The magic of the human heart never fades

By Mary Regina Morrell

"We have heard of your faith in Christ and of your love for all of God's people, because what you hope for is kept safe for you in heaven." (Col.1:4-5)

Today I received an e-mail from a very dear family member who admitted that she had lost the Christmas spirit.

In my mind it wasn't something for which she needed to apologize. She had good reason. She and her family had only recently come through a terrible year of worry and treatments for her husband who had been diagnosed with cancer. It had taken a toll on them all.

It's hard to be merry when you are faced with the possible loss of someone you love dearly. The holidays have not been the same for me since my parents died.

In the same e-mail, my cousin reminded me of my mother's childlike delight in Christmas and how my father worked so hard at making it magical.

It seemed the magic disappeared when he died.

I remember standing next to his bed in the Hospice unit when he took his last breathe, my mother in the next room, also terminally ill. I cried out to God and asked him just what was it I was supposed to learn from all this.

His answer was powerful: "I have honed you in the fires of grief to forge a jewel of compassion."

That was five years ago, and now, as new losses make their mark on my heart, my response to God's poetic enlightenment has an edge of cynicism: "Enough of the honing, already! Can we move on to polishing, at least? And with a soft cloth, not sandpaper! I'm practically worn down to a grain of sand as it is."

At this point in my life God has begun to remind me more and more of Columbo, the disheveled, trench coat wearing detective who didn't seem to have much on the ball.

He would get a hold of a suspect and wear him down with a barrage of questions and just when Columbo would walk away and the suspect would think, "Finally! He's done," Columbo would slow down, turn around with his finger resting pensively on his forehead and say, "Uh, just one more thing."

If that's not God I don't know what is!

It seems he is never done with us, and it is easy to get weary with so much honing, and sculpting and molding going on, especially when we sometimes wonder if God really knows what he is doing.

But I guess that's what faith is - trusting that God knows what he is doing even when we can't see it. Faith is believing that it's not God who is wearing us away with trials but, rather, making us strong enough to bear them.

It seems true enough that life begins to tarnish the magic of Christmas for most of us somewhere along the way, but I have found something much more meaningful under the tinsel and garland and brightly wrapped gifts.

There is an incredible appreciation for the wisdom of a God who knew the importance of becoming human, who knew, as our creator, the great need we have for the human touch, the human voice; the need we have to love and be loved by others just like us - human, tangible, beautiful in heart and soul.

Christmas is just the beginning of a love story that needs to unfold in our hearts every day. And such love never loses its magic.

______________________________

Mary Morrell is the author of Angels in High Top Sneakers from Loyola Press, as well as four reflection journals available through the Metuchen Office of Religious Education.

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990

Email

mmorrell@aol.com

Keywords

heart, love

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