Skip to main content

Connecting

                 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:19)

 

                Today begins a time of year in which the difference between the world and Christianity should be abundantly clear. We’ll see comments that Jesus didn’t exist or that Christmas is just stuff that Christians dragged into their culture because it made pagans more willing to convert. We’ll see all the insanity of Black Friday, drawn out for as long as the stores can milk it. People will stress over all the details, over not getting all they wanted, over who said (or didn’t say) what to whom, who wore (or didn’t wear) what, and trying to beat the Jones in decorations or gift giving.

            Since we live in the world, we can’t escape all of that. Those of us who work in retail are a little more stuck than those who don’t, but I find myself trying to figure out how to not get swept up in the world’s version of things and at the same time, to be swept up in all that Christmas should be.

            So often, when we reject the world’s way, we seem to end up grumpy. When I worked I retail before, I came to hate Christmas because of all the garbage the world brought to it. It didn’t help that the corporation for which I worked seemed determined to play the absolute worst Christmas/holiday/winter music they could find. The corporation I work for now plays instrumental Christian, Christmas, and holiday music, but I still found myself falling into the same routine of negative emotions, especially as I see others buying multiple cartloads of ornaments and talking of decorating nine-foot trees or having to participate in the competition between grandchildren that requires that the gifts given be something the child will like, that costs as much as the gift gotten for the other children, and that fit in the exact same size box – but – it can’t be the same box, and it can’t be just a cardboard box, it has to be purchased.

            And do you hear it in my words? So here’s my challenge to you for this Christmas. Find a way to make Christmas more joyous, more loving, more free, more fun – more positive. Feel free to share your ideas. The only rule is that it’s not to be a competition with the world. The world will hate us, but let’s find a way to connect with God and with each other this Christmas.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more