It’s so close. Christmas is just a few days away. And how is your heart doing in this busy time of year?

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself — it’s been a weird few weeks, and there’s been some disappointment that has made hope feel a little distant. Plus, there’s that constant posture of grief and gratitude — accepting how life doesn’t look the way I hoped in many ways, while simultaneously feeling so much joy for all the good things in my life too.

What complicated feelings might you be experiencing this Christmas?

Whatever they are, I hope you welcome those feelings with gentleness. If there’s one thing I’ve been learning through my journey, it’s that emotions are complicated and important to listen to — usually not to act upon (sometimes, yes), but absolutely necessary to listen to.

Because emotions are part of being human – they’re wrapped up with our nervous system and our physiological self, as well as our heart and soul.

And this may sound strange — but this is a reminder, that we are humans. I am a human, and if you’re reading this, you are too.

This is a weird thought that I keep drawing on this Christmas — I’ve felt a little overwhelmed by all the “stuff” of the season. I was at Marshalls on Saturday and the line went to the back of the store. Then there’s my phone…I’ve been especially conscious at this time of year that I don’t want to be on it scrolling as much as I am.

We are not our “things.” And I am not a digital avatar or an Instagram profile. I am a human. A woman. I’m me — and you’re you.

Maybe you’re thinking, wow, it’s the end of the year, and Bethany’s lost it — what is she talking about?!

But I think most of us can see the ways this world tries and takes away our humanity. Technology is a wonderful thing AND we know that there are a lot of dangers too. And then there is just the busyness of the modern world that can convince us that we need to function more like a machine than a person.

I was watching a new Christmas movie on Netflix recently and after being chided by his parents to take a break from his Virtual Reality game (I guess that’s what it was?!), a teenage boy replies back, “I’ve tried the physical world. I prefer the digital world.”

Is that where we’re headed?

With a new year ahead, I want to keep reminding myself of how I am human, and how I can encourage those around me to be mindful of their humanness too:

• Our fragility

• Our resiliency
• Our need for rest, sleep, exercise, and nutrition
• Our need for laughter
• Our need for physical touch
• Our need for love and affirmation and safety
• Our need for nature
• Our need for relationships – for each other

And this is what is so amazing about Christmas and the heart of this massive celebration…

(which, as a side-note, I couldn’t help thinking to myself as I battled traffic and parking lots last weekend, for as anti-God as our society and culture has become, what would the economy do without Christmas?)

… Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, of God becoming flesh. The Nativity scenes you may have in your home, or drive by in someone’s front lawn are an idyllic decoration of what would have been a very real, raw, and messy scene. And this is the audacity of the Incarnation, a significant doctrine in Christianity — that God descended to earth as a human, through an impoverished, teenage girl. Jesus was an infant, a toddler, a teenager, and a man — who walked, ate, slept, cried, feasted with friends — and yes, had emotions too (of course, he was the only one who was perfect and never succumbed to them!)

There’s so much significance to this, and it certainly can’t be captured in my meager blog post. But perhaps at this Christmas, it’s an opportunity to think about the meaning of our humanity, that God became flesh. There is a profound significance to the human body. We’re not just spirits that float around in the spiritual or let’s say digital realm — we are humans with hearts, minds, souls AND bodies.  

At times that I’ve experienced physical pain — once four years ago in a debilitating way — this hope of the Incarnation, helped me to feel the closeness of Christ, imagining his messy birth in the manger, which would lead to his brutal death on the cross. But it didn’t end there. He was resurrected, returning to life in His human body, and one day, all believers in Him will experience that too — eternal life with a renewed body! THAT is hope that can’t be diminished by any temporary disappointment.

And I hope you can hold on to that hope, too!

But I know that it’s hard. As this year comes to an end, and perhaps if you’re struggling or you’re pondering what all this means about the Christmas, I wanted to share my final essay published this year. It’s called “Gladness in the Glen,” and in it I write about my journey with depression, anxiety, and PTSD — and how embracing my humanness has been a pathway for God’s healing work in my life. My prayer is that my words can be a gentle invitation to care for our bodies, and all that we need as humans.

Go here to read (and scroll down past a few of my poems published with this essay, ones I wrote about the impact of pain…)

So maybe if you’re searching for something as winter sets in, and with Christmas around the corner, the audacity of what the holiday truly means can be a comfort.

As always, if you have questions about anything I write about God, or mental health, my lines of communication are open. I’m here for hope, because I need it too 🙂

And maybe as life hopefully pauses a bit for Christmas, it’s an opportunity to lean in to those human needs I mentioned above. That’s what I’m hoping to do, and I hope you can too, with some extra Christmas cookies on the side!

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (ESV)

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