Ideally, Christmas is about celebrating peace and joy, but somewhere along the way we've lost the peace and distorted the joy. In our attempt to obtain that perfect Christmas feeling we are focusing on all the wrong things, a spotless clean house, spotless new clothes, nice expensive gifts etc. forgetting that what Christmas really should be about is enjoying the presence of your friends or family, taking a day off to enjoy being together, be grateful for being healthy, being alive and having all the privileges that we do have, despite of anything we may be lacking.
Christmas has for way too many people turned into a stressful madness striving for the impossible image of a perfect Christmas sacrificing the true value of Christmas along the way.
I'm not a religious man myself and didn't go to mass. But I heard of too different masses this Christmas. In the first one, there were only psalms and readings from the Bible and no input from the priest himself. In the other one the priest told a moving story from a terrible accident at sea that happened a few days ago east of Iceland, a story that reminds us what really matters.
Gudmundur Sesar had with his son in law bought a new 15 ton fishing boat. On December 16th they picked up the boat and sailed off from Reydarfjordur heading to Reykjavik. It was a beautiful day and the weather was good. Outside of Faskrudsfjordur are dangerous waters where different ocean currents meet and sometimes create dangerous waves. They mentioned how good the boat was in sea and easy to handle. Without a warning a big wave hit the boat from the right and a moment later another much larger one hit the boat from the left side turning the boat over and down into the black ocean.
The priest told about the difficult childhood of Gudmundur Sesar, loosing his father at sea at the age of two, being raised by an abusive alcoholic father and leaving home at the age of 16 only to live for years in anger and addiction to drugs. He managed to get his live back on track after meeting his wife.
As the boat turned over the sea flooded the control cabin but Sesar and Ivar, his son in law, managed to get into the engine room that was now above them and find an air bubble where they could breath. They try figure out the situation they were now in, where they were in the freezing sea and pitch black darkness. They found each other and started discussing what to do in the silence after the engine shut down. Repeatedly they tried to find a way out by diving down to the control cabin searching for an exit in complete darkness and oil mixed sea, without luck. As the water rose in the engine room and reached their cheak, they were getting exhausted, holding each other and praying. Sesar said their time had come and they should try to meet their maker like men. And they kept on praying. Then Ivar said to his father in law: "And I was really looking forward to the first Christmas with my son and wife".
And that's when it happened.
They held each others right hand with oil polluted sea up to their cheak. With their left hand they held each others head. "And I was really looking forward to the first Christmas with my son and wife" said Ivar. Sesar looked him in the eyes in the darkness and said: "Then you shall live! You can make it down the hole, into to the control cabin and out!" He put his hand on the top his head and pushed him down into to the black sea as hard as he could, towards the exit.
There was complete darkness and freezing cold when the accident happened and no lights on the boat but as his father in law had pushed him down into the darkness he saw a bright light and a window which he managed to open and out towards the surface. He was only wearing a sweater and long underpants.
"As Ivar reached the surface of the sea and grasped a breath of fresh air he felt how he gained new strength. He started to climb up the bottom of the boat though the freezing waves repeatedly washed him down again. Finally he reached up on the boat and could secure him self. He heard his named called out from within the boat and replied to Sesar that he should attempt to get out the same route.
As Ivar waited on top of the boat, with almost no clothes and wet in the winter darkness he realized that his situation hadn't improved much, because he would very soon freeze to death. He shouted at God asking what he meant by allowing him to get this far just to die?! As he skimmed down to the window where he got out to see if his father in law was coming out so he could grab his hand and help him up on to the boat, something shot out the window, to the surface and right into Ivar's lap. Ivar was shocked and was about to throw it away when he realized that he was holding a rescue suit, a strong protective clothing specially designed for a situation like this. He has no explanation how that happened.
Ivar put the suit on, released the rescue boat and sent out an emergency signal with a flare gun and an energy transmitter. Three and a half hour later Ivar was rescued. The body of Gudmundur Sesar was later retrieved from the boats engine room after the wreck had been towed to the nearest harbour.
The priest continued: "Exhausted they prayed to Jesus, like Icelandic fishermen have done for centuries in the same circumstances. More than once they prayed and surrendered themselves to God's mercy until those words were said in the dark, silent engine room "And I was really looking forward to the first Christmas with my son and wife."
Hearing these words Sesar must have thought about how his own father died and the tragedy he himself experienced because of that, and at the same time hearing the young mans will to live and the desire for his wife and child, his own daughter which he himself had done so much to rescue from a life of drug addiction. With regained strength Sesar sent his son in law down into the freezing black sea with directions on how to get out and certainty of success.
Sesar's family knows the value of the biggest sacrifice, the sacrifice of life. In it's deepest nature life is a sacrifice. That's what the Christmas gospel tells us. Our life here on Earth is holy and invaluable because of the sacrifice that has been made and the best way to live is to be grateful.
What this family has experienced is unique and the story remarkable, but Sesar's family emphasizes that he was no saint. "We all have rather battered halos, dear priest" a family member said. Yes, Christmas is for all of us with battered halos.
Let's be grateful for what we have and embrace our true fortune, our family and friends. Don't let the details of everyday live or the pursuit of the perfect nostalgic childhood Christmas get in the way of this years Christmas. Enjoy whatever you ever, however imperfect it may be. A very merry Christmas to all of you :)
Hjörtur
