The Burden of Hope

(Written by Matt Odmark, taken from "Peace is Here: Christmas Reflections by Jars of Clay")

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."-Luke 2:19

Christmas comes each year with its dangerous invitation to hope. Yet for most of this invitation feels more like an inconvenience and a burden. In our busy-ness, we consider the burden of Christmas ourselves, even as Mary herself pondered the meaning of all of these things. I wonder how many of her personal hopes and dreams were on the altar at this moment. Surely this was not the life that she had dreamed for herself, and who could possibly understand the road that she was about to walk? Who would go with her? As she began to consider all that she would lose along the way, the invitation to hope must have felt callous and farfetched.

If you are like me, this is where most of my adult Christmases have been spent, burdened and heavy under the Hope that promises much but asks for everything along the way. Maybe this is your story this year; maybe your losses have been deep and painful. Maybe you stand in the reality of every Christmas from now on being a bitter reminder of those that are no longer with you. You grieve things that have been lost along the way.

If this is you, take courage from Mary, who somehow found a way to move from deep pondering and introspection to singing. Singing! Somewhere along the road the question of her life ceased to be "If you knew me and loved me, God, how could you ask this of me?" Somewhere along the way her hope was unfettered from all those good things that she had hoped her life would be and became anchored to God's hope for her.

"For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed."- Luke 2:48