“Honey, could you please bring in some more chairs?” Our Christmas gatherings would be complete failures if all of the people that we love did not each have a chair to sit down on.
Our most beloved and frequently used chairs come from our dining room. We have a lovely set of maple Hitchcock Chairs that used to belong to my husband’s grandfather. Their slightly curved backs are supportively comfortable and their classic simple lines with their turned legs are as solid as a handshake promise. We have never had one break, ever.
The classic Hitchcock chairs exist in complete contrast to the four fake mahogany chairs that hold court in our living room. They entice you to lounge on their elegant green, gold, cream and orange striped upholstery. Their lions paw armrests waver under the slightest pressure and have broken off numerous times as unsuspecting guests simply try to get up out of them. Wood glue and clamps can only do so much to fix a poor design.
We also frequently drag out of the basement the wooden folding chairs we bought from Costco. They are surprisingly comfy. Who would have guessed that their espresso veneer would hold up so well when they are only used occasionally? Our hope is that they will last as long as the 1960’s avocado green metal chairs that fold up like a senior citizens walker and merrily clash with every single other thing in our home’s décor.
We have also frequently pressed our piano bench into service. The original top of the bench has been replaced from when it was battered with a hammer by kids pretending to preside over a courtroom. Now stacks of coffee table books are placed on it as ad hoc booster seats for our wiggly grandchildren as they push their dinners around their plates with their tiny plastic forks and spoons.
There is a joy in having this menagerie of mismatched chairs all coming together for one huge diverse Christmas celebration. There is no exclusion for any of them being put into service. Just like the many diverse people who are all part of our lives, we all come from somewhere and we all have our own individual histories. Some people show up with a fine quality named pedigree but other folks have been picked out of a dumpster and glued back together. Some are antique and have their opinions formed in a different era. Others have histories of how their lives have been upcycled or repurposed, and some folks are still brittle and fragile and easily broken by the most mundane happenings. Yet the kingdom of God is made up of this collection of stained and threadbare souls, somehow all making space for each other to celebrate and grow in love together. –This is Christmas. It is a joyful collection of the mismatched and diverse, all welcomed at Christ’s table together in love.
The letter to the Colossians reminds us:
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Col.3:12-14.)
This Christmas, as you contemplate your own varied collection of mismatched and diverse family and friends; be sure to invite them all. Gather in together all those folks who have been broken and forgotten in a corner or regulated to the darkest corners of your mental basement. For there is great joy to be had in the celebration of a collection of mismatched souls when the love of Christ prevails among us at Christmastime.
Article printed in Rockford Squire Newspaper December 29th 2023.
