision, we can remember all that is to come as well as all that was in the past, even more clearly than we even know the present. Our mortal measure of time is a veil to what lies ahead, but the Spirit can pierce that veil and reveal the Truth of all things.

The greatest gifts of this season are not the kinds you buy in stores, but those that are stored up in the Glory of the days to come. The gifts we unwrap now will pale as we are wrapped in the significance of the birth of our Savior and His gift of His life and redemption from death– as we are one day wrapped in immortal robes and reunited again with all our loved ones. This is our greatest Christmas "memory", our greatest Hope.

Maybe it shouldn't be so difficult to write a family Christmas letter. But it was again a struggle. Imperfect as it is, we did finally finish and sent one out for this year, too:

December 2008: With the experiences our family has had, we cannot help but wonder somewhat about Miracles. It seems at times that Miracles have ceased. In reflecting on this past year and the fulness of our lives, we see Miracles do happen.

"Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. " ~C S Lewis

Our letter this year seems somewhat of a retelling– deja vu. Life’s repetitions seem peculiarly uncanny at times. But “repetition is a law of learning” (Gordon B. Hinckley).

...There is still so much of grief that we are processing through, while trying to carry on in the everyday tasks and joys of life. It is a beacon of Hope to know that He whose birth we celebrate at this time of year is known to be ”a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), and yet He is still the Promise and source of Peace– “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27) Often, it has been through kindnesses of others that we have felt His tender mercies. They may not always be the ones we ask for, but Miracles still exist.

Through small and simple kindnesses we are all able to witness and grant miracles. In the halls of the hospital, during a particularly challenging day, a quote taped up by the hospital’s Chaplain offered insight:

“What if the healing of the world utterly depends on the ten thousand invisible kindnesses we offer simply and quietly throughout the pilgrimage of each human life?” ~Wayne Muller

During the Christmas season, there seems to be an atmosphere that awakens something in us. Last year, Merrill J. Bateman wrote of it as “A Season for Angels”. In reflecting over our year, and the Miracles we have had of being sustained through some intensely difficult days, while also being able to feel incredible heights of joy, we see that it is through others that we have known miracles. Bateman’s reminder seems so fitting:

“...miracles during this Christmas season require our faith and works. As we sing the hymns of Christmas and speak of angels sent to earth to witness the Savior’s birth in the meridian of time, may we rise to the occasion and minister to those in need in our day. ..may we, as angels of mercy, minister to other families and to those in need”

Instead of the presents most of us have been thinking to give this year, could we find the power within us to perform miracles – literal miracles? To be a presence in the life of others is so much more meaningful than the trinkets we sometimes replace for tokens. Our kindnesses, perhaps “small letters”, can add to the story– the True story, of the greatest miracle of all– the Resurrection of He who was born in a stable.

Again,

“There would be no Christmas if there had not been Easter. The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary, and the triumphant fact of the Resurrection. “ (Gordon B. Hinckley, “A Glorious Season,” NewEra, Dec 2007, 2–5)