When Christmas Gets Broken

I've had the unenjoyable task of packing up all the Christmas decor.

Not nearly as fun as putting it all up, and the helpers seem a little harder to find as well!


On our mantel I have my collection of Snow Globes featuring depictions of the Nativity story, and right

there in the middle is our larger nativity.  While packing up the pieces, I noticed that "Mary's" hand

was broken completely off.  As I sighed in frustration, I began to gather all the pieces to throw them

away.  After all, how can you have a Nativity scene that's broken?


But, the longer I've thought about it, the more I'm convinced that broken handed Mary will still feature

prominent spot on our mantel next Christmas.

Why?  Why would I want a broken piece of a Christmas decoration to take center stage in our living room?

Because, "Broken Handed Mary" will now serve as  an in the face reminder that on  that night so long

ago circumstances were less than perfect.  It was dirty and smelly and the Savior of the world slept in a

feeding trough.

The perfect Savior, came into an imperfect world- an area of the world ruled by a crazy dictator, filled

with violence; into an imperfect family, who at one point his brothers thought he was crazy, where

rumors of his birth followed him his entire life.

And, although he was perfect, those circumstances weren't and didn't change because of his perfection.


That piece of broken ceramic  will serve as a reminder to me, when try as I might, I cannot make my

circumstances perfect and when my family balks at being forced into a mold of perfection that does not

fit, to let it go.

Striving for perfection should never be my goal.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Faithfulness, Goodness, Meekness, Gentleness, Kindness and Self Control;

that is what I should be striving for- at Christmas time and all throughout the year.

Perfection, or the striving for it, can be as incapacitating as any addiction.  It can hold you captive and

drive others away as fast any drug induced  stupor will.

So, "Broken Handed Mary" gets a reprieve from the trash and gets to keep her place of importance

and when I feel overwhelmed with the demands of the season and the pressure I put upon myself,

I will look at her and remember that when Christmas gets broken, life still goes on and can still be just

as beautiful.


From One Broken Girl,