I can’t fake Christmas

by Will Braun | Published 23rd December 2011 in Ways of Seeing

I’m not good at faking my way through situations. That goes for Christmas, too. I can’t pretend that the tender mystery of Emmanuel—God with us—somehow rises above the glittery kerfuffle and fills my holiday season with calm and awe.

I can’t pretend that the impossibly familiar story pierces my heart anew each year with the “true meaning” of Christmas. Rather, the reality of Christmas for me is a mix of sadness over a culture war lost, acceptance of the joyous anguish of the season, and gratitude for the one thing that does bring me calm and awe. Read the rest of this Dec 20, 2010 article at CanadianMennonite.org.