Why Christmas Makes Me Cry

It's 4:30 AM Christmas morning. The house is quiet. I'm sitting here in the glow of little white lights, and the tears just keep coming. What is wrong with me? Why does Christmas make me cry?

The whole story of Christmas, the reason for Christmas, is celebration. We celebrate our history. We celebrate the beauty of a Creator loving us so much that He became one of us so that we could truly know Him. We celebrate with family, friends, food, gifts...we celebrate with joy and laughter.
But I can't stop these tears.

Christmas is perfection. The story depicts perfect love...love that is giving. Love that transcends everything bad in this world and shows us the purity of a heart with no malice, no envy, no hatred...a being who loves without condition. With great abandon, he lavishes love upon every single one of us...old and young...love that keeps giving and reaching and chasing us down.

But love is so often ignored by us...this love that we need so much. 


I'm feeling like the shepherd in the stable on that night so long ago. I imagine my heart would be bursting at the beauty of that moment...this baby, so perfect...so special. I might realize something amazing was taking place, yet not really understand what I'm witnessing. I'd be mesmerized by Him, by this babe in the cradle. While I'd feel frozen in time and space with my feet seemingly glued to the stable floor...there would be something stirring and swelling within me...something making me want to rush out of there yelling to the world, "Come and see!!! Come and look upon perfection! True Love is here!! Emmanuel!! God is right here with us!! Oh come!!! Everything has changed!! LOVE HAS COME FOR US!!" 

Yes, love has come for us. But we're so distracted that we don't even notice.

Love is here. And I want the whole world to know.
I don't want anyone to miss it.

So this is why Christmas makes me cry...