Dealing with Holiday Depression?

The Holidays can be hard on people and for various reasons.

Many dread the coming of the holidays because for them, the holidays mean the exact opposite of what they claim to be: For many, the holidays mean nothing more than hypocrisy, falsity, and fakery, all wrapped-up in tinsel and glitter.  For many, instead of inviting peace and joy, the holidays bring in sadness and turmoil.  Instead of inviting warmth and love, they usher in personal alienation and cold nights alone.  The contrast is just too painful.

This is truly sad.  I’d be depressed too, if that were the true essence of our holiday season.

The fact is: this world is a mess.  And we suffer for it.  There are the casualties of war, sickness, and poverty.  There are the misfortunes of broken relationships, and the anguish of unrealized and unfilled desires and dreams.  And there is the distress of our private personal agonies we dare not share.

And, on top of all that, there is the cold inevitability of our mortality—our eventual demise.  Life ends.  Good, bad, or indifferent, either we or our loved ones are forced to leave—when we least want it or are ready for it—and the finality of death cuts us off from everyone we love.

How then could we be of good cheer in such an environment, with such a reality, as that?

Well, that’s the point.  There is hope.  But first we must get beyond the tinsel and glitter and resist the crass commercialism and its call to indulge in base materialism as a means of escape, and reach back into the depths of the original Holiday meaning and embrace its core message.

The holidays used to be the high Holy-Days.  These were special days in which society was to stop the daily grind, get off the treadmill and contemplate life’s trajectory.  It was a time to reclaim the promises that God made to humanity and to remember how God has actually begun to fulfill those promises.

The birth of Christ, God’s Holy Anointed One, is the hope made real, of eventual peace on earth and goodwill to all.  It is the securing of God’s promise of a new world to come, a world that is without pain, sorrow, grief, and loss, where death no longer reins.  To us is born a Savior, who saves humanity from its own self-destructive ways, ways that have thus far only resulted in death and condemnation.

Yes, life is painful.  Yes, we suffer.  Yes, death cuts us off.  It’s all so very depressing.  But there is hope.  So don’t be sad.  Don’t fret.  Be not discouraged.  Take courage.  Have hope.  Keep the faith.  There is more to this world than meets the eye.  In Christ, the Messiah, we are guaranteed a coming of peace and goodness, justice and righteousness. In Him we will know, no more death and dying, no more pain or sorrow, no more loss.  And that, my friends, is worth celebrating, worth having a Holiday over—whether you are presently poor or rich, sick or well, living or dying.

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon His shoulders; and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and His Kingdom.  He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.  Isaiah 9:6-7 (Written roughly 700 years before Christ was born.)

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah [Christ], the Lord.  This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom He favors!”  Luke 2:8-14

Christ was born.  He lived... he died, and then came Easter and the power of His Resurrection!  I am the resurrection and the Life, said He.  And last He said, See, I am coming soon, my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  Revelation 22:12-13