Mystery of Christmas

When I was 6 years old, we spent the evening of Christmas Eve with friends of my Mom’s. It was a different Christmas for us that year. It was the first year I remember Mom decorating for Christmas since she and my Dad separated and divorced. We had our “Christmas tree” decorated ready for presents to appear under the tree. Our Christmas tree that year was a tumbleweed we found coming back from the ranch one day. My brother and I thought it was neat because we had a tree like no one else. I am beginning to think that was our tree because that’s the best Mom could do that year.

That Christmas Eve my brother and I played with Mom’s friend’s son until dinner. We ate dinner and we played some more while the adults visited and watched a Christmas movie. For me, the mystery of Christmas had started to fade. I was not sure I bought into the whole story Mom and Dad were telling me about how our presents showed up on Christmas morning.

We left Mom’s friends house way past my brother’s and my bed time. When my Mom, my brother, and I returned to our apartment there under the tree were presents that were not there when we left. My little 6 year old mind was blown away. For a few days the mystery of Christmas returned.

When I got into High School, I asked my Mom about that Christmas, because I could not understand how it happened. My Mom told me that during the dinner preparations her friends had run out of something that we had at the house. She swore up and down she poked her head in where we were playing and told us she was running to the house and would be right back. I don’t remember that. While at home she took a little time to do a little more “decorating.”

It’s hard to forget that Christmas. I remember my brother and I received what we thought were a lot of presents, though I don’t really remember what they were. What I do remember is that there’s something about Christmas I didn’t understand.

Later on during one of my classes at Seminary I began to understand something I began to learn that Christmas many years before. My professor was lecturing on our understanding of our faith and said “Too often we try to dissect a mystery to understand it. Mysteries are not to be understood, mysteries are to be experienced.”

May this Christmas Season be a special celebration with your family, not because the gifts you give but because of the time you spend with family and friends. This Christmas Season may you and your family experience the mystery of Christmas.