I love Christmas! However this Christmas felt a little weird. It has been so windy here that we weren’t even able to do much outside yesterday without being miserable. Instead, we had a pretty lazy day watching movies and just hanging out around the house. As I watched all the movies it occurred to me how romanticized Christmas has become. Either it is this magical thing that revolves around Santa and gifts, or it is almost presented as a fairy tale when it comes to the story of Jesus.

I don’t think either of those ends of the spectrum really do the holiday justice. I even worry about my own kids. I don’t want them to miss out on the fun parts of Christmas, but I also want to make sure that they know what the day really means. I have to work hard myself to not lose the real meaning in the mess of the hustle and bustle.

It occured to me this year as I was reading back through the story of Jesus’ birth how lonely Mary must have felt. In the modern world we live in, we are so much more accepting of teenage, unwed mothers. However, in Mary’s day that would have been enough to get her stoned in the street. We tend to glaze over it calling her blessed among women, which she is, but she probably didn’t feel that way at the time.

*disclaimer: this is simply my thoughts and opinions on the issue, not necessarily stated in scripture*

Picture if a teen girl tried to convince you that her pregnancy was the Son of God, not the result of her indiscretions. I imagine that there was a lot of rumors, dirty looks, and down right cruelty from the people in town. I would also imagine that may be part of the reason that she went and stayed with her relative Elizabeth for 3 months (see Luke 1:56).

It is no secret that women can be cruel to each other. To be perfectly honest, I have struggled my whole life to have close, intimate female friendships that went any deeper than surface level. That is largely because women are sometimes vindictive and hold onto grudges. This isn’t to paint women in a bad light, it is simply something that I sadly have experienced too many times. As I think of Mary, I believe she endured a tremendous amount of cruel words and accusations. Mary really had no one but Elizabeth who could possibly understand a miracle pregnancy. It was probably a pretty lonely place to be. Now, I am sure that Joseph did his best to understand and listen to Mary, but I bet there were times where she just wept because she felt alone. I think that all of the frustrations she likely dealt with during her pregnancy are largely part of the reason she “treasured in her heart” so many of the things after Jesus was born (see Luke 2:19 and 2:49-51).

Although none of us are pregnant with the Messiah (he doesn’t come back that way), I believe that we all carry our own burdens and frustrations. In this world of social media and cell phones, we are more connected than ever but in many ways so much more alone. We all carry things that we feel no one really understands, and they likely don’t. It makes me so sad how disconnected we can become from each other. However, just like He did for Mary, God does have a greater plan. We are never promised a life with no frustrations. We can, however, take heart knowing that rather than repeating the cycle of pain, we can use our own pain as a catalyst to be more empathetic and compassionate to others. I imagine that Mary had a soft place in her heart for the rest of her life for women who were unwed and pregnant. I also imagine that she probably tried to give people the benefit of the doubt before passing judgement. The compassion of Jesus shows that his mother was a compassionate person.

My prayer as we enter the new year, is that any pain, disappointment, or frustration that we may be dealing with, may be the very thing that in the year 2022, will lead us to the next level of what God has for us.