It was in my first retreat a few months ago when I first heard this song. The lyrics were surprisingly powerful and moving; I couldn’t help myself welling up in tears. 

I still don’t understand everything about God, Jesus Christ, heaven, what it means to be human, what it means to live. However every day, I feel incredibly blessed to exist and live in this world, to understand how people can saved by grace alone, to be surrounded by innumerable blessings I could not possibly work hard for to deserve.

Christmas means so much more to me now. It’s not simply remembering the birth of Jesus, but also remembering how we are all humans needing to be saved from our imperfect selves, and Someone came two thousand and eleven years ago to suffer and to save, even though He didn’t need to. 

Sounds incredible? I myself am still incessantly amazed by this fact. However I can feel it’s true.

It’s easy to forget the real reason why we celebrate Christmas, apart from sending countless greetings, giving and receiving presents, gathering around a table for a grand dinner.

And because the more valuable things are always invisible, putting them into words could make them feel more concrete, more real, more understandable.

Festive lights, carols, candy canes, Santa hats, pine trees, bright red poinsettias-these definitely help us feel the Christmas spirit, but we ourselves ultimately must make an effort to make sense out of what all of these truly signify.

Have a blessed Christmas! ✝