I have not celebrated the Christian Christmas holiday for several years now. This year, not only am I not celebrating it, I can no longer return the "Merry Christmas" greeting to my well-meaning friends and family, because there is absolutely nothing "Merry" about Christmas this year, in 2023.
And I am not the only one not celebrating Christmas this year.
In the city of Bethlehem, the historic birthplace of Jesus Christ, where every year millions of Christians worldwide visit to celebrate Christmas in Jesus' birthplace, Christmas has been canceled.
The Palestinian Christians, many of whose families have lived in Bethlehem for over 2000 years since the birth of Jesus, cannot be "Merry" because hundreds of them have lost their children and loved ones in the Hamas Israeli war.
If you are gathering together with family and loved ones during this season, and enjoying this holiday, consider yourself blessed. There is nothing I am writing here that is intended to steal your joy during this season. By all means, enjoy it, while you can.
But the Christmas holiday season also brings much sadness, not only for Palestinian Christians, but also for many Americans who are separated from family and loved ones, including the multitude of parents in the U.S. who have lost their children to the corrupt child welfare system that routinely kidnaps children from loving families, often through medical kidnapping.
Others are separated from family because they stand for the Truth, and Jesus Christ, and have counted the cost of being a disciple of Jesus, which more often than not means losing the support of your biological family.
So if you find yourself this Christmas alone and separated from family, take heart, and be encouraged, because even Jesus was eventually rejected by his family, and even considered "insane," because he spoke out against the tyrannical Jewish system of his day.
Also, while the birth of Jesus brought great hope and joy for humanity as the long awaited Jewish Messiah, his birth also brought much pain, suffering, and even death for many.
This is a story that is part of "Christmas" that most churches and family gatherings will probably exclude from their Christmas traditions, but it is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.