Christmas Can Be Hard

Christmas time can be hard for us hermits. For many of us, we have families that want us to come over and “be social.” So we feel obligated to make an appearance.

I am lucky, I work a job where I work Monday through Friday, even on holidays. I can’t make it to those social occasions because I am working the swing shift.

But I know that others have no family and might feel lonely during this season. That is okay. Let that feeling draw you closer to the Good Shepherd. It is, after all, His coming that we are celebrating.

Instead of thinking of Christmas as a time celebrating the coming of Christ in manger in Bethlehem, think of it as the coming of Christ into the manger of your heart.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

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Jay N. Forrest

Dr. Jay N Forrest is a Spiritual Teacher of the Anglican Middle Way, writing on Prayer, Meditation, and Mysticism. Jay became a Christian in 1983, attended Bible school, and eventually earned his Doctorate in Ministry. Jay served as a Protestant minister for 27 years, took catechism classes with the Orthodox Church of America, and spent about a decade practicing Buddhism. In 2005, Jay was baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church, but has since joined the Episcopal Church.

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