Real Reality

It seems sometimes that we’re closest to reality when we are in the most pain. All our earthly lives are spent heading towards death, and yet often we act as if we’re invincible. Then every once in a while we’re faced with death or sickness, and we can no longer ignore it. And yet we try to forget it and “move on” as soon as possible. It’s a losing battle. “Time is the fire in which we burn”, as a character in Star Trek Generations puts it.

If indeed Mary somehow knew, when Jesus was born, that He was only born to die, would she be closer to reality? If we all realized that our children were really not ours, but God’s to take in His time, would we be more realistic? Doesn’t it take the joy out of Christmas to overshadow it with a brutal death on a Roman cross?

The Christian has the ability to be truly realistic without despair, because of that very story of Jesus. The reality was that this little baby was destined to be rejected and hated by the world, given an unjust trial, tortured and killed. A man of sorrows, and aquainted with grief, as Isaiah put it. How could Mary smile beside the manger knowing that?

And yet, as CS Lewis put it in his book The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, there is a “deeper magic”. In spite of all the pain and horror that makes up “real life”, there is for those who trust Christ an eternal hope. There is a resurrection – a new eternal dawn after the cross. It’s an Easter cliche, and yet it is a principle that winds a silver thread throughout life. No matter how often our hopes are dashed and our hearts are broken, there is a certainty that God can and will make things right. Though tears may flow until we leave this earth, somewhere in our hearts there can still be a foundation of joy, knowing that God will someday wipe those tears away.

As we face a new year, let’s face our joys and sorrows alike with faith in the All Mighty God of Love, who is with us in our laughter and tears just the same!