We were heading to the forum, a beautiful, outdoor mall that I had been assured was the best thing ever. I didn’t know the way, and I wondered how walking through town, behind a bus station, sneaking onto a security-guarded college campus, and wandering down this muddy trail was going to lead to such a find. My skepticism peaked as I saw Don approach a delipitated fence and duck through, making his way down a series of crumbly, broken steps.
“So, you better prepare yourself for this. It’s pretty much the best thing ever. Are you ready?” He asked me.
“Wait, I might need to sit down and collect my thoughts.” I laughed. I needed something to divert my attention away from the endless “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” track playing in my mind, and I was pretty curious to see how awesome this mall was going to be.
As we entered the forum, I was completely awed. Beautiful Christmas lights hung down from the tops of buildings, life-sized decorations of Santa Claus and his reindeer sat beneath a lighted tree, and snowmen took up residence in the center of every fountain. I didn’t know what to say.
We walked through several different stores, and I remembered how at this time, every other year before, I would be digging through electronics and DVDs and clothes, looking for the present that screamed my sister’s name. I felt a particular sting when we found a Trivial Pursuit game. In Turkish. If I was at home with my family at this very moment, we’d probably be playing it. In English.
We walked outside of the bookstore in which we had been browsing. A lighted snowman smiled, Christmas lights blinked, a cut-out of Rudolph shone in a clothing store window. And then, from above our heads, we heard “Jingle Bells” filling the streets.
We stood their in complete silence, listening as “Jingle Bells” ended and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” began. Against the backdrop of the blinking lights and Christmas decorations, the busy, bundled-up shoppers that passed us with holiday-decorated Starbucks cups in their hands, we couldn’t say anything.
Finally, Don broke the silence by saying,
“You remember how I said I was okay with not being home for Christmas? NOT ANYMORE!”
I felt his pain. I would’ve wallowed in it for hours more, but luckily, Don doesn’t embrace misery the way I do, so he made the executive decision to get us out of there before things got any worse.
As we were leaving the forum, a familar song filled the air, and I stopped to listen.
Silent Night.
It played, and I was overcome with wonder.
“Isn’t it amazing that we are in the largest unreached country in the world, and yet you can hear Silent Night playing at the mall?” I told Don, who had also stopped to listen.
“Isn’t it amazing how these people walk by every day, living according to the five pillars and reading their Qu’ran and never knowing the truth about Jesus, and yet the words are sung over them, ‘Christ the Savior is born?’ It’s amazing to me the extent that God won’t let them go. They go shopping in this mall for Christmas gifts so they can celebrate a western holiday, when they don’t know the greatest gift has already been given to them. They look for it in every moment of their lives, believing they’ve found it in different ways, and yet, here it is, sung over them as they search.”
Once again, we stood, not saying anything more. I began to feel humbled. I’m missing my idea of Christmas, which is only one day a year. And yet, I’m here to give the meaning of Christmas every day of my life, in every place I go. To say, “Peace on earth, there is good will towards men in this weary, heartbroken world. There is hope where only darkness has dwelt, there is comfort for those who mourn. Salvation has come, and it’s here for you.”
This is good news to ALL people. Jesus’ birth was proclaimed to the poorest shepherd and the richest king, and both came before him. Glorious angels of His own creation proclaimed him, while lowly cattle, also of His own creation, lulled him to sleep. Jesus has come that all should be saved. His birth represents our own. We are no longer dependant on laws and priests and rituals to come before God, because God has come before us! In flesh, we can see Him. God came down to earth, just to set us free.
Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of all, for it is in Him that every gift in life is truly realized and understood.
