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A Blue Christmas But Not a Bad One

by | Dec 1, 2021

On a foggy morning at 2:00 a.m., I stepped off the train and ran into the open arms of my father who had left Mom and me months earlier to “prepare a way” for us to move from Biloxi Mississippi to the strange land of North Carolina. I was seven and scared.

As I ran toward the man standing under the lamp post, my mother panicked because she could not tell in the heavy fog that it was, in fact, my father. The man could have been waiting around to abduct gullible children. But as I ran I saw the man’s arms reach out and that was enough for me.

By the time we arrived at the small rental house that Dad had acquired, it must have been 3:00 or so but I was not sleepy. The early December night’s chill had made me alert and questioning. What would this new place be like?  When the door opened there it was – a large evergreen covered with large blue lights.

It was all prepared for me; a blue Christmas. I will never forget that tree. Its bright lights seemed to say, “All will be well.”  My father was not known for making proper preparations. He was more of a fly by night, take it as it comes kind of guy. But this time he had “made a path in my wilderness.” 

So this Advent I wish for you a different kind of “blue Christmas” filled with the knowledge that long ago before that cold, damp night another voice resonated in the fog of a waiting world; “Prepare….all will be well….the one you’ve longed for is coming.”

Well Dad, you’re now with that long awaited one. I said goodbye to you a few years ago and let you slip into the waiting arms of one you came to know that night at a Billy Graham crusade. Thanks for the wonderful blue Christmas.

Dr. Jody Seymour

Jody Seymour retired after serving Davidson United Methodist Church as Senior Pastor for 13 years and being a pastor for forty-six years in the Western North Carolina Conference. He is the author of six books and resides just outside of Davidson with his wife, Betsy.

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