Not “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime”

Christmas Joy as American Depression Skyrockets

By Dr. Thaddeus Williams 

Gallup research shows that depression rates in America have hit historic highs, with the highest spikes affecting young adults, women, and minorities, though measurable increases since 2017 cut across all demographics. Meanwhile, an estimated 10 million Americans cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Millions cannot sense the “Joy to the world” that our Christmas hymns herald. Overplayed modern hits about “simply having a wonderful Christmas time” (Paul McCartney) can add to sense of freezing exclusion from the warm holiday mirth. 

Classic Christian lyrics like “the weary world rejoices” and “joyful all the nations rise” do strike a deeply biblical chord. From the Bible’s commands (not suggestions) to rejoice, baby John’s in utero leaping (Lu. 1:44), Mary’s Magnificat (Lu. 1:46-55), the angels’ “good news of great joy” (Lu. 2:10), down through the rich theological tradition of Augustine, the Westminster divines, Pascal, Edwards, Lewis, and Piper—joy is indeed a mark of the Christian life. 

But, what happens when we can’t emotionally access such profound Christian joy, especially during the season on advent? Social expectations of today’s church can generate an idyllic, often alienating version of what it means to celebrate Christ’s birth. The same Isaiah who prophesied the coming of Immanuel also declared, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself” (Isa. 45:15). Psalm 88 further normalizes what millions misdiagnose as aberrant spiritual experience. “My soul is full of troubles” (3), like “a man who has no strength” (4), “cut off from [God’s hand]” (5), “in the depths of the pit in the regions dark and deep” (6), “overwhelmed” (7), “shunned by friends” (8), “eyes dim from sorrow” (9), asking, “O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me” (14)? 

These are the words of Heman the Ezrahite who we know very little about other than the fact that he was a musician who served in David’s royal court and that he penned this, his only preserved lyrics, that have helped countless Christians realize that feeling downcast has been part and parcel of a relationship with God for millennia. 

In the oldest book of the Bible Job laments, “Depression haunts my days. At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly…. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes….I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer” (36:16-20_.

Through the Psalms David describes himself as “distressed” (4:1l 25:17; 31:9; 69:17; 116:13; 118:5; 120:1), “greatly troubled” (6:3; 71:20; 77:4; 86:7; 88:3; 119:143; 138:7), “weary with moaning” (6:6; 77:3), “forgotten” (13:1; 31:12, 42:9; 88:5), “forsaken” (22:1), “lonely and afflicted” (25:16), “like those who go down to the pit” (28:1; 88:4, 6), “dismayed” (30:7; 90:7), “wasted” (31:9; 32:3); “brokenhearted” and “crushed in spirit” (34:18; 143:3), “feeble and crushed” (38:8), “poor and needy” (40:17; 70:5; 74:21; 86:1; 109:22), “panting,” “thirsty,” “cast down” (42:1, 2, 5, 6, 11, 43:5; 63:1; 74:1; 143:6), in “turmoil” (42:5, 11; 43:5), “rejected,” “disgraced,” “shamed,” “bowed down to the dust” (44:9, 15, 25; 89:45), “restless,” “anguished,” “terrified,” “fearful,” “trembling,” “horrified,” “overwhelmed” (55:2, 4, 5; 88:7; 116:3), “fainting” (63:1l; 77:3; 84:2; 142:3), “sinking,” “weary,” “parched,” (69:2, 3, 14; 143:6), “stricken,” “rebuked,” “failing” (73:14, 26; 109:22), “downtrodden” (74:21), “thrown down,” “withered,” (102:10, 11), “encompassed by death” (116:3), “consumed with longing” (119:20), “afflicted from youth” (129:1-2), “brought very low” (142:6), “appalled” (143:4).

Jesus is described as “a man of sorrows acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53). He described his own soul as “deeply grieved to the point of death” (Mk. 14:34), and cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matt. 27:46).   

Those experiencing mental and spiritual angst during the Christmas season are also in good company with many luminaries of church history. The Protestant reformer Martin Luther confessed, “For more than a week I was close to the gates of death and hell. I trembled in all my members. Christ was wholly lost. I was shaken by desperation and blasphemy of God.’” In the prayers of the Puritans: “My soul feels alienated from you,” Philip Doddridge complained. William Bridge lamented, “I am done, Lord, I am done…. I am a poor weak creature, and I fear I will never be able to bear testimony of the truth of Jesus Christ.”^[1] David Clarkson begged, “Lord, hear me! Bring my soul out of this mire and clay, out of unbelief, out of the pit where there is no comfort, no refreshment, and no relief.”^[2]  

William Cowper (pronounced Cooper), the great Christian poet and hymn composer, was haunted throughout his life with the thought, “It is all over with you; you are lost.” Charles Spurgeon, hailed as the “Prince of Preachers,” spoke frankly about his recurring battles with seemingly “causeless depression” as “a shapeless, undefinable, yet all-beclouding hopelessness.” C.S. Lewis, likely the most quoted and influential apologist of the twentieth century, said “Go to [God] when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double-bolting from the inside. After that, silence.” 

Those who are not “simply having a wonderful Christmas time,” stand in good company. True Christianity—and indeed the true meaning of Christmas—is far more profound, realistic, messy, character-forming, and sanctifying. It always has been. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in the Christmas hymn “I Heard the Bells of Christmas Day,” composed after losing his wife to a fire and his son to the Civil War, 

In despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Next comes Longfellow’s expression not of superficial holiday bliss, but a profound, complex, and realistic Christmas hope and joy:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

^[1] Piercing Heaven, 28.

^[2] Piercing Heaven, 63.