The Christmas Celebration has come and gone. Relatives are heading home and the tree is a little bare. For many the Christmas celebration is bittersweet. It is a time to celebrate the Savior's birth, however it can be a time of reflecting upon the shadow of the loss of a loved one. A spouse, parent, child, friend, the ones passed on who leave that vacant spot on Christmas day. A good friend shared a music video that speaks to that reality. It was a source of comfort for me. Perhaps it will be for you as well. Consider it a belated Christmas gift from Torah Paranoia.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Christmas all Year Long
Tis that most wonderful time of the year. We are in the midst of what has become known as the Christmas season. It is a time of peace on earth and good will toward men, just ask anyone in retail. It is a time of confused celebration and traditions that have questionable origins. Even the time of the celebration of the Lord's first advent comes from Constantine's desire to somehow blend Christianity with the solstice celebration. The Scriptures give us no definitive time of the Savior's birth but it was not December 25th. More likely the spring time so some find the celebration unseemly. They have a feeling of pride that they reject this holiday and all of it's pagan roots and traditions. I have written before that celebrating the birth of the Savior seems like a good thing. It is a good thing to remember that John 3:16 is true. God did did love the world and did give His only begotten Son so we could believe and have life eternal. That, in and of itself, is a reason to bring God praise and a cause for celebration.
One of the common marks of the Christmas season is that of giving. We buy gifts to exchange and little things to tuck in those stockings hung with care. Thanks to Samaritan's Purse, many now give shoe boxes filled with fun stuff so children around the world can experience Gods love. We give change to the chilly folks ringing the bell outside grocery stores and shopping malls so the Salvation Army can spread God's care. We may exchange names as a "Secret Santa" in the place we work. These are all good things. Our God is a giving God. He gives the sun and the rain. He gives life to the fields and brings the harvest. He gives hope and joy and the fruit of His Spirit into the barren lives of His children. He gives comfort to the wounded and forsaken. For those who believe that Messiah Jesus has come, giving is one of the most powerful tools available to reveal the Son of God.
Giving in the simplest and most practical moments of life has multiple benefits and can cause a ripple effect in making the Savior real. For the giver, it is a reminder of God's sacrifice and gift to us. For the recipient there is a little joy added to their lives and a little light to shine into their darkness. I am aware that life is short and that we want to be efficient in the use of what time God has given us. However, maybe we need to remember that it really is God's time given to us. It is really not our own. It is a gift to be shared with others. So perhaps our goal should be to give up that prime parking space and enjoy a brisk walk from the distant parking lots while humming a Christmas carol on the way. It is a time to help someone unload their overloaded cart and then take the cart back to the store. Time to hold open a door, put a dollar in a kettle and smile a lot. take God's time to surprise the person ahead of you in the checkout line and let them go first. Even if their seventy-two items seems to outweigh your seventeen. Ask how their shopping is going. Take note of the contents of the cart and comment on how much someone will enjoy the choices they made. They may be resistant to step ahead of you but you can gently persuade them to take your spot. Imagine the conversation they will have when they share the story at home of how someone put them first. Be the thankful encourager to the retail associate. They really are making your life easier by working that day. Watch their countenance change when you express your gratitude for being there and wish them a Merry or Blessed Christmas. I for one want to be the story of the kind and grateful customer when they get home rather than the irritated, grumpy demanding one. All five of my children and my wife have worked retail. My wife and daughter still do. I get to hear the stories of the outrageous and demanding people who set out to ruin their day. However, I also hear of the kind, patient and pleasant folk who appreciated them for their help. Which one does God want you to be?
Whether you enjoy the season or are somewhat offended by the questionable roots and history that surrounds this time of year, the celebration should not rob you of the opportunity to let some light shine in the darkness. Take a queue from Linus and read the account from Luke chapter two and let this be what Christmas is all about. You can read it again in April when the event is more likely to have occurred. In fact you could read it once a month just as a way to refresh the wonder of Messiah's arrival and the joy it brought to simple shepherds just outside Bethlehem. We could actually celebrate Christmas everyday of the year. Always being giving to those around us. Always offering a helping hand to the guy trying to tie a mattress onto his Prius outside of Sam's Club or hep the woman with her seventy-five pound bag of kitty litter. Philippians 2:3 gives us the plan, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." Putting others first. That is what the Lord did for us. Remember the story? He left the glories of heaven and took on the form of a child. Born to a poor young woman in a stable there in Bethlehem. No glitz, no glory, just a few shepherds reporting a multitude of the heavenly host singing, "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will toward men". It really is good news of great joy for all people. A joy we can share all year long by simply giving others the gift of being more important than ourselves. Humble service when we shop, when we drive, when we park our cars, when we hold a door or help the little league youngster with a $20 donation as we leave the grocery store and watch their eyes light up. The joy of Christmas giving can be ours every day of the year.
