For most of us, Christmas was different this year. In my family, we stripped it back to just the basics. Just immediate family, no visitors, no shopping at the mall, no Boxing Day movie, no dinners out. Most of these things aren’t available in lockdown, anyway.

Christmas Eve included a Zoom service of Lessons and Carols with the good folks of Graceview. We were done by about 4:45pm. It was weird. But it was also wonderful. People showed up. We had about 30 participants and many of those included 2-3 people around one screen.

People were grinning and singing and waving at each other. I smiled so much that my cheeks hurt.

And you know what this Pandemic Christmas has taught us? Weird and different don’t have to be bad. There’s still an awful lot of joy to be found celebrating the birth of the Saviour. No matter what traditions we had to set aside, no matter how much we missed those we couldn’t gather with (a lot!!), no matter what else the day brought. It was still full of meaning, full of simply beautiful moments, full of celebration.

So, dear friends, until tomorrow – keep finding the beauty in the simplicity, keep focusing on the meaning of the season, keep celebrating the coming of the Christ.