Article December 24, 2001 Issue

How I found peace at Christmas

By David G. Shields

Once Again, Christmas had arrived. And I dreaded it. What I remembered from childhood Christmases was family friction. Now, while others were celebrating, I was depressed—sometimes even sick.

After I had married someone who treasured Christmas as a special time, I saw that I had to try to understand what Christmas really is. So I began to study what Mary Baker Eddy had to say about Christmas. This stood out to me: "The basis of Christmas is the rock, Christ Jesus; its fruits are inspiration and spiritual understanding of joy and rejoicing,—not because of tradition, usage, or corporeal pleasures, but because of fundamental and demonstrable truth, because of the heaven within us" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 260).

Those words showed me that Christmas is a time to celebrate the life of Jesus. Getting caught up in thinking that Christmas is just a time for overspending and running around can lead to depression. But focusing on Christ turns us away from materialism and toward God—toward peace.

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