One of the common marks of the Christmas season is that of giving. We buy gifts to exchange and little things to tuck in those stockings hung with care. Thanks to Samaritan's Purse, many now give shoe boxes filled with fun stuff so children around the world can experience Gods love. We give change to the chilly folks ringing the bell outside grocery stores and shopping malls so the Salvation Army can spread God's care. We may exchange names as a "Secret Santa" in the place we work. These are all good things. Our God is a giving God. He gives the sun and the rain. He gives life to the fields and brings the harvest. He gives hope and joy and the fruit of His Spirit into the barren lives of His children. He gives comfort to the wounded and forsaken. For those who believe that Messiah Jesus has come, giving is one of the most powerful tools available to reveal the Son of God.
Giving in the simplest and most practical moments of life has multiple benefits and can cause a ripple effect in making the Savior real. For the giver, it is a reminder of God's sacrifice and gift to us. For the recipient there is a little joy added to their lives and a little light to shine into their darkness. I am aware that life is short and that we want to be efficient in the use of what time God has given us. However, maybe we need to remember that it really is God's time given to us. It is really not our own. It is a gift to be shared with others. So perhaps our goal should be to give up that prime parking space and enjoy a brisk walk from the distant parking lots while humming a Christmas carol on the way. It is a time to help someone unload their overloaded cart and then take the cart back to the store. Time to hold open a door, put a dollar in a kettle and smile a lot. take God's time to surprise the person ahead of you in the checkout line and let them go first. Even if their seventy-two items seems to outweigh your seventeen. Ask how their shopping is going. Take note of the contents of the cart and comment on how much someone will enjoy the choices they made. They may be resistant to step ahead of you but you can gently persuade them to take your spot. Imagine the conversation they will have when they share the story at home of how someone put them first. Be the thankful encourager to the retail associate. They really are making your life easier by working that day. Watch their countenance change when you express your gratitude for being there and wish them a Merry or Blessed Christmas. I for one want to be the story of the kind and grateful customer when they get home rather than the irritated, grumpy demanding one. All five of my children and my wife have worked retail. My wife and daughter still do. I get to hear the stories of the outrageous and demanding people who set out to ruin their day. However, I also hear of the kind, patient and pleasant folk who appreciated them for their help. Which one does God want you to be?
Whether you enjoy the season or are somewhat offended by the questionable roots and history that surrounds this time of year, the celebration should not rob you of the opportunity to let some light shine in the darkness. Take a queue from Linus and read the account from Luke chapter two and let this be what Christmas is all about. You can read it again in April when the event is more likely to have occurred. In fact you could read it once a month just as a way to refresh the wonder of Messiah's arrival and the joy it brought to simple shepherds just outside Bethlehem. We could actually celebrate Christmas everyday of the year. Always being giving to those around us. Always offering a helping hand to the guy trying to tie a mattress onto his Prius outside of Sam's Club or hep the woman with her seventy-five pound bag of kitty litter. Philippians 2:3 gives us the plan, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." Putting others first. That is what the Lord did for us. Remember the story? He left the glories of heaven and took on the form of a child. Born to a poor young woman in a stable there in Bethlehem. No glitz, no glory, just a few shepherds reporting a multitude of the heavenly host singing, "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will toward men". It really is good news of great joy for all people. A joy we can share all year long by simply giving others the gift of being more important than ourselves. Humble service when we shop, when we drive, when we park our cars, when we hold a door or help the little league youngster with a $20 donation as we leave the grocery store and watch their eyes light up. The joy of Christmas giving can be ours every day of the year.
Saturday, December 1, 2018
I Never Want to "Get Over It"
We live in a world that abounds with comings and goings. The truth is, things in life are subject to change. From the simple things that wear out, like the toaster oven, refrigerator or technology that seems to come and go overnight. These sort of things are fairly easy to deal with. Most of us do not develop a deep meaningful relationship with a blender, though I have known people to get pretty attached to their cars. However, when it comes to people that is a different story. The comings and going of people can be more challenging to deal with. Social media can ease the parting with face-time and Instagram. But, no amount of technology can help when the parting comes through death. Death is a very real part of the lives we live. And with the passing of years it becomes an all too frequent visitor. It is these times of loss that we are called to cope with. We have grief ministries, and stages of grief and reminders that, "Time heals all wounds". Well, maybe time just dulls the pain a little. By the grace of God healing does come, yet the scars may linger longer than we thought possible. Well meaning friends are there to encourage us to move on. To get on with life and, with time, to get over it. Initial grief and sorrow is expected and comfort is readily available. That first anniversary of the passing often comes with comforting words and empathy. However, beyond that we are expected to get past the loss and begin to start fresh. With the Lord's help, of course.
