Where are the photos of the mother with her children celebrating Christmas in a homeless a shelter?
Where are the photos of the young man who made a grievous choice that has landed him in prison for Christmas this year?
Where are the photos of the lonely and aged who can no longer keep up with the pace of life and exist alone?
Where are the photos of those spending their last Christmas in a hospital or in hospice enduring a terminal illness?
Where are the photos of the spouse and children braced for violence after a parent's drinking binge that will surely come this Christmas?
Where are the photos of those with severe disabilities who seem invisible...forgotten...and their families providing intensive care even on Christmas?
Or those of parents holding their child at his end of life on Christmas Eve?
And many others...
And as I think of those whose photos are not going to make the Facebook Christmas Story...
Facebook is NOT life...it is NOT a true representation of life. Life is messy and hurts and is to be embraced in the high notes and low notes until we experience eternal life.
Jesus came in the non-threatening form of a baby in a feeding trough for all of us...especially for those we will never see on the Facebook Christmas Story.
EXCEPT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, go I. Trust me...
Let's enjoy and be grateful for all we have...celebrate the JOY of this season...
But let's also prayerfully remember and serve those this Christmas whose circumstances will go unnoticed.
