A song I heard the other day reached down my throat and grabbed hold of my insides, it was, “It’s Such a Lonely Time of Year,” by Nancy Sinatra.
It speaks to those (including me) who have broken families and the associated disillusioned children and nagging regret over their bad decisions.
The song went on soulfully:
“Snow falling down children all around …
I haven’t heard a word from you
And wondering what you’re doin’
Wish that you could see them, too
And be here by my side
And almost every day one of them will say
Why’d he ever have to go away
“And the tears are so hard to hide
It’s such a lonely time of year
Holidays and birthdays
And summer days and winter days
And any day when you’re not here.”
Loneliness Epidemic
A Wall Street Journal article stated, “The Loneliest Generation: Americans, more than ever, are aging alone. Loneliness undermines health and is linked to early mortality — and baby boomers are especially feeling the effects … loneliness takes a physical toll and is as closely linked to early mortality as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day or consuming more than six alcoholic drinks a day.”
Yet here we are at Christmas, with our annual orgy of idealized TV ads complete with sappy songs, scenes of loved ones gathered around blazing fireplaces, and a new Lexus with a big red bow in the driveway.
The ads cruelly feed expectations even though only the “1%” can afford all that stuff.
I know I’m supposed to be caught up in the bling of the season, but this time of the year can be particularly harsh on the divorced, bereaved, disenfranchised and those who find themselves alone.
“Why doesn’t God (assuming there is one) just come down, show Himself and tell us what’s up?”
Will a new refrigerator satisfy our inner longing for intimacy and love?
We’re not made for “things,” we’re made for relationships with people, and in today’s fragmented culture, those relationships are too often broken.
This epidemic has not fallen on deaf ears in Heaven. In fact, the devastating effects of human estrangement was one of the principal reasons God personally intervened in human history.
God Takes on Human Form
In my decade of working with men of all religious backgrounds in the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission’s addiction recovery program, one question came up repeatedly: “Why doesn’t God (assuming there is one) just come down, show Himself and tell us what’s up?”
Well, guess what, He did come down, and it wasn’t pretty, as told in John 1:9-13:
“He (Jesus) was in the world,
the world was there through Him,
and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn’t want Him.”
So, why did Jesus “wrap Himself” in skin and expose Himself to near-universal rejection? A wonderful story, “The Man and the Birds,” by Paul Harvey serves to illustrate:
“The story was about a man who just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff. It just didn’t make sense to him … One winter’s night he was startled by a thudding sound outside his house. He found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the blowing snow. In a desperate search for shelter, they had tried to fly through his large landscape window.
“He couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered his barn which could provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it.
“Quickly he opened the barn doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He tried leading them inside with breadcrumbs, but the birds ignored them and continued to flap helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them … He tried shooing them … Instead, they scattered in every direction.
“And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me … That I want to help them. But how? They feared him.
“‘If only I could be a bird,’ he thought to himself, ‘and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them, so they could see, and hear and understand.’
“At that moment the church bells began to ring, pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow as he realized why God became a man to lead His beloved children to the safety and warmth of His presence.”
How About You?
Every time a person comes to faith in Christ today, Jesus is born spiritually in their hearts, just as Jesus Christ was born physically in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
Evangelist Oswald Chambers wrote, “Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside.”
In that sense, Christmas happens every day somewhere in the world.
Have you opened your heart to become a birthplace for the Son of God?
4-1-1
Click here for a fascinating AI-generated audio overview of this essay.