We Wish You a “Mary” Christmas

‘Tis the season my sisters! And we know what that means. Or at least what it has come to mean in our current world of busy, social, hectic and sometimes chaotic preparation for the holidays. It means work, shop, cook, party, get together, shop some more, oops I still have one more gift to buy, I will be SO GLAD WHEN CHRISTMAS IS OVER!!! Don’t fall for it girls. Don’t let it take you over. Here is the flip side of what I just described… “I’m behind on the rent, I hope we don’t get evicted, how can I tell my kids there will be no gifts this year?” And that scenario becomes much more overwhelming because it’s the holiday season and circumstances like this are even more depressing and difficult to face. This person might also have the same feeling of I will be SO GLAD WHEN CHRISTMAS IS OVER!!! Well I have good news. Christmas is SO much more than any of this. And when we really stop and think about exactly what Christmas means, what we actually will want to shout is “I am SO GLAD CHRISTMAS IS NEVER OVER!!!

A few thoughts….Christmas is about LOVE made manifest in a flesh and blood body. Christmas is about sharing that LOVE with someone else. Christmas is about LOVE being brought into the world by a woman. That’s HUGE! Look at yourself and realize that you give birth to Christmas every day because what lives, breathes and exists inside of you!

During the Christmas season, I especially like to read the book of Luke. Chapter 2 (read it!). I am in awe of Mary! She was soulful. She was quiet. She was thoughtful. She was strong. She was unashamed. She wasn’t yet married, but she was having a baby. You know there was talk all over Nazareth right? Of course there was! It was just like now. They had to travel all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem just to pay their taxes because the Emperor said so. They had every day, real life issues the same as we do and they had to do it without the use of any of our modern day conveniences. They didn’t have an iPhone to call ahead, text or email for hotel reservations. They didn’t have a train, plane or automobile for travel. They didn’t even have a bed for the night to rest from their journey. What they did have was the greatest gift. The absolute greatest gift that would keep on giving and keep on giving until the end of time and even beyond that.

As the events of the birth of Christ began to unfold, each time the Bible ends each event by saying “Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often”. The baby was born. The Heavens rejoiced! The shepherds went to see for themselves. The shepherds went away rejoicing and telling everyone. The child was called “Jesus” and circumcised after 8 days. The righteous man at the Temple blessed the baby. An elderly woman by the name of Anna who was a prophet was also in the Temple. She began praising God as she realized that his child was the promised Messiah that she had been waiting for. In all of this activity, Mary the young mother who was still engaged to be married, kept quiet, filled with inner strength, she knew that something very special was going to come forth from this gift, this baby that she had been blessed to deliver to the world. She kept all these things in her heart. She prayed. She watched. She strengthened. She wrapped the baby “snugly in strips of cloth” and placed him in a manger. A feeding troth. Wrapped snugly. In Strips of Cloth. Think about this my sisters! We are here not to get caught up in the frenzy of holiday chaos…but to LOVE someone…to share with others….to spend time with family…to laugh….to cry…to remember. Make a difference. Do something special. Donate your time to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Put a little something in a “red bucket” if you can. And if you are so fortunate to be able to buy gifts for those you love, don’t forget to remember the gift that was wrapped snugly in strips of cloth. Just for you. Just for me. And have yourself a “Mary” Christmas! Strengthening Our Black Females Out of LOVE. We are SOBFOL.