My children finish school for the 2025 calendar year tomorrow, and that means we can finally go nuts for Christmas. Days filled with making gingerbread houses, sipping hot cocoa, gluing macaroni and popsicle sticks, and rocking out to festive tunes are on the horizon. For children, this is a season of promise and wonder. For adults, it’s wrangling sugar-fueled kids, standing in lines to pay too much for something no one truly needs, and reminiscing about the good ol’ days. Not very magical.
Even as we age, though, we all remain children of God. In fact, Jesus tells us in the Book of Matthew that we must become like little children if we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Take a moment and think about a kid in your life and their perspective during this time.
Believing in Things Unseen
Flying reindeer, a snowy workshop where every toy is made for a specific child, a jolly man who goes up and down chimneys — children hope and believe in things they’ve never seen. Their faith in this goodness is inexplicable. Ask a kindergartener why they believe in Santa and you’ll find an unfounded conviction that would rival a honey badger.
When was the last time we really examined our faith? Believing in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the Christ child born of the Virgin Mary; the power and redemption of baptism; the resurrection of Jesus and his defeat of death; and life everlasting for those who give their life to the Lord. These are not light tenets, and it can be daunting to confront them.
In this Christmas season, choose just one to challenge. Do you believe Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary? That He was conceived by the Holy Spirit? That God became man? Why do you believe that? What part of that is the hardest to believe? How can you strengthen your belief? Catholic or not, Father Mike Schmitz has a solid academic resource for wrapping your head around the virgin birth of Jesus here. Read the first chapter of the Book of Luke and contemplate who the Archangel Gabriel is and his words. Refresh your knowledge of Luke’s biography. How can these men help you increase your belief in this unseen truth?
Filled with Wonder in Wonderland
One of our family traditions is cruising neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. The bigger and brighter the display, the more mesmerized my kids are. They float between exuberance and awe, sometimes pointing and shouting things like “Epic!” and “Wow!” They are demanding I “look over there!”
Just as children believe because they are innocent, they get excited because things are still new to them. How easy is it for us to become room temperature in our faith? Imagine a first grader seeing 40,000 twinkling lights in a 300 square foot space and saying “meh.” When was the last time we really examined our faith? Here we have the greatest gift in the world — eternal salvation! — and we fail to be impressed.
God wants us to be delighted and He plants surprises for us everywhere, but we have to be willing to look and anticipate His creativity. Sure, we may be caught off-guard by a brilliant sunrise or encouraged by a random flower pushing out of a crack in the sidewalk, but the Lord knows we as adults require mental stimulation.
Maybe your thing is science and you will feel all kinds of giddy exploring dark matter. Perhaps your heart glows when you contemplate music; have you been introduced to this divinely composed sound? For people like me who love words, we need to look no farther than one of the most prominent Christmas decorations: the nativity.
Did you know the word “manger” derives from the root “to eat”? Think about Italians saying, “Mangia!” They’re telling us to eat! Jesus, also called the Bread of Life, was placed in a manger, the feeding trough of livestock. In John 6, Jesus instructs His disciples to take the bread and eat it, stating it is His body. What is fascinating is He did not use the verb we would associate with dining, but one that was used for gnawing or chewing and typical of livestock.
I don’t know about you, but this little nugget brings a whole new level of joy and surprise for me when I see the manger or receive the Eucharist. Hopefully you can be as blessed by this gift as I am.
Anticipating the Gifts
Colorful paper and shiny ribbons hide all kinds of treasures under the tree. These packages and parcels might appear mundane as cardboard and right angles, but put a big bow on them and the possibilities become endless. That big rectangle: is it a remote control race car or a Lego pirate ship? Spoiler alert: Grandma sent a sleeping bag.
As grown-ups, we know what lies beneath the pretty paper. As children of God, His blessings are our presents under the tree. Even though we don’t know what they are (only what we hope to receive), we can see them and know they are waiting for us to gleefully unwrap at the designated time.
How frequently do we crave the remote control car (the adult equivalent of a dream job) and feel totally deflated when it’s just a sleeping bag (that lame $25 coffee shop gift card the boss insists on every single year)? You’ve seen kids boo-hoo a perfectly lovely, handmade hat and scarf because it doesn’t have batteries or a screen. Are we guilty of snubbing God’s answer to our prayer because it’s not exactly what we wanted? I know I certainly am. Guilty as charged, right here.
Let us remember during this Christmas season the joy we experience selecting, preparing, and giving gifts for our loved ones; as adults we know the true blessing is giving and not receiving. As we watch God move in and through our lives, it is my prayer that we remember the beautiful anticipation of giving and acknowledge God’s love in carefully selecting, preparing, and giving us that very gift. Would we scoff and roll our eyes in the presence of the Almighty were He sitting in the chair next to us?
Finding wonder in the Christmas season is harder for grown-ups, but it’s still possible. Like all realities in adulting, it requires a little work, discipline, and hope.
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