Today’s Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (KJV)

Despite the late hour, sleep comes slowly to me following the midnight dismissal of our Christmas Eve service. The crowds of worshippers, the carols sung, scriptures heard, and hugs given and received energize me.

Artwork by Eliza Sundberg

I am awake early on Christmas morning, brewing a cup of hot tea and waiting for our house to join me as I am warmed by gas logs.

I have never been able to sleep on Christmas morning. When I was a child it was because I was wide-eyed in anticipation of what lay beneath tissue paper and colored ribbon. When I was a young adult it was because I could not wait to see how my wife or son would react to my gifts for them.

Sleep eludes me now because I am continuing to rediscover a deeper meaning for the day—with God there are new possibilities.

In his book A Pilgrim People, John Westerhoff, III expresses this sentiment: “At Christmas we experience the eternal promise of new possibilities. We are birthed again in our hearts and in our history, because of our faith that God has entered human history and become one of us.”

If you read this on Christmas morning, know that I will be sitting in my chair next to a warming fire, mug of tea in hand, pondering the possibilities of a world where we do not journey alone, a world filled with wonder and angels, a world invaded by a God who promises to make all things new. The sign of this hopeful promise is Jesus.

Enliven our day with Your presence, O Christ, even as you filled the world with possibilities when You entered it on this day long ago. Be with me, Lord Jesus, and let me be with You as your faithful disciple, today and always. Amen