A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile…
By Barbara Dahlgren
One of my favorite Christmas quotes comes from Taylor Caldwell: “This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone.” I realize Christmas has passed, but it brings me joy to keep a little Christmas in my heart all year long. Reflecting on these words helps me do that.
This quote is good but the true story it comes from is better. First published in a December 1961 Family Circle Magazine article, Taylor Caldwell recounts one Christmas when she was down and almost out. She was a divorced mother caring for her five-year-old daughter Peggy and things couldn’t have looked bleaker. Unless a miracle happened, she would be jobless, foodless, and homeless by January. She prayed continually and wondered if God and man had completely forgotten her.
On Christmas Eve, she and Peggy were ready to partake of the meager three little cans of food they heated for dinner when the doorbell rang. There stood a delivery man with parcels of gifts and food filling his arms. This had to be some mistake, but it wasn’t. A stranger Caldwell had done a good deed for six months earlier wanted to repay her kindness. It was indeed a true Christmas miracle.
After enjoying a sumptuous dinner, she put Peggy to bed. Then she decided to tackle her mail which she knew would be full of bills. To her surprise, one envelope contained enough money for rent from a job she had done earlier that year. Another had a permanent job offer to begin two days after Christmas.
She could hear the church bells ringing and people singing “Come All Ye Faithful.” The Lord is born! She thought, “I am not alone at all. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.”
I love this story and I love that quote. One of the names for Jesus is Immanuel which means God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). We usually only use this name for Jesus at Christmastime but I think about it all year long. Jesus came so I would not be alone. At times I may feel all alone or forsaken, but I’m not. Immanuel is in me! Immanuel is with me! And He will be with me always – even until the end of time (Matthew 28:20).
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Immanuel, I praise Your name. Thank You for coming to earth and dwelling among Your people. Thank You for living within us. Help me realize that no matter what I may be going through or how I feel, I am never really alone. You, my Immanuel, are always with me – even until the end.
