Mark Alexander, editor of the really cool and ever insightful Patriot Post, had this to say about Christmas:
For my family, Christmas is much more than a day, a season or a collection of memories and rituals. Christmas is a lens through which we endeavor to view all things -- the universe of our Creator and His purpose for us -- every day.
(emphasis mine)
It's not about the day or the season. It's about the Truth that was revealed - Incarnated - and how this demands a response. It impacts everything I do, everything I am. It shapes my worldview. I must celebrate it. Now, the celebration may not look traditional, but there has to be a response to the Truth. God's Gift cannot be ignored.
Alexander continues:
"However, it can be difficult at times to comprehend God's plan for us -- after all, how are we to discern our minuscule role in the enormity of His creation? In fact, in our home, we can become so distracted by the daily challenges, demands and routines that we sometimes neglect to seek His purpose for us."
I'm guilty, on both accounts. But its not the first as much as the latter that condemns me. God doesn't expect us to comprehend the plan He has not yet fully revealed, but He does require that we seek Him. It's not that complicated really, but I make it so...impossible. But truly, one thing and one thing only will keep me straight: seeking the face of God.
Alexander relates a conversation he had with his son, who was feeling confused and disconnected from God.
"God is always there, even if temporarily obscured from our vision.We talked about explorers who crossed vast oceans in tiny vessels, setting their course by the North Star for places yet to be revealed.
When we make God our North Star, we are guided precisely along the path He has prepared for us, even though we do not know where it leads. However, as was the case with those early mariners, when we lose sight of our North Star, we must hold steady our direction until we find His guiding light again, correct our course and carry on.
Light overtakes darkness, but only if we open our eyes."
(emphasis mine)
Os Guiness has a similar thought in his book The Call:
"First and foremost we are called to Someone, not to something or to somewhere."
The where? and what? and when? and why? and how? don't really need to be asked if I truly understand Who I am following.
I'm not trying to be overly simplistic, because that doesn't help anything. And its not to say that I won't be asking these same questions tomorrow.
It comes down to a question of how much I trust Him.
May I have eyes to see and ears to hear, that I would stop kicking against the goads.
Alexander, Mark. "Christ's Mass 2008: Our Guiding Light." Patriot Post Vol. 08 No. 52. 22 December 2008.
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