Christmas together, again.

Nearly three years into pandemic lockdowns, I’m realizing the biggest impact that season has had on me, and I’m betting on you.

I realize that we are not made to live virtually. In fact, we are not made to live life alone.

If virtual social gatherings actually worked, wouldn’t Jesus have just planned Christmas as a Zoom gathering?

If Skype was as good as face-to-face, why bother with a manger and Bethlehem? Why not wait until 2020, get some really strong WiFi and never leave heaven to come to earth? That would be a lot more efficient Christmas. I’ve really thought about this a lot. My big 2020 theological conclusion that has proven true to this day is that face-to-face encounters really matter to the God of the Christmas story.

In this post-pandemic era, more and more people are getting used to working alone from home, texting instead of calling and disconnecting from their communities. COVID paved the way for encouraged and acceptable social isolation. So what will be the hardest part of a “Post Pandemic Christmas?”

Being alone again.

What is the message to team leaders and employers? While technological advances are great and hybrid work is likely to continue, I think it’s up to leaders to personally organize more frequent and engaging meetings of their teams. And I am not alone in drawing that conclusion.

I have become a student of first things. Do you know the first thing that God cursed in the Bible and the Hebrew Scriptures? In the creation story, we are told that God created light and said it was “good.” He made animals and said they were ‘good’. He made people and said we were “really good”. But then, for the first time (and even before sin enters the story), God said something was wrong. He said it is not good to leave people alone.

Being alone is not in our best interest.

Every good Hallmark movie has deviations, but they always focus on the same overall theme: a storyline that emphasizes people coming together. Seeing couples, families and friends gathered around a fireplace is what warms our hearts. I have yet to see the Hallmark movie where the couple ends the movie with an emoji kiss sent over Zoom.

Some events just have to be personal.

Where in your workplace should you provide a personal opportunity? What could you think of as an event not to be missed for your team? I think if leaders will focus on those questions, they will find more engaged teams, better productivity and a better workplace. Because some events just have to be personal.

I would say one of those events is Christmas. As I read it, the core of the Christmas story is about a God who would rather leave heaven and personally come to earth than have us feel eternally lonely.

Most biblical experts agree that we don’t know Jesus’ date of birth, but they also agree that December is the most obvious time to celebrate his birth. Why? There is less light available in December than at any time in the calendar year. We are literally at our darkest. The pandemic has been a dark time for many, and some continue to self-isolate and live in that darkness. This is exactly when we should look at the hope of Christmas. Christmas brings light into the darkness.

This Christmas doesn’t have to be virtual for many of us, and I’m so thankful we can get together again in person. But I am even more grateful that 2020 was not our permanent reality. This year in particular, the Christmas story reminds me that dark seasons like the pandemics are ultimately temporary, that virtual living is not God’s permanent answer, and that loneliness need not be one’s indefinite reality.

Christmas is here and so I believe there is a promise of a day when we will be together, even with those we have lost. Together, even with the God who made us. Together forever and never lonely again.