Solid Christmas

I love the holiday season. From Thanksgiving’s focus on gratitude (and the feast, how I enjoy the feast!), to Christmas with the Babe in the manger who changes everything, to the fresh start of the New Year, those 6 weeks were packed, weren’t they?

Now, as we face the wintry months when the nights are quiet and cozy,* there is plenty of time to savor holiday memories, process experiences and reflect on lessons learned.

Christmas is all about Jesus for me, but I’m not a Santa hater. One of my favorite Christmas decorations is a wooden Santa that hangs over the corner of a door. Its a treasure because of the friend who gave it to me, because it was handmade by her dad, and because it is amazingly cute. Honestly, I would like to leave it up all year.

I do, however, have a strong dislike for those inflatable Santas (and other characters – I even saw a Christmas dragon this year – what the heck?!) that populate front yards everywhere all December long. They’re not so bad at night, when they are full of air and light and “life,” but in the morning light, when they are lying in a sad puddle of polyester, I think they’re awful.

They do make a great metaphor, however, for the state of things right now. Many people think Christmas (and Life, for that matter) is about things that don’t last; putting their hope in decorations, gifts, traditions, achievements, possessions … while the Prince of Peace is right here, offering real hope and joy that endures even after the “stuff” is put back in the attic. In these postmodern days, many people don’t even know that Jesus is the Christ in Christmas. Maybe that is what was up with the Christmas Dragon?

I am thankful for Immanuel: God With Us, who makes Christmas solid and Life full. My prayer for our family and yours in 2017 is that we never stop growing in our understanding of how much He loves us.

Isaiah 6:9: For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 10:10: I came so they can have real and eternal life,
more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

    John 17:20-23: I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹
that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you,
that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me.²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them,
that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me,
that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know
that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Ephesians 3:14-19: My response is to get down on my knees before the Father,
this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth.
I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength
but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you
open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet
planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in
with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.
Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length!
Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights!
Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

 

 

*Confession: there’s some “spin” here – I’m not a huge fan of winter. But calling it “cozy” rather than “dreary” is working for me so far this year.