If you have friends who love to email great thoughts and turns of phrase, or if you are a Facebook junkie, you have undoubtedly come across some pretty interesting opinions about the year just about to end approximately 77 hours from the time I type this sentence.
The one that sticks with me the most at present is this: If you had to choose a drink to represent the year 2020, what would it be? Answer: Colonoscopy prep
I don’t think anyone could have possibly imagined the incredible disruption/end of life that 2020 would hold via COVID. I cannot think of one area of any person’s life that has not been disturbed by this “epi”demic, “pan”demic, or whatever word the person of the moment chooses to describe this scourge that has been visited upon the world.
Another thing that sticks in my mind about 2020 that has been transmitted via social media is this: Some have said they will not be staying up to watch the New Year come in, but to make sure the old year moves out!
I don’t want to spend my last few written words of the year to you, Faithful Reader, bemoaning the year just about to end. Rather, let’s look at two marvelous events that ended a year of much calamity.
The first was what was termed the “Christmas Star.” I know of so many people who were so excited to see this natural wonder that human eye has not beheld in eight centuries. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the star with my natural eyes. I was caught up in the rush of the season, purchasing my wife’s Christmas present when the wonder appeared. (I have a funny feeling that I would have seen stars of a different sort had I not bought my wife her Christmas present!)
I have often, however, throughout many years looked up into the moonless, starlit heavens and found and focused on the brightest star. At such times, when I was young I superstitiously played the child’s game, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”
Interestingly enough, at this point in my life it seems that practically all the things I wished for have been granted in one form or another.
In later years, especially during winter, especially close to Christmas, the brightest star in the night sky always reminds me of the Christmas story, how a group of wise men followed a star to the place where they found the Christ child. Is it any wonder the Scripture says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” (Psalms 19:1 KJV)
Thankfully for those of us in East Tennessee, particularly those who missed seeing the Christmas Star, God chose to blanket our area with a beautiful Christmas Eve snow that lingered past Christmas Day. What a wonderful feeling to stand in my home library, my happy place, and watch God cover everything with a blanket of pure white snow. It was as if He was saying, “There has been a lot of ugliness in the world this year, but let me, for the few days set aside to worship My Son’s birth, cover that ugliness so you can experience some peace.”
That was a lovely thought, but still my mind couldn’t help but think of those who suffer, those who were destined to spend this Christmas alone, some for the first time without treasured loved ones, isolated further for those few days by that same beautiful snow from friends and family than COVID had managed to do for the entire year; people without lights, heat, and modern electrical conveniences. Sadly, as is true each year, not everyone has a joyous Christmas.
While standing in my library, watching the swirling snow from the warm side of the windowpanes, I thought back to ten Christmas Eves ago, the day my only sister on my mother’s side passed away. The holiday itself made her passing more painful than it might otherwise have been, for few enjoyed Christmas more than she. Every Christmas Eve, Anna Mae would cook a huge meal and have her children, her mother and yours truly gather with her to enjoy the season. She always made sure that everyone, especially every child, received a gift. On Christmas Eve ten years ago, however, Anna Mae was the one that received her gift of eternal rest.
I feel that most people will enter 2021 with more trepidation than ever before. If nothing else, the events of 2020 have shown us how little control we have and how little it takes to disrupt our orderly patterns of life that we have taken for granted for so long. Still, I feel that most of us will choose to ride the 2021 bus route to see what’s in store. There is always hope that God will in many ways spread His comforting blanket on those cold, dark and dreary days.
Thank you, Faithful Reader, for allowing me to spend the 52 weeks of 2020 sharing some thoughts with you. I look forward to more of the same in 2021. You keep reading, I’ll keep writing. If you have something you would like for me to write about, give me a shout, and I’ll see what I can come up with.
On this last week of the year, I leave you with another thought from my email world:
People who wonder whether the glass is half empty or half full are missing the point.
The glass is refillable.