Skip to main content

Christmas

             It’s Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus.

                As I’m getting ready to do all the stuff I’m going to do, I’m feeling a little uncomfortable. I’ll go to church (unless my head won’t let me) and sing songs of praise. I may bustle about and make another dish to take to dinner. After said dinner, I’ll probably go to visit friends to watch whatever movie they picked out.

            But let’s say it was your birthday, and throw in a little more of what is “normal Christmas” for people. You wake up and the kids are all excited about what gifts they’re going to receive. You go to what should be a birthday party, and find that once your friends and family greet you, they talk to each other more than they do you. They go home and get ready for a family or another community celebration of your birthday, where the focus is on who brought what dish, who is wearing what, and how much effort getting ready for your birthday dinner was or how much they spent on presents for everyone but you. I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty. I see the same things in myself, and I don’t have the same level of human interaction as some of you.

            Over the past decade, I’ve heard about an Icelandic tradition involving giving books on Christmas Eve that the recipient then gets to spend the day reading. I love the notion, but if I get a chance to pick up a book today, it’s likely to be by Agatha Christie, and Jesus probably won’t have a role. On the positive side, I’m listening to Christmas music, at least some of which has to do with Him.

                And with that, I’m going to share my Christmas Concert, so that maybe we can both spend at least a few moments celebrating Jesus’ birthday on Jesus’ birthday. Merry Christmas!


Christmas Concert

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more