Hope is not easy to come by. There are always people who will make a compelling argument that the future will be grim. The fiscal cliff is looming. Higher taxes are just around the corner. We could be plunged into recession. The markets will weaken. The world is warming. Ocean levels are rising. Population is growing. Fuel reserves are dwindling. Prices are rising. You know the routine. You have read the headlines. Some days I think that the character Eeyore from A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh might be the patron saint of some of the people I meet. It was Eeyore who said, “When someone says How-do-you-do, just say you didn’t.” and then added, “After all, one cant complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said Bother!”

I know people with Eeyore personalities. They are slow to express the hope that is in their lives.

After all, it is pretty easy to list all sorts of reasons to be sad.

Some people express hopelessness because they suffer from a terrible, chronic disease. Depression is not a joke and it isn’t a character in a children’s story. It is a persistent and devastating disease that has proven in the past to be fatal in some cases. You can’t think your way out of depression. You can’t treat it all by yourself.

Some people express hopelessness because they are overwhelmed by grief. Loss is real in this world. And grief is a tricky emotion. It catches one by surprise. You never know what is going to trigger powerful emotions that make the grieving person feel out of control.

There are thousands of reasons to express hopelessness.

Hope is not easy.

Peace is not easy. Today Pope Benedict XVI called for a political solution to the violence in Syria during his Christmas message in front of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. “I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced,” he said. Popes have prayed for peace for millennia. They have urged governments to seek peaceful solutions. And they have witnessed the deaths of innocent victims and the ravages of unchecked wars.

It isn’t just Syria. From Afghanistan to Somalia, from Sudan to North Korea, this world is filled with human conflict. War’s devastation mounts, the number of victims increase, the weapons become more destructive.

Peace isn’t easy in this world.

Joy isn’t easy. Ask anyone in the vicinity of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Marking the birth of Jesus has tangled uncomfortably with the sorrow of a community that lost 20 small children and six people who worked at the school when unimaginable violence between a mother and a son erupted into the community claiming innocent victims. The Methodist Church has a sign that says, “No Media.” Christmas lights on an office building are strung into the shape of the words, “Faith,” “Hope,” and “Love.” It seems as if there is no “Joy” to post in New Town.

Joy isn’t easy in this world.

Love isn’t easy. All you have to do is to read the statistics about divorce. The hopes of thousands of eager couples who believe that they are in love are dashed when they come face to face with the reality of the dedication and hard work that are involved in really living with another human being. Sometimes the task becomes daunting. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming. Sometimes the only option that people can see is to walk away.

Love isn’t easy in this world.

The gift of Christmas isn’t about ease. Being a disciple of Jesus is a road that leads to sacrifice and hard work and sometimes pain. If you want easy recognition, a life of service isn’t the most direct path.

Our people have often prayed for easy answers. There have been many who read the words of the prophets and long for a sudden, dramatic intervention by God. We have long carried a strain of an apocalyptic vision of God shaking up the world in an end-of-time punishment for those who disagree with us. Before the birth of Jesus our people thought that the solution to the oppression of the Romans was the direct intervention of God into human history. Sure, we had made a mess of this world. Now we wanted an easy solution. “You fix it, God.”

The messiah didn’t come the way people expected.

A decree went forth from the Roman Emperor. And the parents didn’t disobey the law. Joseph went up from Nazareth, in Galilee, to Bethlehem, in Judea, because he was of the house and the line of David. He took his engaged who was “great with child.” It couldn’t have been an easy trip. Joseph was, after all, heading directly into the region where his relatives were gathering. I suppose that there were more than a few awkward introductions: “Uh, this is Mary . . . we’re going to get married.” It couldn’t have been easy for Mary. She hadn’t met all of these people before. Traveling was an uncomfortable chore. She had never had a baby before.

And while they were there she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger. There wasn’t even room for them in the guest area of the home. The place was packed. They made do. There were a few gawkers. Shepherds with strange tales of angel choirs came by to have a look. There wasn’t much for them to see; just a mother and a father and a tiny baby.

But you can’t look into the face of a newborn baby and fail to see hope. You cannot hold such a child and fail to know peace. You cannot be present in that moment and fail to know joy. You cannot share the moment and fail to see love.

It isn’t easy.

But it is undeniable. Faith, hope, joy and love are present. Emmanuel! God is with us.

Copyright © 2012 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.