One of the great things
about the Christmas season for me is the "Annual Family Christmas
Gathering." I really don't think that the rest of my
family understand how important this event is to me. I look forward to it
on Christmas Day while everyone else is focused on gifts. For me there is
nothing better than the annual Christmas Gathering . . . even if it is on the
weekend before Christmas day. Oh, to be sure there are other important
"get-to-gathers" (like the annual Father's Day Event at our place)
along the way and each one is important to me. However, the gathering at
Christmas is special to me.It is special for a lot of reasons. It is special because as a Christian family we are able to celebrate the anniversary of the day human eyes first got sight of the "Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world." To gather as a family group and realize that we are also a part of God's forever family because of what happened that first Christmas Day . . . . the birth of Jesus.
In addition to that it is the one day out of the year when we explicitly think about someone other than ourselves. Not only do with think about others we also give gifts to others. It is the one day out of the year when we make a special attempt to emulate our God by sharing gifts with our family and friends. Everyone loves to receive a gift and we all need to learn both to give and to receive gifts. Christmas is a time when that lesson is best and easiest to learn.
But what I like about Christmas Gatherings is having the entire family in one place at the same time. You see the Christmas gathering is more than just a bunch of related people. I used to wonder why the Bible had so many "begats" in it's pages. However, over time and with maturity I have come to see that those begats served a much needed purpose for the people of that time. They provided hooks upon which memories were hung; they provided continuity and connectivity for individuals; and they served to give us identity.
That's what Christmas gatherings do. . . . . especially the group photos. Most people know I take hundreds of photos at family, awe go ahead and say it, "all events," events. The most important and the hardest to get is the family group photo. If you take it too soon you miss late arrivals. If you wait too long someone gets left out. Timing is everything. But so is getting the group corralled. Every face must be seen by the camera; every face needs a smile, and: one someone has to do something goofy for the photo. When everything is just right the camera timer is activated and in 10 seconds the photographer joins the group and history is recorded.
"History" is recorded is an understatement. You see, these events, as with the "Begats" in the Bible become a part of the story of who we are. I love seeing all the photos of family gathering, both past and present, that appear on friend's FB pages. It is so heart-warming to me to see that families still gather when they can as they did in years gone by.
We gaze at the "old family photos" looking at faces long since gone. We think of the many characters who have made up our families and how we miss them. For some reason the "black sheep" in our families seem to get an inordinate amount of conversation time. Perhaps it is because they bucked the trends, broke the rules, or in some other ways lived their own lives. At any rate there is always someone present who recalls that particular Gathering and will say, "That's the year when . . . . " (you fill in the rest).
As we stare at the newest group photos we join a collective effort of trying to identify who is who. "Is that really so-n-so's little girl?" "She sure looks like aunt Mae." Then, someone else chimes in with, "Yeah, well lets hope she doesn't act like her." Another will say, "I sure miss grandma" and another, "Look how little Billy has grown." Life is being breathed into the gathering with each passing statement and continuing conversation.
We look at Christmases past and present and suddenly, whether we realize it or not, the "whole family is present one more time (those passed on, those present, and those yet to be born). For just a moment we are connected with our past and feel a renewed sense of the heritage that has been passed to us. At the same time, through the progressive development of our children we see hope for the future of that heritage. Hopefully we will see the importance of passing what we received from our ancestors on to our posterity. We enjoying the moment and at the same time we are passing down family memories and traditions. All this while we are making memories for each other for Christmases to come.
Joyfully, with each new Christmas new faces appear but at the same time a few old faces are gone. This serves to remind me that I am a part of something bigger than the individuals who make it up. I am a part of a "Family." Part of a family that if it were possible would be traceable to that first created person, namely a man called Adam and his wife Eve. We have been repeating that creative act with every generation added to our earthly family. In some sense I really do know from whence I came, who I am and where I am going.
Years ago a pop singer, Sonny Bono wrote, " Love is the first thing and last thing on our minds. From tomorrow until the end of time. And the beat goes on, And the beat goes on, And the beat goes on, And the beat goes on." Individuals, as precious as they are to us, come and go but the family, which has a life of its own, and like the beat of a drum or as I prefer, the beat of our hearts go on.
As I think about it, Christians are God's family and just as I will forever be a part of my earthly family so shall I eternally be a part of God's family. I miss some folks each Christmas but as I have said many times before, "I never think of them in the past tense." They are not present but they are not gone. One day we shall all be gathered again and celebrate Jesus as we gather around the throne of our Heavenly Father.
Yep, Christmas gatherings and the obligatory gathering photos are an occasion when something spiritual takes place. All those who have come before us and all those who will follow us are gathered here with us. For me it is a little bit of heaven on earth. I pray that the heartbeat of my family goes on and the gatherings continue until Jesus comes. (BTW - I believe genetics will support this as being literally the csse as well as my contention it is a spiritual moment.)
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I sometimes think, no I believe it completely, that only persons who have loved someone deeply and/or been loved deeply can really appreciate what I am trying to say. The truth is some of the missing faces cause us a great deal of inward pain as our hearts ache one more time to just touch their hand or hold them in an extended embrace where hearts can once more beat as one. Family provides me a place where I can say with confidence, "This is where I belong until my heart is again joined as one." After all did not Jesus say, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. Now there is a thought we could explore.
