359 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS
Christmas pops up once a year, a perennially annual event. Are you glad it only comes once a year? Or do you wish we celebrated Christmas biennially or once in a decade? Once a month would be a bit much, I think. On the other hand, as I have been reminding myself for many years, Christmas is every day since I opened my soul to let Jesus’ spirit befriend me. What is Christmas really? It is Emmanuel, i.e. God with us.
There are days when I doubt and despair and it does not feel like Christmas, but some truths stubbornly remain: God is; His love has won my heart; God’s spirit of love and goodness keeps showing up in the world around me and the people I meet. So, Christmas is every day because Jesus is present every day and knowing that is a very good thing.
Christmas comes once a year but problems don’t usually wait for a certain date on the calendar. Last week I had two problems. They were both exactly the same. I was surprised by the different reactions to my problem. Let me explain.
My friend and I went to her favourite restaurant for lunch. The server scanned my friend’s vaccine passport QR code that was on her smart phone. No problem. My flip phone is not so sophisticated so I presented my printed out copy of my vaccine passport complete with QR code. The scanner could not recognize the scanning symbol. Our server tried several times, looking more worried and frustrated at each attempt.
“I can’t let you in,” she said, with panic in her tone as she anticipated an angry response. Words of anxiety streamed from her.
“Not to worry,” I thought. “Machines often won’t work for me either. What’s the big deal? We can go to the fast food place and go through the drive through.”
Of course, the manager came. He talked to our server, let us sit down and we ordered a lovely meal. Proof of vaccination was clearly evident and he could not refuse to let me stay. Anyway, he needed the business. But, throughout our meal, stress was clearly evident in our server.
“The restaurant will close if we don’t get more customers,” she told us. “Usually this place is full at this time! See! We are half empty!”
A few days later I walked into a different restaurant. This time I was with my husband and we went to his favourite diner for supper.
“I don’t think our paper copies will scan,” I thought. Sure enough, for some reason, electronic scanners turn their noses up at printed paper. Our server, however, smiled at us and welcomed us. After several useless waves of the scanner she was still smiling and letting us know we were still welcome.
She explained to the manager, showed us to a booth and brought us menus with
not a glimmer of concern on her face or demeanor. When she brought us our coffee she even showed us on her phone how to make a “screen-shot”! Now we’ll be able to download those pesky passports unto my husband’s smart phone. What an angel she is! We need people like her, who can be unruffled, calm and reassuring when trouble comes!
Those were the two problems I had last week. The problems were identical. The result was the same. The only difference was in the attitude to the problem. At the one restaurant I found myself asking Jesus to calm the spirit of our server; at the other I found myself laughing and praising God for her spirit.
The celebration of Christmas is once a year, but the spirit of Christmas is for every day.
by Andrea Kidd
