Christmas Eve… I love this time of year. The nostalgia of Christmas is a precious feeling, as memories of Christmases long ago flood through my mind and stir the emotions. The fun of being with my own family reminds me of how incredibly blessed I am.
Being a preacher, however, my mind seems to always go quickly to the real meaning of this season. It is, after all, the traditional time for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. All Christians cherish that. It is, like Easter, a holiday that is uniquely ours as Christ-followers.
One of my favorite Christmas stories appeared in Time magazine in 2008. During the presidential election, John McCain was asked by Time Magazine to share his “personal journey of faith.” McCain said: “When I was a prisoner of war in Vietnam…my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night. One night a guard came into my cell. He put his finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift (was about to end), the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me.”
“A month or so later, on Christmas Day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when, I saw that same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me. Then he used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp” (Time Magazine 8/18/08; “A Light Amid the Darkness”).
Only Christ could turn enemies into friends and fear into peace. He is the light in the darkness. He is the reason we celebrate.
Insight for the Journey 
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