Goodnight, Travel Well

*There's nothing I can say...
There's nothing I can do now...
The universe is standing still...
Goodnight, travel well.*
- "Goodnight, Travel Well", The Killers

I had been thinking about writing a new entry for Christmas. In fact, I said I would.

I was on facebook, and I was trying to figure out what to put as my status. I put way too much thought into my statuses.

I thought about putting in some Christmas lyrics...

Or some Bible verses from the Nativity story...

And I was thinking about doing the opening verse from the hymn 'Silent Night'. You know:

"Silent Night,
Holy Night,
All Is Calm,
All Is Bright.
Round Yon Virgin,
Mother and Child.
Holy Infant
So Tender And Mild.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace.
Sleep In Heavenly Peace."

And it felt trite. It felt cheesy. Like it was just a sweet, mushy Christmas song. I chose not to use it.

So, I kept thinking. I thought about the song "Better Days" by The Goo Goo Dolls. That song always makes me think about the REAL meaning of Christmas. (Here's a link if you haven't heard it before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIFhst3DwPE)

But that still didn't feel quite right.

The reason we fall into materialism during Christmas, I think, is because we can't put the true meaning of Christmas into words that accurately convey the message.

Sometimes things get close to capturing it. Humans have trouble lumping profound things and child-like joy together.

Some people say stuff with a big grin, like, "Merry Christmas! Jesus is born!" and the profound-types roll their eyes at the simplicity of the statement.

But then, the profound-types say, "This isn't just 'Merry Christmas', we're talking about one of the biggest events in history!" and there's no joy in their words. No joy or happiness. Just quite reverence.

When Jesus was in the manger, surrounded by Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and barn animals, we get this impression that it was silent. We just have this instinctual inclination telling us that it was peaceful and quiet.

I think it was peaceful and quiet in an incredible, supernatural way. If you're in a barn, animals are going to make noise. Cows 'moo', donkeys 'hee-haw', chickens cluck. Etc. There's noise.

But we've got a silent night.

And nowadays, because we can't wrap our heads around the idea of 100% joy and 100% solemnity and peace, we bury ourselves in materialism.

Because who wants to have a major headache of confusion when you can just live in shallow bliss?

Finally, I just gave up on my Facebook status and said:

"Every Christmas at this time, I start thinking about the true meaning of Christmas and I just can't wrap my head around it. It's God's birthday. Mind-bogglingly powerful and confusing message..."

I just admitted I was confused. I think that it's very rare in life for us to have moments of true clarity when it comes to spiritual matters. Since the Fall, we've cut ourselves off from God. Meaning all things spiritual will make little sense to us. Every once in a while, you get that sudden spark during a sermon/worship service/prayer where you REALLY feel genuinely connected. It lasts for mere seconds. And then it's gone. And that's because of our Fallen nature.

Here's the other side of that coin:

God upholds the Covenant between Himself and man entirely. God does ALL of the work in upholding His promises. Christmas is a day to commemorate that God is active. God upheld his end of the Covenant and took action- He sent His Son Jesus, whom was fully God and fully human, down into a broken world in the form of a baby.

There aren't enough words. The true meaning of Christmas is similar to the true nature of God: indescribable. Because every time you try to describe it, it comes out trite and cliche.

You hear stuff that's either like:

"Come on, let's remember the REAL meaning of Christmas, guys. This is a serious matter."

OR

"Yay! It's Jesus' birthday! Praise God! :D"

And both are true, but both fall short of actually describing Christmas. Humans won't understand the true nature of spiritual things until the Second Coming. We're incapable. But as Christians, we try. We're truth-seekers. We WANT to know and to understand.

The point is, we can't describe Christmas because words will always fall short. So, just think about that as you're opening presents and eating with your families. You think OUR Christmas is fun? Wait until a REAL Christmas in a perfect world, where we understand the true meaning. That will be one of the most phenomenal things EVER. Understand that OUR interpretation of Christmas is broken, but it's important because we WANT to commemorate this incredible event.

If you want the true meaning of Christmas, well, you won't get it yet. But Christians try. Here's the best explanation of the true meaning of Christmas, from one of the brightest theologians of our times: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

Hope that wasn't over your head. :)

Anyway, Merry Christmas.