T'was the Day After Christmas

Twas the day after Christmas and all through the malls
everything was half off...even the walls.
The stockings were hung in the clearance aisles
in hopes to bring the shopkeepers smiles.
The people all clamoring to get through the door
to fill up their carts like they did two days before.
Maddy in her new sweater, James in his new hat
pushed through the crowd to find that toy cat.
When over the loudspeaker, a voice from heaven
announced, "Extra ten percent off in aisle seven!"
Away to that aisle the people did fly,
most of them not even knowing why.
To the dismay of those who came along last,
aisle seven's shelves were empty except for the shadows they cast.
But wait! In the bottom corner there stood
a tiny reindeer made out of wood.
Alas, this poor reindeer had a scratch that was deep.
But hey, that's okay as long as it's cheap.
In the cart went the deer beside red and green socks
destined for greatness...a year in a box.
Now Aimee! Now Curtis! Now Patty and Kristin!
On Connor! On Heather! On Gary and Tristin!
To the next aisle, to the front of the line!
Grab two more gift bags, no five, no nine!
Tragedy in electronics, the manager yells with a frown,
"Watch out! We've got a shopper down!"
Jump over that shopper, jump over her cart
mercy is for the rich, this is not time to have a heart.
This is a one day sale, lasting only a week.
Gotta get ready for next Christmas (hope no one will peek).
A Barbie for Kailee, a dinosaur for Billy.
They won't outgrow them, that would be silly.
A wallet for father, a teapot for Sue.
If she gets one for her birthday?....Then she will have two.
The bargains are just too good to pass up.
Now, what can we find for our future new pup?
All the aisles are emptied, the rush now is slowing.
They struggle to the counter, their carts overflowing.
Visa? Master Card? American Express?
None are due today, so they could care less.
The tills are all ringing, the owners are giddy.
Maddy and James had found their toy kitty.
The cars were all packed and now driving away
and I think I heard somebody say....
"Happy 26th of December, oh - what a day.
But Christmas is only 363 shopping days away!

The Christmas Search

We spend our entire earthly lives searching for Him. Even when we find Him-- we search.

The meaning--the reason--truly, do we ever know?

Could we ever grasp Him in His entirety? Who is He?

Lord--Savior--Prince of Peace--God incarnate. The names we know but even as we utter them, do we hold there reality in our hearts? Can we fathom the unfathomable?

We must start with the manger and the innocence it held.

A baby--a child.

Approach Him. See Him look out from the simple cloths that wrap Him. See the chubby hand as it wraps around His mother's finger. Hear His sigh and smell His sweet breath as He sleeps.

Love Him simply.

Love Him as you love a baby. Unconditionally--no questions.

Then slowly, prayerfully, realize this is how He loves you.

This perfect, wondrous baby--is your KING.

Your God has come to you--Emmanuel!

Place yourself beside His manger and worship your King--your God.

Then allow your soul to celebrate this gift and your journey to understanding will truly begin.

The journey that ends only when you look into His eyes as He reaches to embrace you in your heavenly home.

FEAR FACTOR

The definition of a Christian is, “a follower of Christ”. So how, then, have we fallen so far away from Him?

We are commanded to go into the world and spread the good news yet we, many times, find ourselves alienating those who are seeking God by turning our backs on them as we turn to worship Him.

Kathleen Norris wrote in her book, Amazing Grace, that she had to walk away from her Christian inheritance when she reached adulthood. The Christianity that was handed down to her in her childhood left her feeling, “Stranded with a boogyman God.” She would eventually welcome religion back into her life but she did so with caution. As Kathleen took a closer look at the faith that was given to her in her youth she describes the difficulty of welcoming some of her ancestors that had a hand in her upbringing.

“It can feel like a curse – to include in my welcome the difficult

ancestors: The insane, the suicides, the alcoholics, the religiously

self-righteous who literally scared the bejesus out of me when I was

little, or who murdered my spirit with words of condemnation.”

I find it interesting that she casually includes the insane, the suicides and alcoholics but goes on to tell us of the scars that the religiously self-righteous left on her.

Norris mentions reading a book called, Memories of God, by Roberta Bondi. She must have felt a connection with Bondi as she also was scarred by the (revival-style) theology that she grew up in. In Bondi’s words:

“Only believe that God loves you or he will send you to hell forever.”

Despite a fear-filled religious upbringing both women have found their faith. Others, however, leave and never come back. Phil Jackson, a North Dakota native whose parents were Pentecostal preachers, is one of these. He grew up with the fear factor so instilled in him that when he came home from school to find that his mother was uncharacteristically not home he was convinced that the rapture had taken place and he had been left behind. He began meditating in high school. This led him to Buddhism, which he continued to practice. (Sacred Hoops, by Phil Jackson)

Where does this fear come from? How do we get to feel so condemned? Is it God’s judgment that overshadows His love or is it our judgment?

