Daring to Pray for a White Christmas

Yes, that's me from long ago

 You know the song "White Christmas?"  I assume you do, or just turn on the radio or Google it.  It's a beautiful song.  It was written by Irving Berlin in 1942.  As for the story regarding its origin (and it's debated); Irving was staying at La Quinta, California and it was a warm day (as most California days are).  In the midst of the heat he stayed up throughout the night penning this song, which I am sure spoke volumes to him considering the environment he was writing in.  When he was finished he told his secretary it may be the best song he had ever written.  The song was sung by Bing Crosby that same year and was fairly successful.  When Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” film debuted in 1954 the song went “viral,” and since then it is the best selling single in the world to this date (50 MILLION copies!  Simply amazing!).

I heard this song a lot growing up, and listening to the lyrics you can’t help but to think back to your own memories of a White Christmas.  “I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.  Just like the ones I used to know…”  The trouble for me is that I've never experienced a White Christmas in my lifetime.  There have been several close calls, but not one for December 25th.  One of those close calls is where I begin this reflection;

It was about 2-3 weeks before Christmas.  I was 6-8 years old, riding with my mom in the car on a Friday afternoon.  I asked her if she had ever had a White Christmas growing up (undoubtedly asked after hearing this song on the radio).  She said that she had a couple of times, but I remember seeing a look of sadness on her face as she reflected.  There was a time that you could hope for a White Christmas, but not anymore.  Not here, in the warm South.  I wanted to take that frown off my mom’s face, and frankly I wanted to see a White Christmas too. 

That night before I went to bed I went on my knees to pray my nightly prayer.  Usually I prayed the same prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep…”  Mom taught me the prayer, and she conveniently skipped the part about, “…if I die before I wake...”  Well, on this night though I took a different route, broke my nightly routine, and did something audacious…I prayed something different.  I remember this because it was different, and because of the audacious nature of my prayer.  It went something like this; “Dear God, please make it snow on Christmas.  My mom had snow on Christmas and it made her happy, and I want it to snow for her.  Please make it snow on Christmas, God.  Amen.”  Now don’t think I am some pious saint just yet; I also wanted it to snow on Christmas for myself!  I left that out of my prayer...how convenient.  But I went to bed and kept hoping, dreaming, and wondering.

This picture probably is from the same Christmas

Saturday morning I woke up to see a strange glow coming from the blinds on my window.  I knew what morning light looked like through those blinds, but this looked different.  I sat up in my bed, looked out the window, and saw that the entire yard was covered in snow!  A respectable 4-5 inches. 

I was ecstatic of course!  Snow is awesome!  Almost immediately I recalled my evening prayer the previous night, and I could only come up with one conclusion.  I went back down on my knees beside my bed like normal, bowed my head, and prayed, “Dear God, you messed up.  You got the date wrong.  I said Christmas!  Not today.  Please try again.  Amen.”  I remember that prayer verbatim.  I figured I needed to pray to God daily to make sure He got the snow on the right day, like reminding your parents about something “important” you also know they are likely to forget!  So I did!  Every night up to Christmas Eve.

My sister Dana and I

On Christmas Eve night, when we left my grandparents house from our Christmas Eve family gathering I saw it beginning to flurry!  I was excited!  I was proud of God, and proud of myself!  A White Christmas was in order!  On Christmas morning I looked up at the blinds.  The light looked normal.  Sure enough, all I saw out the window was brown grass and bare trees.  I figured God used all of his “snow power” on that miscue, but that miscue snow day was still a great day, and it was still a great Christmas.

So would I pray that prayer today as a grownup; full of knowledge, life experiences, and more tools at my disposal?  No.  I am certain that if I started an investigation I could look back at meteorological records and study December weather reports from the mid-to-late 1980s and find my snow day (or God’s snow day) and how its appearance was all but certain.  Back then I wasn’t watching the news or weather reports or learning weather patterns.  Now I do.  Today I have apps on my smartphone that can answer these weather questions in amazing detail.  I would never pray a prayer again…or should I?

Throughout the Gospels Jesus says that to enter the Kingdom of God our faith must be like a child's (Mark 10: 13-16, Matthew 19:13-14, Luke 18: 15-17, same story but referenced multiple times).  Why is that?  Don’t wiser, older, more seasoned adults have a place?  When it comes to children, (especially in the first century), to be like a child is to be needy, weak, a nobody; but that’s whom God favors.  The Kingdom of God doesn't have room for those who already rule their earthly mini-kingdoms; who have no need or desire to depend on God.  It is not a call to be ignorant, but it is a call to let go, give to God, and to dream.  Kids are good at that.  They dream, they imagine, they wonder, they see infinite possibilities where as adults we are seasoned to dampen expectations, to be cautious, and worry.  I think as adults we let our knowledge and experiences create barriers so we can protect ourselves from the unexpected.  Adults stop themselves from growing up further, and that's a real problem.  Kids deal with the unexpected constantly, as growing up is full of change and new experiences.  Those are the people God wants in His Kingdom; people who are ready to grow, to change, to experience, and are ready for a miracle that CAN’T be explained.

Advent is a time for miracles!  It began with the greatest miracle since the creation of the universe, when God became Incarnate through Jesus Christ, our newborn King!  This is the season to expect a miracle, and it will be one that God will give you that you don’t see coming.  Maybe God didn’t intervene with the weather when I was a kid, or maybe he did.  We can debate it, but I do think that God gave my heart and my imagination a tug to think of the possibility, and in turn make me more aware of the possibilities of the Divine in the every day. 

Advent is a wonderful time to let our guard down, to become open to the possibility that God is at work in subtle and awesome ways in our lives.  The first Christmas began in the same way.  God’s faithful lived in fear, in worry, with the future looking very dark.  They were worried grownups, but with good reason.  They prayed, dreamed, and wondered, “When will the Messiah come?”  They asked God specifically for their Savior, and many had clear expectations of what that messiah would look like (a warrior, monarch, superhero-like).  On an unexpected day in the small town of Bethlehem, the impossible happened!  Some of those same people who prayed saw this miracle years later, listened to the man from Nazareth, and prayed, “God, you messed up.  You got the Messiah wrong.  Please try again.”  Other people listened to the man from Nazareth, even as skeptics.  They dared to dream, to wonder, to believe, and followed this unexpected answer to an honest prayer.

I loved my pterodactyl shirt!

I pray that during this season of Advent, of waiting for God, or snow, or any miracle; you can let go of your fear to dream, to wonder, and that you boldly lift those prayers to God.  You may not get the answer you are looking for, but it will be the answer you need.  I assure you the answer will be as beautiful as a White Christmas!