Do you remember me? I sat upon your knee; I wrote to you with childhood fantasies. Well, I’m all grown-up now and still need help somehow. I’m not a child, but my heart still can dream. So here’s my lifelong wish, my grown-up Christmas list, not for myself but for a world in need:
No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts. And everyone would have a friend, and right would always win, and love would never end. This is my grown-up Christmas list.
As children we believed the grandest sight to see was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree. Well heaven surely knows that packages and bows can never heal hurting human soul. What is this illusion called the innocence of youth? Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth.
No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts. And everyone would have a friend, and right would always win, and love would never end. This is my grown-up Christmas list. This is my only lifelong wish. This is my grown-up Christmas list.
This song, “My Grown-Up Christmas List” was released in 1990. I first heard it in 1992, recorded by Amy Grant. It has been recorded by many artists over the past 20 years, including Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Donny Osmond, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, and a bunch of people I’ve never heard of.
I love the sentiment behind the song: the idea that the best things are not gifts under the tree, but peace, friendship, healing of broken hearts, and victory of right over wrong. I also know that wishing for those things is just about as effective as writing to Santa and asking for them.
So, how do we move our “Christmas list” from sentiment to reality? Is it even possible? On a worldwide scale? Of course not. In our corner of the world? Why not?
I can’t keep lives from being torn apart, but I can refuse to be the one tearing. I can’t keep wars from starting, but I can refuse to start a fight at home. I can’t be sure that everyone has a friend, but I can be a friend to a neighbor in need. I can’t be sure that right will always win, but I can be sure, by my choices, that right wins in me. And if I understand that love is a decision, not a feeling, I will not let it end in my circle of influence.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9, New International Version). He didn’t say “peace lovers” or “pacifists.” Our lives matter so much to God that He invites us to join Him in what He is doing in the world. In the form of a baby in Bethlehem, He “showed up” in our world visibly. Now He wants to “show up” through us.
Merry Christmas.
