"Recently, as I was checking out at a store, I commented to the cashier “Wow, I can’t believe it’s already December 1st!” Her resigned response: “I would just like to get through it as quickly as possible to the New Year.” The honest response weighed heavy on my heart as I walked out with my groceries. I’ve been there before.
One Christmas, loss was a much closer companion than the joys of the season as I lost my father just a few days before Christmas. Even surrounded by love and a faith that sustained me, the joy of that Christmas felt fragile.
We experience many kinds of loss and the holidays seem to render them more poignant. Some have experienced or are in the midst of experiencing great adversities, yet they move through this world with a peace that those close to them view with amazement. In the midst of struggles, we see them doing more than just getting through. Throughout the year, they inspire those around them, choosing to embrace life…and even go forward in joy.
In one of my treasured books, My Grandfather’s Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. speaks of how her grandfather explained the meaning of “L’Chaim” (לחיים – le CHI yeem), a Hebrew toast meaning: “To Life.” A young girl at the time, Remen inquired of her grandfather whether its meaning was a reference to a “happy life.” He responded by telling her:
“It is just ‘To life!’”
Seeing the confusion on my face, he told me that L’Chaim meant that no matter what difficulty life brings, no matter how hard or painful or unfair life is, life is holy and worthy of celebration. “Even the wine is sweet to remind us that life itself is a blessing.”
Remen goes on to write:
“L’Chaim is a way of living life. As I’ve grown older, it seems less and less about celebrating life and more about the wisdom of choosing life. In the many years that I have been counseling people with cancer, I have seen people choose life again and again, despite loss and pain and difficulty. The same immutable joy I saw in my grandfather’s eyes is there in them all.”
Writing this post has caused me to spend some time thinking about who these people are in my life. L’Chaim People who inspire us in our moments when we feel over burdened, overwhelmed. For every name I can think of, I’m sending up a prayer of thanks to our Father in Heaven for putting them in my life.
I love the image of families standing around a table, raising their glasses and proclaiming “L’Chaim!” and in so doing, acknowledging that whatever life may hand to us, together we will proclaim it holy and worthy, embracing the joy of the Lord.
L’Chaim, my friends! L’Chaim!
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
~Nehemiah 8:10
One Christmas, loss was a much closer companion than the joys of the season as I lost my father just a few days before Christmas. Even surrounded by love and a faith that sustained me, the joy of that Christmas felt fragile.
We experience many kinds of loss and the holidays seem to render them more poignant. Some have experienced or are in the midst of experiencing great adversities, yet they move through this world with a peace that those close to them view with amazement. In the midst of struggles, we see them doing more than just getting through. Throughout the year, they inspire those around them, choosing to embrace life…and even go forward in joy.
In one of my treasured books, My Grandfather’s Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. speaks of how her grandfather explained the meaning of “L’Chaim” (לחיים – le CHI yeem), a Hebrew toast meaning: “To Life.” A young girl at the time, Remen inquired of her grandfather whether its meaning was a reference to a “happy life.” He responded by telling her:
“It is just ‘To life!’”
Seeing the confusion on my face, he told me that L’Chaim meant that no matter what difficulty life brings, no matter how hard or painful or unfair life is, life is holy and worthy of celebration. “Even the wine is sweet to remind us that life itself is a blessing.”
Remen goes on to write:
“L’Chaim is a way of living life. As I’ve grown older, it seems less and less about celebrating life and more about the wisdom of choosing life. In the many years that I have been counseling people with cancer, I have seen people choose life again and again, despite loss and pain and difficulty. The same immutable joy I saw in my grandfather’s eyes is there in them all.”
Writing this post has caused me to spend some time thinking about who these people are in my life. L’Chaim People who inspire us in our moments when we feel over burdened, overwhelmed. For every name I can think of, I’m sending up a prayer of thanks to our Father in Heaven for putting them in my life.
I love the image of families standing around a table, raising their glasses and proclaiming “L’Chaim!” and in so doing, acknowledging that whatever life may hand to us, together we will proclaim it holy and worthy, embracing the joy of the Lord.
L’Chaim, my friends! L’Chaim!
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
~Nehemiah 8:10
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