It was a Christmas we would never forget.
I was no older than the first grade. The most enduring memory of that Christmas season? Our downtown shopping night. My hometown is located at the confluence of two rivers: the Ohio and the Tennessee. That makes the downtown crosswinds positively icy in winter. Undoubtedly, the coldest corner was Fourth and Broadway, the location of the Paducah Dry Goods store (a twin of the department store in A Christmas Story).
As Dad dropped the three of us off at the store, cold air funneled up from those rivers to chill us. After parking the car a few blocks away, he rejoined us inside. My parents forced us to endure shopping on each floor in turn, making our way with agonizing slowness toward all that really mattered: the fourth floor, home of toys and of Santa’s red velvet throne.
The highlight of this Christmastime memory is sitting on Santa’s lap and telling him my toy needs and realizing that his beard was real. That beard convinced me he was the real thing.
Eventually, my parents bundled us up and moved us down four floors and to the front of the store. My memory gets a little hazy after that. I do have a vibrant memory of my mother holding my hand as the three of us stood at the curb waiting for Dad to return with the car, pick us up, and drive us home. We waited, and waited...and waited.
Dad never returned that night.
In my memory, that is the end: the three of us standing there, getting colder...watching, waiting, wondering.
...an unfinished Christmas.
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There is, of course, more to this memoir. But what if there weren’t? What if that was all we could ever know? How strange to feel there must be more, but be unable to know how things turned out.
It was my daughter who first suggested that this memoir, with all the waiting and watching, would make a great Advent reflection. It fits well with this week’s scriptures considering its emphasis on waiting, patience, and the timeless aspect of our relationship with God.
For example, it must have seemed odd for Ahaz to hear Isaiah tell about a virgin conceiving a son whose name would mean "God with us" and then…nothing. Ahaz lived and died without ever experiencing the fulfillment of that prophecy.
This is what it was like for all the people of Israel year in and year out, century after century, as they waited for the Messiah, waited to learn the rest of the story. All they had heard was the beginning. Prophet after prophet delivered a cliff-hanger but never finished the story.
We, too, have been waiting on God all these centuries, ever since Jesus came to us in human form. At the same time, God has been waiting on us. Yes, that’s right: While we’ve been patiently waiting on God to return, God has been patiently waiting until more of us are ready for that return.
It’s the story of a Christmas that had its beginning over 2,000 years ago and has remained open all this time...waiting on us.
An unfinished Christmas, indeed.
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PHOTO: https://www.paducah.travel/
For the rest of the story, the fuller version of my Christmas memories can be read at:
https://steveorr.blogspot.com/search/label/02Memoir-An%20Unfinished%20Christmas?m=0
If you are on my blog, see the list on the right side of the screen. Click on: 02Memoir-An Unfinished Christmas)
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We’re deep into Advent, Christmas Day is almost here. So, join us at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast when we return the first Friday in January. We will gather at 8:00 that morning at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** Our discussions, as always, are thought-provoking and our conversations are laced with laughter.
Join us in January for an hour like no other.
Blessings,
Steve
**CONTACT ME FOR THE ZOOM LINK
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.
READINGS FOR
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (DECEMBER 18, 2022) AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=4
Print them here:
HTTPS://LECTIONARY.LIBRARY.VANDERBILT.EDU/PDF//AX_FOURTHSUNDAYOFADVENT.PDF
ISAIAH 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
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