The music throbs as they pass tonight. The road is unusually busy. Especially for a country that has recently implemented a lockdown from 8 PM to 5 AM. The current traffic shows no sign of following recent protocols.
It's Christmas in Grenada. A time of family, friends, festive activities, and, for many, drinking and parties. However, Grenada recently has been hit with a cluster of Covid patients. As many as 800 people are in quarantine, having been in contact with a Covid patient. The government has implemented a list of new protocols.
As a foreign missionary, Christmas already can be a challenging time. Now, according to the laws of Grenada, there are to be no social gatherings. Christmas can only be celebrated with people from your own household. Which, currently, is only myself.
I think of those who pass. It must be lonely without Jesus. The throb of the music. The drained bottle. The high druggies. All give evidence to that fact.
And Christmas. Its the farthest thing from Christmas I've ever experienced. Somehow I've almost forgotten that it is Christmas. But what is Christmas? Is it the things we do? The people we're with? The food we eat? Is it contingent on our circumstances? Or is it a celebration of the joy Christ gives us despite our circumstances? A celebration of the greatest sacrifice of all, and the remembrance that we too must sacrifice.
The message is still the same. The year 2020 has not changed truth. Covid-19. George Floyd. The presidential election. Riots. Lockdowns. Everything that has made this year so intense and hard cannot change the truth of this message. It is a message that is timeless, never-changing. Relevant to all generations and all time.
"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
"Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given."
God. Incarnate. Infallible. Perfect. Come down as a human. As a child. God as man.
And the angels said, "Fear not."
Fear not for the Savior is born. God made flesh. God as Man. Fear not, for He came to give us hope, to give us peace, to give us life.
As the years have gone by, as kings and nations have risen and fallen, as wars have been fought, as pandemics and famines have claimed lives, the message remains the same.
God became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we need not fear.
Merry Christmas.
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