But what if, in some ways, we are not supposed to get over it? What if God has other ideas of what to do with loss? The Apostle Paul tells those in Thessalonica, "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). So we are not to sorrow as those who have no hope. Yet, we are allowed to sorrow. We are allowed to fell sadness. And there does not seem to be some set time limit as to how we can feel this way. I do not see a "Well, it's time to get over it. You've felt sad long enough." I am not talking about a debilitating grief that makes us bedridden as we wait to die. There is, or should be, some expected healing from God's Spirit as we cope with the loss. However, deep relationships are replete with abundant triggers of memories and special thoughts of the one who is gone. As believers, we know where our loved one is. We have the hope of the resurrection, we know they would not want us to be consumed with sorrow. However, are we intended to just get over years of special occasions that are special only to the ones who shared the moment?
I for one do not want to get over it. I am past the sorrow of a lost friend, at least for the most part. I have the full comfort of what God has provided. However, there are times when I miss the, "I am so frustrated right now!" phone call. I miss long talks in the parking lot. I miss knowing someone always has my back. I miss Dunkin Donuts conversations, ice cream at Friendly's and knowing he was just around the corner. I don't get sad quite the way I did at first but I never want to become calloused to the memories that somehow keep the friendship alive. We were not designed by God to go through life alone. I am blessed with a loving, remarkable, supportive, wife, and she is cute on top of that. I cannot imagine life without her. I have also been blessed with a number of friendships, some more like brothers than friends. However, I have only been blessed once with the kind of friendship that has been taken from me. I do not want to get over it. It was a special gift and blessing from the Lord. I want to treasure the memories. Be prompted to relive some moments when we laughed, enjoyed some music and were burdened for our children. I want to celebrate some answers to prayer that we shared before he went home. I want to feel the prompting to pray for his wife and children and grandchildren, just like when he was here. I am beyond grateful for the years of friendship and having a brother in the Lord that I may never experience again. So, no, I don't want to get over it. I want to treasure it. I want to remember it for even the pain of loss is something we had shared before. He was truly a gift from God. Why would I ever want to get over it?
But what if, in some ways, we are not supposed to get over it? What if God has other ideas of what to do with loss? The Apostle Paul tells those in Thessalonica, "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). So we are not to sorrow as those who have no hope. Yet, we are allowed to sorrow. We are allowed to fell sadness. And there does not seem to be some set time limit as to how we can feel this way. I do not see a "Well, it's time to get over it. You've felt sad long enough." I am not talking about a debilitating grief that makes us bedridden as we wait to die. There is, or should be, some expected healing from God's Spirit as we cope with the loss. However, deep relationships are replete with abundant triggers of memories and special thoughts of the one who is gone. As believers, we know where our loved one is. We have the hope of the resurrection, we know they would not want us to be consumed with sorrow. However, are we intended to just get over years of special occasions that are special only to the ones who shared the moment?
I for one do not want to get over it. I am past the sorrow of a lost friend, at least for the most part. I have the full comfort of what God has provided. However, there are times when I miss the, "I am so frustrated right now!" phone call. I miss long talks in the parking lot. I miss knowing someone always has my back. I miss Dunkin Donuts conversations, ice cream at Friendly's and knowing he was just around the corner. I don't get sad quite the way I did at first but I never want to become calloused to the memories that somehow keep the friendship alive. We were not designed by God to go through life alone. I am blessed with a loving, remarkable, supportive, wife, and she is cute on top of that. I cannot imagine life without her. I have also been blessed with a number of friendships, some more like brothers than friends. However, I have only been blessed once with the kind of friendship that has been taken from me. I do not want to get over it. It was a special gift and blessing from the Lord. I want to treasure the memories. Be prompted to relive some moments when we laughed, enjoyed some music and were burdened for our children. I want to celebrate some answers to prayer that we shared before he went home. I want to feel the prompting to pray for his wife and children and grandchildren, just like when he was here. I am beyond grateful for the years of friendship and having a brother in the Lord that I may never experience again. So, no, I don't want to get over it. I want to treasure it. I want to remember it for even the pain of loss is something we had shared before. He was truly a gift from God. Why would I ever want to get over it?
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