Is it okay if I cry on Christmas?
We almost didn’t post today. Surely, no one would be online to read blog articles on Christmas Day. Isn’t everyone with their families, celebrating the birth of our Savior, the one who ushers in a Kingdom of hope?
Maybe there is just one. If this post reaches that one person, it has fulfilled its purpose.
Are you out here searching for something to pass the time? Are you missing someone, whether through their passing or estrangement? Does this holiday season seem different…hollow?
We are here to tell you that it is okay to cry at Christmas. Even if it seems like the whole world is rejoicing, it is okay to grieve. And more than that, there is one who is willing to hold you and grieve with you. Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate, is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He is not made uncomfortable by your tears, and He sees every one of them.
Releasing Lament
Centering Prayer
As you continue to breathe deeply and slowly, become aware of your body. How do your clothes feel on your skin? How is your body positioned in your seat? Does anything hurt? Offer these observations to God. Continue breathing deeply and slowly, allowing yourself to become aware of God’s presence with you. Thank Him for abiding with you.
Scripture Focus
Read this Scripture through and let it soak in to your being. After a brief pause, read through it again. What words or phrases stand out to you? Ask Jesus what He wants to tell you about these words. Take a brief pause, then read through it again. Do you sense an invitation from God? If you feel any emotional response (hope, sadness, tears, even anger), give yourself time to feel it, to honor your emotions, and to lift them to God.
Isaiah 53:3-5
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Prayer
Father, today I feel ____. I need You to give me a spirit of ____. Help me to know that You are near to me, even in the hard times. Thank You for your presence with me and for grieving with me in my sorrow and rejoicing with me in my times of joy. Help me to release anything I am holding to You. Amen.
Image attribution: Alliance / Thinkstock