Divorce Recovery and the Holidays

Holiday/Christmas programs. Whether you have children or grandchildren or not, make a point to go to a children’s holiday program. I went to see a Kindergarten grandson’s school Christmas program last night. He and his younger sister attend a parochial school in their neighborhood. Their mom is a high school English teacher and her children’s school is just blocks from their house, and she can leave them both until she picks them up after her own school day is over. So it was a real Christmas program, with children playing Mary, Joseph, wise men, animals, angels, innkeepers and all the rest. The manger and straw and Last Resort Inn were all on the stage. All the children had clean faces and almost all the little boys’ shirts were untucked by evening’s end. (Each class sang their own songs. Of course, Calvin was the cutest of all!) The program was from 7:00 – 8:15 or so and there were lots of yawns, too by the time “Go Tell It On the Mountain” was sung as the grand finale. But there is something very encouraging and uplifting about people coming together to celebrate anything these days. With all the gloom and doom, scandal and scare in the news everywhere, the program was an oasis of optimism and joyful faith in the middle of a dark, cold night. It reminded me that as bad as anything gets, the real, true, good things remain. Always. That’s why we celebrate. They endure through war, famine, depressions, sickness, sadness and even divorce. Presents may change. You may not have any money for gifts. Your tree may be a scrawny little Charlie Brown tree. Celebrations may have to be adjusted to new circumstances. But the eternal reality and power of goodness always wins. It will win in your life too. So be of good cheer.