The stress of Christmas…

The Weekly Clothes Line

Posted 12/16/22

The holidays are a wonderful time with loved ones and traditions. But the holidays also bring stress.

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The stress of Christmas…

The Weekly Clothes Line

Posted

The holidays are a wonderful time with loved ones and traditions. But the holidays also bring stress. So, I offer this story when your stress level rises…

NEWS FLASH: The emperor orders a census; everyone must go to their hometown of origin. Your trip will be about seventy miles…on foot mostly. Occasionally you will ride your donkey, packed with supplies. And did I mention that you are about nine months pregnant? You travel with people you don’t know, perhaps Samaritans as well as Jews. Most assuredly, there will be hostility along the way, so your husband may have taken a different route to keep you safe. All in all, the trip will take seven to ten days. Finally, you arrive at your destination, only to learn that no rooms are available. Your only option: a stable with animals…and you await your child’s birth.

I look around my beautiful home, my decorations, and my sixty-year-old Nativity set under the tree, and I try to imagine how God gave them the strength to accomplish what they did. I think about my own comfort. I want for nothing. I need little. And I realize that wonderful story unfolded in the fullness of time because Joseph and Mary trusted God to be God. While the journey seemed impossible, they knew they were fulfilling the prophecy, and God was with them.

There’s one week until Christmas. When stress overtakes you, take a deep breath, remember how blessed you are, and thank God for doing the impossible.

About the author: Previously the priest at St. Francis of Assisi in Lake Placid for 21 years, Rev. Elizabeth L. Nelson is now the Priest at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in LaBelle.

weekly, clothesline, stress

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