Christmas at the Airport

I don't know if you have heard Christmas at the Airport by Nick Lowe (or seen the video yet)… I heard it the first time at the beginning of December on Prairie Home Companion.  When I first heard it, I thought it was a parody, but after realizing it wasn't, I thought to myself this has to be the world's worst Christmas song!

I kept hearing it again and again, however, as people who pick Great Christmas songs were putting it on their list for this year.  Each time I listened my heart was softened.  As I kept hearing it over and over again, I began to pick up a bit of the nuance of this song.  I found myself beginning to like it and actually singing along.

You see, as much as we want Christmas to be the magic wand that makes the whole world better, unfortunately, people do get stuck at the airport at Christmas.  Children will go to bed dreaming of food on the table because there has been none the previous day.  Wars will continue to rage, and peace will seem as illusive as always.

Christmas isn't magic, but it is a promise.  A promise that we are not forgotten.  A promise that we are not alone.  A promise that God is willing to work for us, even when we prove to be our own worst enemy.  Christmas is a promise that good, while it may be tarnished and hidden, is still at work in the world.  Christmas is God's way of saying to you and to me and to the world as a whole that we are not in control of our destiny, because God has a better dream for our future.

May this be a Christmas where we begin to imagine and live God's future for us all.

Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All.

Pal