In many people’s homes this Christmas, there is an empty blue chair. — It may not be literally blue, excepting the La-Z- Boy recliners and the BarcaLoungers and other upholstered pieces of furniture. It could be a regular old brown wooden kitchen chair. It may not even be a chair; it could be a couch or a loveseat. You may even find it covered with scratches from the cat or decorated with dog hair.
A blue Christmas chair is any place where a beloved person used to sit and enjoy the holidays with us. It is blue because that is the emotion that pulls us under and drowns us in sorrow as we attempted to survive Christmas this year without their dear presence.
That chair is where we can still easily imagine them sitting and being with us. – And they were right there with us all, just a minute ago! Their eyes were shining with excitement, they were laughing at the antics of their family; their hands were gripping their usual beverage. We recall the stories that they told and retold to us, the wide variety of expressions passing by on their face. We remember the color of their hair, the curve of their noses and cheeks and most fondly, the way that they looked at us with love in their eyes. This Christmas, when we returned to the room, we sometimes found ourselves surprised by the fact that they were not in their usual spot where they always were before. We found ourselves wondering, (for just a split second), “Where have they gone to?!” –before we remembered with a jolt to our consciousness that they were now gone. –That they were no longer in this dimension. The silent blue chair just reminded us of their absence, and it carries within its void the ethereal essence of their presence. The chair is now a blue relic of Christmases past, filled with the memories of years of space and time.
Where have they gone to if they are no longer here in our presence? We have comfort and peace because today they are seated in a different chair at another table. A table of divine infinite length. They have been welcomed there by those beloveds long past. With arms open wide, with bright faces, healed and whole, there was recognition and reconciliation. With love and forgiveness deeming insignificant all their earthly failures, mistakes and slights, there was a Christmas joy there that drains all comprehension of human experience. –For seated just across from them, in a chair of shimmering rainbow light is the eternal presence of Christ, filled with acceptance, joy and love. Sorrow has no place at that table, and all sickness has been barred at the door. For the blue of their chair has been painted a pure glistening white, now clear and free forever.
We hold onto the promise from Luke 13:29, People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
May the unlimited love of Christ, the peace that consoles our broken hearts, bring us real Christmas joy as we hope and long for our own eternal reunion someday. So be it. Amen.
Article published in Rockford Squire Newspaper 1/4/2024,
