This column may be born on Christmas, but it works for the new year too. I will start with a quiz. Ready? Looking at this photograph, what is the most compelling decorative element?
The handmade quilt? Or the beautiful tree in the corner? Is it the collection of lace snowflakes? Maybe the poinsettias in the hearth?
They are all good answers, but the response I’m thinking of is our dog, Max! An artfully placed golden retriever enhances any holiday scene. Actually, he just plopped down after walking through. When I photographed our last house for sale, someone asked why I put Max in so many pictures. I didn’t; he just shows up, and he’s pretty stealth about it.
But, other than being decorative, Max is real — and I think that is the most compelling thing. Holiday decorations — other than the occasional ‘live’ tree — are only real to the extent the symbolism they carry points to truth rather than make-believe.
Symbolism is fine, but it only holds life if it is rooted in life. Absent spiritual truth and our connection to the heart of God, a manger scene and a heavenly host are about as real as the plastic Santa on the front lawn — maybe less so because at least Santa oils the wheels of commerce.
I believe that the emptiness that is so pervasive in our world is amplified to the extent that the manger scene, the baby Jesus, the lights on the house and the Christmas symbols we display have no meaningful connection to that Holy Night, the Living God, a personal Jesus and the very real introduction of hope and promise and redemption into this world.
Nostalgia alone does not cannot answer the deep yearning people have for a restored relationship with the Creator and for spiritual healing.
If the only holiday decoration that seems real to you is the golden retriever, then understand this: Because of Jesus — Wonderful Counselor, Beautiful Savior, Prince of Peace — the decorations are no longer merely ornamental, they will become sacramental.
May it be so. — DEREK
