Handling Depression When We’re Supposed to be “Merry”
Can you identify with one or both of these journal entries?
It just doesn’t feel like Christmas this year. The joyful anticipation I once had prior to December 25 has evaporated as I get older. Maybe it’s because the kids are grown and I don’t get to observe their excitement anymore.
I tend to feel depressed the closer we get to Christmas. It’s as if there’s no longer any meaning in my spirit attached to this special day, yet I know there is supposed to be. It’s worse if we don’t gather with relatives or friends. The loneliness exacerbates the despondency.
I can identify. That’s because I wrote both statements in my journal years ago (on separate years) as Christmas approached. But more recently, there’s a particular insight I “preach to myself” each December that assuages the angst. I’m not saying this perspective eliminates all emotional difficulty, but the reminder definitely improves my attitude each year.
I tell myself that the meaning of Christmas doesn’t depend one iota on my feelings or personal experience.
Whether or not I feel the religious significance of Jesus’ birth or that elusive “Christmas spirit” isn’t what matters. What matters is truth: God the Son came to earth, and for the first time in all eternity the divine put on human skin. Jesus was “born to die” for my sins. The Incarnation we celebrate at Christmas is my only hope for overcoming sin and for a joy-filled life after the grave. And in my next life, my worship won’t be hindered by inconsistent emotions or self-centeredness. I’ll join with other believers in a raucous celebration, and bow before my King without any despair whatsoever.
The meaning of Christmas is not an inner state or attitude. It doesn’t originate within me. It is objective reality rooted in historical fact: the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The meaning of Christmas doesn’t depend on me. The meaning of Christmas…just is.
If you’re a Christ-follower and yet the “Christmas spirit” seems elusive, preach the message of this article to yourself this December.
Spiritual experience begins in the mind (Rom. 12:2). Focusing on this truth may actually change how you feel this year.
I’ll close with the following poem that I wrote back in 2002. In it I try to capture the objective meaning of Christmas. I rooted this poem in the truth of God’s redemptive plan being mapped out before creation. Jesus was “a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). The grace of our salvation was granted us in Christ Jesus “from all eternity” (2 Tim 1:9), which means, “since before time began.”
Contrasts
Joseph’s eyes were glued to where his infant lay.
Could not hide his grin, or keep his pride at bay.
He anticipated joining Jesus at play.
Another Father would turn His face away.
Mary heard him wail; saw his face turn red.
She heard him coo after he’d been fed.
Used her palm to support his fragile head.
Caressed the flesh that Roman spikes would shred.
Flailing limbs, wrinkled olive skin.
She tickled his tummy for a face-splitting grin.
Held him to her breast, one who seemed the least,
Who would die on a cross to become our High Priest.
God had fulfilled His long-standing vow!
Shepherds, kings, and wise men came to bow.
Saw the prophets’ promise existing in the now.
Did they see drops of blood trickling from his brow?
So innocent and sweet, how could he divide
Nations and families? Each would choose a side.
To divine instructions, Joseph had complied.
Did he know his baby had already died?
Here’s how the late pastor Ron Dunn summarized this point: “Before there was a garden in Eden, there was a cross on Calvary!” That God provided a means for our salvation before He created man is a truth I cannot fathom. Yet I can revel in it this Christmas.
Have a meaningful Christmas, no matter how you feel.
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