Every year it comes like a train on a fast track. I
first realize Christmas is upon me when my daughters start asking for lists. What do you want? is followed by a frantic search for that slip
of paper where I started writing down ideas. What do I want? What I really want is something that cannot be
bought or ordered. And I’m not even sure how to voice it.
Maybe it’s the magic I felt as a child sitting in
the dim candle glow of our little country church. Mary and Joseph in their
bathrobes up on stage welcomed with shy smiles the shepherds and wise men in
similar bathrobes, heads adorned with towels wound up in artful precision, to
see the baby lying in hay. Angels in white bed sheets, tree tinsel on their
freshly washed curls, stood benignly by as a hush fell over the congregation
and “Silent Night” arose in the near darkness. Never have the words been more
meaningful or the thoughts so sublime.
What
do I want? I want to pass this wonder to my loved ones, to
have them experience this thrill for themselves, to imagine with me the joy of
the shepherds as they returned to the hills changed, the awe of the magi
traveling over miles of desert, talking among themselves. Who would believe it?
Who could believe it? God come to earth. After so much waiting.
Children understand waiting. Much of their lives is
spent plodding from one unwanted task to another, being obedient, doing
homework, counting the days. For them, Christmas is a slow train that seems
forever just around the bend. Maybe the anticipation of gifts is what drives
their eagerness. I’m sure it was so for me as I avidly searched the pages of
the Sears Wish Book every November to dream of the gifts I might receive, but I’m
glad I somehow caught the vision of God’s example in the very best of gift
giving.
Maybe my memory of those early Christmas
celebrations is enhanced by the shiny veneer of time. Maybe what I really want
is to be young again, to see things fresh and exciting. In fact, the truth of Christmas
is always upon us. The event we celebrate at Christmas is ever one for amazement,
regardless of the time of year or the stage of life. Whether it comes charging
like a runaway train or chugs slowly along, Christmas is, indeed, a holiday that
is centuries old yet forever new.
And here we are at the start—or nearly so—of a new
year. It has become cliché to suggest that we keep Christmas in our hearts, so
I won’t do that. But I do want to suggest that we take time to realize that our
lives are a bit like that train, moving forward whether or not we feel ready.
As our pastor reminded us recently, our goal must be to live under the control
of Christ, as Paul stated in II Corinthians 5: 14 & 15, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we
are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that
those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died
for them and was raised again.”
Did you write down those three questions Pastor Love
asked us? In case you missed it, here they are. May these questions and their
positive answers lead us forward this year until Christmas comes again.
1. How
will I demonstrate the treasure of the gospel in my daily life?
2. What
will guide my decisions and purpose in this year?
3. Am
I living with eternity in view?
-- --Sherry Poff
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