When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.
Matthew goes on to talk of Rachel weeping for her children, the victims of an unjust king, children who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
For some people Christmas is never a happy time of the year because it is the anniversary of the death of someone they love. For many people this will be the first Christmas without the special someone who has lit up every Christmas until now. The deaths they remember are all "excess" and the jollity often feels so hollow.
I can't find the right words to say to you if you are in that group for the simple reason there are no right words. I say that every year and every year I mean it. We are all of us so very human and we wish we could say something to make it better but we can't. Never feel though, that no-one cares. It is more likely that they care so much that they won't patronise you with platitudes.
I'm joining in "Advent at Home" hosted by Ang at Tracing Rainbows
Thank you. Bob's brother died on Christmas morning last year. This year will be hard for our family, but we are grateful for 3 healthy babies born during the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteGerards Mum died on Christmas morning 20 years ago, something that you never get over but we have a lot to be thankful for.
ReplyDeleteI faced a difficult Christmas one year and I heard someone say, "It will be hard but it's only a couple of days and you will get through it." I drew comfort and reassurance from that and I have often drawn on it since. Thank you for this post, for your recognition that for some people this Christmas will be tough. x
ReplyDeleteMy sister lost her husband unexpectedly in March and became a 59 year old widow with no kids. It will be a hard Christmas for a few years for her.
ReplyDeleteMy first husband dies age 48 on Chrisrnas day but over the years I tried to make it a happy day but this year will be very difficult for some people.
ReplyDeleteWe have had no deaths on or near Christmas, but the first year without our daughter was a hard one. We now have her with us every Christmas. Her picture rests in a wreath on our wall as a way of keeping her near during this time.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you for this. My husband's Dad died in the new year of 2018 but we had gone up to Hexham to spend Christmas with him and he was so very ill and it was so hard to help him because he just couldn't cope with company- this Christmas would have been our first back in Hexham without him and it is sad. I sometimes think I think about him more than my husband- I had such a good relationship with my Father In Law- my husband told me this year recently that it his Dad really liked me so much, it was because of our relationship that he managed to be close to his Dad in the last few years of his life- he softened around us as a couple- and quite often, I would stay back at the house with him when the others went out to things, and I cry when I think about him, perhaps because he gave me that feeling of really being missed by a Father-figure which my Dad (my parents divorced when I was 4) has never really had to the time to express to me so much. And I feel guilty for feeling so strongly about him since he wasn't even my Father, yet at the same time, I am so glad to feel this- because he had an impact on my life.
ReplyDeleteMy husband died four years ago six weeks before Christmas and that Christmas I was in a fog of grief. However I have reclaimed my joy at Christmas because it is a holy time of such a great promise for all who follow Christ. Eternal life, thank goodness. What a gift available to all. You are kind to be sensitive to those who have sadness at the holiday.
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