Think more deeply about Christmas: Do you know what it's like to wake up afraid?

With seasonal concerts and church Christmas pageants abounding in our schedules, I think today is a good day to re-post a quote from my daughter, Amanda. Potent stuff to think about as we scurry through the Christmas season with many hours spent watching and listening in our church pews . . .

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​I credit my daughter for thinking more deeply about Christmas even while she was in her teens. She reminded me that most Christians don't see that “the biblical Christmas story begins and ends with death.”  The following is from a scratch piece of paper, torn on the edges, penned and handed to me at a Christmas eve service we attended together, now, a few years ago. She was an older teen at the time. And here, she sees a broader view, one that is beyond a warm and cozy Christmas.

“I am sitting in church with my family and I am thinking that few if any of these people here know what it’s like to wake up afraid, in fear of their lives. They will wake up to food and presents and family, safe in their houses. It won’t be on their minds to think of everyone who doesn’t have the security, the privilege that so many of us ignorantly have. There are kids around the world that go to bed fearful for their lives and wake up so thankful they made it through the night; yet so incredibly frightened because they will spend the rest of the day afraid. What a privilege it is to not wake up afraid” (by my daughter, A. Hawley Anderson).

Think more deeply about Christmas.  (See all posts in this "Think more deeply about Christmas" thread >>