Wonder of Christmas
December 2008
Aaahh…
Thanksgiving is over, and I am beginning to adjust to real life again after
a weekend of feasting and festivities with the family. I have enjoyed
my turkey and pumpkin pie, the lounging around, the football, and the
fireplace. And I have warded off the pre-season panic until I realized
with some delight and some horror that Christmas is very, very close.
Now don’t get me wrong…I love the Christmas season – the mere sight of
a strand of multicolored lights warms my heart as I am entranced by the
colors and memories of holidays past that barrage my mind. But it is
funny how the older I get, the more I have traded the simple wonder and
excitement of Christmas with anxieties about the suitability of my
gifts and what mode of transportation I will utilize to make it home
for the special day.
My Christmas wish list is no longer
carefully written out and displayed on the refrigerator, but is
replaced with a long list of things to be done, price comparisons of
potential gifts, recipes to be retrieved, and arrangements to be made.
I will not be caught off guard again this year by that unexpected gift,
opening my mouth wide with shock and pseudo-delight as I say, “Shucks…I
left yours at home!” (This is NOT the season to play holier-than-thou,
acting like you haven’t done it! You know you’ve gone rummaging through
your belongings for those unwanted and un-returnable gifts from
previous occasions, wondering if someone else would think they are as
terrible upon receipt as you did and hoping you are not re-gifting to
the same person that purchased those items for you….I repent of
participating in these activities, and I have made a concerted effort
NOT to do those things this year. I will be prepared this time.)
Whew….sometimes I wish I were a kid again around
this time of year. I’d have candy from my stocking for breakfast, drink
cup after cup of eggnog and never think about whether or not my caloric
allotment would allow for pie, too, or whether I should take a jog
after dinner. I’d rip open gifts ferociously, and squeal with delight
at all the pink plastic toys – babies and Barbie dolls and little
kittens with purple eyelashes. I’d never think twice about the wrapping
paper on the floor or who gave me what or whether or not my makeup and
hair looked palatable enough to be in the bevy of Christmas picture
sure to be displayed and indelibly preserved. I’d stay in my plaid
nightgown with the red satin ribbon trim all day, begging my Dad to
untwist all the tiny wires that kept my treasures captive in their
packaging. I’d jump up and down with nervous excitement and my family
opened their gifts from me…carefully made macaroni necklaces and
popsicle-stick picture frames. I would smile at them and beg
reassurance that they liked their presents and ask my mom why she
wasn’t wearing her carb-laden jewelry with her new angora sweater. Then
I would quickly lose interest in the grown-up’s gifts….bags of
pistachios, ties, and kitchen gadget – yuck. I’d vow never to grow old
so I wouldn’t have to receive such horribly drab gifts. And then I
would investigate all of my siblings’ gifts as well, making sure that
they all worked properly and showing them the “right” way to play their
new games…and they say folly is bound up in the heart of a child!
I
realize, however, that time-travel is not an option. I cannot fight
against its relentless passage. But along with the less colorful gifts
and the more balanced meals has come a maturity that only God could
bring. With time I have made decisions to focus on the event that
brings us to this spell of celebration, and I am more thankful than I ever have been for the baby born under the star of Bethlehem.
As
we observe this time of the advent of Jesus, I am more humbled by the
thought of His willing incarnation than I can ever remember.
Philippians 2:6-8 says this:
“Though
he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling
to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble
position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in
human form he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s
death on a cross.”(NLT)
God Himself, an
all-powerful, completely self-sustaining being that has no beginning
and no end, chose a lowly life of imprisonment in a fleshly vessel in
order to set us free. He voluntarily gave up his rights, his
freedom, his position above to become a tiny, wordless baby; a chubby,
drooling, toddler; a gangly, awkward teenager, and a man who had to
work by the sweat of his brow. He came to us gladly, knowing he would
be hated, disrespected, mocked, and murdered. It brings a whole new
meaning to the season, and from this perspective it is easy to realize
the truth from Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
I pray your Christmas is one saturated in joy, thankfulness, and the love of Jesus Christ.
~
“Great little One! whose all-embracing birth
Lifts Earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to Earth.”
Richard Crashaw
~
“I never realized God's birth before,
How He grew likest God in being born...
Such ever love's way--to rise, it stoops.”
Robert Browning
By Jennifer Yakopin
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