The Healing Journey

December 24, 2023

So many people have relatives and friends who died over the Christmas season, and very often the memory of these tragedies overshadows the holiday. Several years ago, Joe had a bitter argument with his father about his mother’s medical treatment. He was so angry he stopped going there for Sunday dinner with his family.

Even though Christmas was a week away, he had no intention of visiting, but his wife persisted and told him: “We have to give them their gifts before we leave for New Hampshire.”

When they arrived, his daughters hugged their grandparents, he kissed his mother but walked past his father and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, his father came out and sat beside him and asked how he was. As they talked, his anger melted away. When they were leaving, he said, “I love you, Son.” Joe answered, “I love you, too.”

It was snowing hard when they got to New Hampshire on Christmas Eve. They decorated the tree and tried to enjoy a pleasant evening before going to bed, but around 11, someone was pounding on the bedroom door. Joe opened it and his daughter Dana sobbed, “Grandpa died!”

We’ve all suffered the agonizing loss of a parent, but around Christmas the pain seems insurmountable. Only later, did he learn the whole story about that tragic Christmas Eve. His parents had a wonderful dinner with his sisters and then went to see his nephew’s Christmas pageant. It was the first time his father had been to church in years. When they were driving him home, he was tired so he put his head on the seat and closed his eyes. But he didn’t wake up. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital, but they couldn’t revive him.

At midnight, Joe’s younger sister was sitting alone in the empty waiting room, and a young minister walked through. He sat down beside her and asked why she was there.

“My father died,” she told him. He paused a moment and then said, “What a wonderful gift to celebrate Christmas in heaven.” And so was the gift Joe received. It was the gift of forgiveness when he needed it most. Every year, his family relives what happened, but now they have a different perspective.

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More people die around the Christmas season than at any other time, and the memory will return each year.