Christmas Peace - Letting Go and Making Room

Finding peace inside no matter what’s happening outside

In their song, “Labor of Love” Andrew Peterson and Jill Phillips turn images of a peaceful, starry Christmas night upside down. They remind us that the night wasn’t silent, the stable wasn’t clean, and Mary endured the pain of childbirth, with “no mother’s hand to hold.”

We appropriately celebrate the hope and peace of Christmas, but our conjured images of serenity and widespread adoration fail to account for the suffering involved or the reaction of adversaries who saw the birth of Jesus as anything but joy to the world.

Living out her faith in complete trust, Mary responded to God’s call with these words, “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38). The peace of Christmas was inside Mary, not in the world around her.

My Christmas isn’t particularly peaceful either. One day this week found me carrying boxes from a fourth-floor apartment to load them on a double-parked truck in the center of urban traffic. Later, I had the chance to test the efficacy of Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser on that apartment’s shower wall. And the aftermath of that scrubbing allowed me to research the benefits of anti-inflammatory cream on my aching hands.

The rest of my week included logging a complaint to the Better Business Bureau about a fraudulent scheme I stumbled into, keeping up on medical concerns, and pondering next steps for myself and my family in 2025. My Christmas, probably like yours, comes with trouble and distractions.

What is in your hands?

Many years ago, I heard about the concept of praying “hands up/hands down”. Our pastor suggested that we hold our hands up in front of us and think about what we are holding on to. Things like fear, resentment, control, or ego. After prayerful recognition that these were harming us, the pastor encouraged us to give these things to God, and as a symbol of that release to turn our hands down, and in so doing to leave our concerns with God.

It's a practice I have used and sometimes found helpful. But I’m learning that the practice puts its emphasis on letting go and not on what comes next.

Recently, I encountered an alternate activity that I’ve found transformative. This “new and improved” process begins with hands down. It assumes that the reason for my prayer is to relinquish my cherished burdens to God and to focus on what he will bring to replace them. I call them burdens because they weigh my soul down, destroying my inner peace. But I describe them as cherished because they were adopted in optimism and hope.

What are these cherished burdens? Resentment, born in my anger to protect myself from hurt. This resentment signals to me that I am valued and must be protected from those that might harm me. Or maybe I need to release by propensity for admonition. This favorite response comes disguised as care and concern for my friends and family. Hidden inside is my desire to fix what I perceive to be broken.

And then there is the most treasured burden of all. Fear. The Emergency Alert System that demands I take cover from any and every threat whether real or imagined.

It’s impossible to find peace while I clutch these treasured burdens in my hands. The “hands up/hands down” practice correctly focuses on my need to turn them over to God. It’s just that this practice communicates that the point is to let go. But the point is so much more than that.

Welcoming Gifts

The point is to welcome. When I relinquish the burden in my heart, it makes room for God to fill it with a different kind of treasure. In contrast to the “hands up/hands down” form, I’m finding encouragement as I pray “hands down/hands up

”. Reversing the prayer steps, I begin with hands down, telling God about the thing that is hindering me and asking him to do whatever he wants with that burden. From there, I turn my hands up to receive the gifts God desires to give me. As my cupped hands lift upward, I remember that God is “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8).

What are his gifts? Any list of them is incomplete, but most often for me they are a gentleness that replaces striving, a dawning awareness of a “next step” I couldn’t see before, a true desire to overlook something that moments ago seemed compelling, a spirit of gratitude, and a rested kind of peace. Beginning my prayer with hands down opens the door for God to act in unexpected and healing ways.

Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

The Story of Christmas is an elegant example of this kind of prayer. Mary, in affirmation of God’s goodness placed her life in God’s hands. From her submission came hope and healing for the whole world. Mary recognized that the lavish gifts of God’s provision and compassion extended into generations and generations. She accepted this gift as a blessing even knowing that the birth of God’s son would bring pain to her body and antagonism from those who cling to their own power and pride.

Reflecting on a week mixed with toil and a fair amount of trouble, I am praying “hands down” to let go of anxiety, frustration and fear. And as I turn my “hands up” , I receive God’s comforting reminder that my week was filled with friends, glimpses of beauty, and loving kindness as well.