Article December 9, 2019 Issue

Christ’s leading at Christmastime

Kendra Nordin Beato

Christmastime traditions can help to ward off the long hours of winter darkness in my part of the world. Neighbors string houses and gardens with sparkling lights. Parties are planned with favorite foods. People reach out to loved ones with messages of hope and love.

The hustle and bustle of the season, however, can also bring unwanted stress, reinforce feelings of disconnect and loneliness, and sometimes strain relationships. The pressure of high expectations around the holidays is so widespread that emotional survival tips published by mental health professionals are almost as ubiquitous as decorations in shopping malls.

But beyond the psychology of self-care, seeing the spiritual significance of Christmas can cut through the clamor of too-busy schedules and the sorrow of disappointments. “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 basis of Christmas is love loving its enemies, returning good for evil, love that ‘suffereth long, and is kind,’ ” wrote Mary Baker Eddy in her article “The Significance of Christmas” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 260).

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

We can get beyond prejudices and assumptions