Dear All,
A very Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!
It's been an eventful holiday season once again in Taiwan. What with caroling down the neon-lit streets and musty back alleys, the students' colorful tree decorating contest, the church's musical Christmas celebration as well as our own American Team Taiwan "family" gatherings filled with sarcasm and good ol' American humor, I haven't had time to catalogue it all until now.
Perhaps the best way to show you what we've been up to is to share these videos with you:
Halfway through December, I realized I didn't care at all about Christmas coming. That's not normal; I am a girl who adores everything about Christmas. I used to say that I live for Christmas. But since I'm not with my family and friends, it seemed easier not to care.
I once had the privilege of hearing a Holocaust survivor speak. During the question time afterward, I asked him if his faith helped him through that difficult time. He responded, "Without our temple, our Sabbath, our menorahs, our dietary laws, we had no faith." I was always baffled by that answer. My minor discomforts cannot compare to the horrors of the Holocaust, but I do understand that man a little better now.
It's hard when the way you worship God is changed. It's strange being in a foreign land with different customs, operating under a different calendar so that I lose delineation between seasons, that Christmastime and Eastertime become just time. Smells of cinnamon and peppermint that instantaneously connect with the Nativity in my mind are replaced with fish, soy sauce, cabbage dumplings. Carols that I could sing in my sleep suddenly have unintelligible lyrics that I can't pronounce fast enough to keep up with everyone else. Whereas Christmas used to mean a week of uninterrupted family laughter and games, I can afford two minutes with each one I love through a computer screen on Christmas Day. Everything I knew about Christmas has been torn away, except for one thing: the fact that over two thousand years ago, in a tiny town in Israel, a boy was born who was God in a human body. He chose to leave his perfectly comfortable home in heaven and come to earth to feel pain, sickness, tiredness, hunger, cold, heat, sadness. Whereas changing countries is a shock, I'm sure the difference between heaven and earth is infinitely greater! Jesus didn't hold onto heaven, his power, his comfort. (Philippians 2) He let it go and left His home for us. And He endured it all for joy. (Hebrews 12:2) Our joy at being reunited with God, and God's joy in gaining sons and daughters.
As soon as I realized I was subconsciously disconnecting myself from the upcoming holiday, God gave me strength to change. He gave me strength not just to fake happiness, but to really be so filled with joy that I sang those Christmas hymns at the top of my lungs. I handed out cookies and cider with relish. I shouted "Merry Christmas!" to strangers. I requested every Christmas hymn in the hymnal for sing-a-longs. I can honestly say that God filled me with joy this Christmas season, and we celebrated in new ways and old ways alike. It's silly for me to be sad on Christmas, because there is absolutely nothing to be sad about!
For all of us who are away from home, or missing a loved one, or without a job, we can still have joy. Our joy is not founded in the tinsel, cookies, music, pageants, gifts, trees, or even (as much as we cherish it above all else) family time. Our joy is in the birth of our Savior. We have that no matter where we go or what we do, who we're with and what we eat. May you be filled with the joy of the Savior-- and also have your fill of family, carols, and cookies! The enemy cannot take our joy away!
Merry Christmas.
In Christ,
Anna Gruen