Emily Dickinson also had painful experiences connected to religion. When she was sixteen she attended Holyoke Seminary during the great revival. The girls at this school were asked to stand and declare themselves for Jesus. Emily was the only girl who remained seated. She found herself isolated in a room full of those declaring themselves for Christ! But it is her next phrase that hit me hard.

“What strange sanctification is this – that brings Christ down,

and shows Him, and allows Him to select His friends!”

Ouch! How horrible and yet how often do we see it? How often do we do it?! How can we, who are unworthy of Christ and yet claim Him, be so good at making those who are still searching feel so unworthy that they can’t claim Him?

But we don’t stop with the unbeliever. We find ways to cut down our fellow brothers and sisters using the same judgment that creates this fear of; “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not doing it right”, “I’m still not good enough.” We condemn those whose narrow view of God is not the same as our narrow view.

There is a twelve-year old girl who attends a Catholic church as well as an Evangelical youth program. A Catholic friend tells her that Evangelicals are not Christians. Her Evangelical friends tell her that if she skips a youth night she doesn’t love God. (May God bless her with ears to hear His whispers above their shouts)

When did we stop focusing on building the Kingdom of Heaven and start focusing on how to go to hell?

Have we become the modern Pharisees? What authority do we claim to be able to condemn, lookdown at, or even have pity on other human beings when we ourselves are so pitiful?

How is it possible that we who are merely dust feel secure in telling the unbeliever anything other than of the love and grace of God that saved our sorry butts? Or with our fellow believer have anything other than a shared sense of awe and gratitude?

If we have indeed become today’s Pharisees then we should heed the words that Jesus spoke to them:

“…you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.

You yourselves do not enter nor will you let those enter who are

trying to…. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and

when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as

you are….. (Matt 23: 14,15 & 23)

We are Christians – we are followers of Christ.

We are human and fall easily into the snares of this world including pride. Therefore, let us allow humility back into our faith. Let us take hold of Paul’s warning not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3). Let us remember James’ words, “ Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13).

We are Christians – Disciples of Christ.

The same Christ who said,

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples,

if you love one another.”

(John 13:35)

Biblical Journey - Day One

Let There Be Light

Genesis 1:3-5; 4:14-18

On the first day,

God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. God saw that the light

was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the

light 'day', and the darkness He called 'night'.

On the fourth day,

God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day

from the night"......... God made two great lights, the greater light to govern

the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God

set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, to govern the day

and the night, and to separate the light from darkness.

It is obvious that the sun, moon and stars were all created on the fourth day. So what was the light that God created on the first day?

To begin to answer this question I took a closer look at how the light in day one was described compared to the light in day four.

I started with the easy part... day four's lights:

-- "Let there be lights..." There were more than one light.

-- These lights were set in the expanse or the sky which had been created on the second day.

--These lights were made to govern, or rule over, the day and the night which were already in

existence.

--These lights were the sun, the moon and the stars.

So what do we know about the light on the first day?

--The light was good.

--The light was separated from the darkness that was already there.

--The light was called "day" and the darkness from which it was separated was called "night".(Remembering that the sun and moon were not yet created)

--On that first day there was evening and morning.

The question remains, "What IS that light?"

Interestingly, only a few Sundays ago in church, the sermon was about the awesomeness of the universe that God created and how small we humans are compared to it's vastness and yet He chooses to be concerned with even our smallest troubles. During this sermon it was stated that when God said, "Let there be light"....POOF!...the big bang...and the universe began.

In this theory then, the light was the sudden explosion of all the matter and energy of space that had been condensed into a singular point..... or The Big Bang.

I suppose acceptance of this interpretation would depend on whether or not you are a strict creationist or if you allow for some scientific answers on how God created. As for me, this theory is a perfectly plausible one but I did not let that stop me from investigating further.

I thumbed my way through several different translations of scripture to see if any of the differing verbiage would give me a clue about this first day light. For the most part I found that there were different words for the terms expanse (firmament, dome, space) and sky (heaven) but nothing for the word light. However, while looking in a New American Bible there was a postscript that lead me from Genesis 1:3 to 2 Corinthians 4:6 which reads:

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness", has shone in our hearts,

that we in turn might make known the glory of God shining on the face of Christ.

I also remembered that John 1:1 started with, "In the beginning" just like Genesis 1:1. In John, Jesus is described as, "The Word" who was there at the beginning with God and was God. In verse 4, John tells us that in Jesus,

was life and that life was the light of men that shines in the darkness and the

darkness has not understood it.

Here again we find a light and a darkness that have nothing to do with the sun, moon nor stars or the absence of them.

In John 9:5 Jesus says, "I am the light of the world" and similar verses are found throughout the new testament.

Is that,then, the first day light? The light that shines in the hearts of men? The light of God's glory--the same glory that shines on the face of Christ who is the light of the world?

Perhaps the very first task on the very first day was to "Let there be light"......

Let God's glory be separated from the darkness and shine.

Let that light, the glory of God, separate night from day even without a moon to rise.

Let there be morning and evening even without a sun to set.

Perhaps it was this....

Perhaps it was the Big Bang....

Perhaps it was something totally different...

but whatever it was

--it was good!