{"id":5123,"date":"2020-12-23T09:33:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T14:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=5123"},"modified":"2020-12-23T09:33:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T14:33:34","slug":"christmas-2020-a-different-kind-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2020\/12\/christmas-2020-a-different-kind-of-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 2020: A Different Kind of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s a Christmas like no other. In a year like no other.<\/p>\n

One clue it was different is the Santa Claus at a very popular store in our area. It was humorous to see their commercial, as they tried to say, \u201cCome on \u2013 it\u2019ll be fun – and safe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, the kids were still telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Actually, they were yelling what they wanted. Because Santa was behind Plexiglas \u2013 masked, of course! So much for sitting on Santa\u2019s lap, whispering Christmas secrets in his ear. I think I\u2019ll just text him.<\/p>\n

This 2020 Christmas, we really do \u201cneed a little Christmas right this very minute.\u201d People seem to be playing Christmas music sooner, decorating sooner and more, baking more cookies.<\/p>\n

We need some \u201cmerry\u201d this Christmas. Some joy to our world.<\/p>\n

There are people missing this year \u2013 some, tragic victims of this brutal pandemic. Others, just able to be with us on a Zoom screen because of COVID concerns.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re missing some of that adrenaline rush of navigating a surge of shoppers, a Christmas-festive mall, a busy schedule of holiday events.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of loss this year. Jobs lost. Businesses lost. A school year lost. Handshakes and hugs and human connection lost. So many of life\u2019s simple pleasures and diversions lost \u2013 going out to eat, sporting events, going to church, being with friends. And those priceless intangibles \u2013 like the security of our normal routines, the freedom to just go without having to calculate risks, the ability to plan and anticipate.<\/p>\n

Underneath the joyful melody of carols plays a quiet, minor key score. That sense of heaviness and sadness and uncertainty that\u2019s been building during these strange and painful months.<\/p>\n

We really do need a little Christmas right this very minute.<\/p>\n

Even the stripped down 2020 version of Christmas. The uncluttered version. Less running, more reflection. Less frantic, more family. Less madness, more meaning.<\/p>\n

Our hearts are softer. More caring. More likely to stop for someone who\u2019s hurting. To provide some meals for someone. Run an errand for them. Listen to their story. Do something<\/p>\n

to thank and honor COVID care front-liners. Love on our kids whose young lives have been upended. Pray with someone who\u2019s broken or afraid.<\/p>\n

Maybe this simpler Christmas has allowed us to slow down and see what \u2013 and who \u2013 we\u2019ve flown by in a busier time. To think, \u201cothers.\u201d Not just buying them a gift, but being a gift.<\/p>\n

And though this season reminds me of how much I lost the day I lost my wife Karen, it has \u2013 especially this year \u2013 reminded me of some things worth celebrating. Things that, in this year of losses, are treasures that are unlosable.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re part of the angel\u2019s birth announcement that first Christmas: \u201cI bring you good news that will cause great joy\u201d (Luke 2:10). Because of the difference the Baby born that day would make.<\/p>\n

Good news like an unlosable love. The kind promised in Scripture: \u201cNothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d (Romans 8:39).<\/p>\n

The disease-proof, disaster-proof, death-proof love Jesus referenced when He said, \u201cNever will I leave you; never will I forsake you\u201d (Hebrews 13:5). That \u201cnever leave you\u201d love that wouldn\u2019t leave even when He was dying on a cross to pay for my sin.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to express what that means to a man who lost the great love of his life in one cardiac moment. To live with a love I have no fear of losing. I\u2019ve grieved watching the awful stories of COVID families and patients unable to be together at the end. But I know this: no one with Jesus will ever die alone. \u201cThough I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil \u2013 for You are with me\u201d (Psalm 23:4).<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most devastating loss of all this year has been lost hope. The upheavals of this year have snatched many of our hope sources from our hands. Our hopes have proven to be fragile. Losable. We are in the storm of our lives without a harbor. Without an anchor.<\/p>\n

But hope is part of that \u201cgood news\u201d of Christmas. Because Jesus came and added a word to \u201clife\u201d . . . \u201ceverlasting.\u201d He brought eternity to us. \u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life\u201d (John 3:16). And He proved He can give eternal life with His death-shattering resurrection.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t all there is. Our pain and loss and dying are a dot on a huge canvas called eternity. Where Jesus promised \u201cthere will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain\u201d<\/p>\n

(Revelation 21:4). I can make it through a long, hard winter if I know there\u2019s spring on the other side. And that spring will last forever.<\/p>\n

And between here and there, there is His \u201cnever leave you\u201d presence.<\/p>\n

So sing those carols. Wrap those gifts. Light that tree. Jesus has given us \u201cjoy to the world\u201d no pandemic can touch!<\/p>\n

Ron Hutchcraft <\/strong>is an author, speaker, and founder and president of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries<\/a> and On Eagles\u2019 Wings Native American youth outreach. His new book Hope When Your Heart is Breaking<\/a> releases in Jan. 2021. His popular radio feature, A Word with You, is heard daily in 5 languages on over 1,300 outlets around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a Christmas like no other. In a year like no other. One clue it was different is the Santa Claus at a very popular store in our area. It was humorous to see their commercial, as they tried to say, \u201cCome on \u2013 it\u2019ll be fun – and safe!\u201d Oh, the kids were still…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":600,"featured_media":5126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas 2020: A Different Kind of Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s a Christmas like no other. 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