Nothing gives pause like tragedy.
We are glued for news from Newtown, CT that will give us a glimmer of understanding...or hope.
In this season of giving, perhaps before we have either--understanding or hope--we just give compassion.
We hug our own kids, we speak more tenderly to our neighbor, we set aside differences to remember that life is short and oh, so unpredictable.
We let our hearts break for those parents with gifts already wrapped for children who--so suddenly--will not awaken to Christmas.
We give thanks for our church and school and business leaders who will lead us once again on Sunday and Monday, while the leader of Sandy Hook Elementary School will only be remembered, as she was one of the slain.
We mourn for the family of the shooter, suddenly thrown into the disarray and glaring spotlight of 24-hour news, finding themselves the headlines. They, too, lost family.
It is like a bomb at Christmas. Who can fathom it?
Only God can put the pieces back together...later...over time.
For now, give and give and give compassion. Let your hurt comfort the hurting of others.
15 December 2012
14 December 2012
'Tis the Season: When God Squished Himself
In considering gifts this season, ask [God] for a moment of wonder.
Mine came this morning.
With a blanket, a cup of coffee and twenty-something degree weather, I witnessed a meteor shower, one of my very favorite things.
Was that my moment? No.
I saw something else.
I saw God's elation. I was imagining those shepherds on a hillside looking up at the stars, just as I was, and suddenly, in my mind's eye, I tried to picture the very moment before Jesus was born.
Like a small child who bursts onto the Christmas morning scene of toys and gifts, God must have been barely able to contain His emotion the moment before He burst onto the scene that first Christmas morning.
He squished Himself into our skin as Jesus and came to rescue us for all time. How could He have not been about to burst with excitement?
Was He seeing, in that moment, every one of us someday calling Him God? Making His trek on earth, His excruciating time on the cross, His rejection from us worth it?
Isn't Christmas about creating emotion of joy in others? Put God on your gift-giving list.
Give Him the gift of your heart, saying thanks for the squish of Himself.
Yours will be the emotion of joy.
Mine came this morning.
With a blanket, a cup of coffee and twenty-something degree weather, I witnessed a meteor shower, one of my very favorite things.
Was that my moment? No.
I saw something else.
I saw God's elation. I was imagining those shepherds on a hillside looking up at the stars, just as I was, and suddenly, in my mind's eye, I tried to picture the very moment before Jesus was born.
Like a small child who bursts onto the Christmas morning scene of toys and gifts, God must have been barely able to contain His emotion the moment before He burst onto the scene that first Christmas morning.
He squished Himself into our skin as Jesus and came to rescue us for all time. How could He have not been about to burst with excitement?
Was He seeing, in that moment, every one of us someday calling Him God? Making His trek on earth, His excruciating time on the cross, His rejection from us worth it?
Isn't Christmas about creating emotion of joy in others? Put God on your gift-giving list.
Give Him the gift of your heart, saying thanks for the squish of Himself.
Yours will be the emotion of joy.
13 December 2012
'Tis the Season: Revoke Your Sugar License
At least in the West, we celebrate Christmas with a toxic gusto: we abandon all common sense when it comes to eating the goodies.
We give ourselves a sugar license that says: Eat all you can eat.
This hospitality of poison gives rise to an interesting question: why do we throw our bodies under the bus in the exact season that celebrates the person (Jesus) that came to get our souls out from under that bus?
We are a funny people.
We feed our strength in pursuit of Jesus and feed our weakness in pursuit of yet another goodie.
Am I suggesting no sugar at Christmas? Absolutely not.
I am suggesting that you revoke your license that you might have given yourself in seasons past.
Budget sugar like you budget your money. Don't use the sugar credit card that stores the overage on your body, to face you in January like your Visa.
The gift is moderation. The recipient is yourself.
Start January sugar debt-free.
We give ourselves a sugar license that says: Eat all you can eat.
This hospitality of poison gives rise to an interesting question: why do we throw our bodies under the bus in the exact season that celebrates the person (Jesus) that came to get our souls out from under that bus?
We are a funny people.
We feed our strength in pursuit of Jesus and feed our weakness in pursuit of yet another goodie.
Am I suggesting no sugar at Christmas? Absolutely not.
I am suggesting that you revoke your license that you might have given yourself in seasons past.
Budget sugar like you budget your money. Don't use the sugar credit card that stores the overage on your body, to face you in January like your Visa.
The gift is moderation. The recipient is yourself.
Start January sugar debt-free.
11 December 2012
'Tis the Season: Gifting Forgiveness
My friend had been hurt at the hands of another.
My, how we tear down each other with our words. I sometimes can't fathom how we give such license to our tongues.
She was weary and had built a nice fortress to safeguard entry by this person. She was shielded and comfortable.
And then God knocked. (Sometimes we wish He wouldn't.)
It caught us by surprise.
We were talking about forgiving this person and she said she thought she had. Out of the blue, I ventured, "Really forgiving that person would mean being willing to interact on a regular basis all over again, knowing you may get the same treatment."
I was as astounded as she.
But then again, isn't that what Jesus does every day? He subjects Himself to our apathy, condemnation, and misuse of Who He is, even though He has already forgiven us.
Jesus is Forgiveness in the flesh.
So really, on December 25th, we are celebrating the birth(day) of Forgiveness.
If my friend decides to leave her fortress, Forgiveness will go with her. That will be a powerful moment.
She will enter into an incredible union with freedom and love born anew, and that other person may be freed as well.
What a gift that would be.
My, how we tear down each other with our words. I sometimes can't fathom how we give such license to our tongues.
She was weary and had built a nice fortress to safeguard entry by this person. She was shielded and comfortable.
And then God knocked. (Sometimes we wish He wouldn't.)
It caught us by surprise.
We were talking about forgiving this person and she said she thought she had. Out of the blue, I ventured, "Really forgiving that person would mean being willing to interact on a regular basis all over again, knowing you may get the same treatment."
I was as astounded as she.
But then again, isn't that what Jesus does every day? He subjects Himself to our apathy, condemnation, and misuse of Who He is, even though He has already forgiven us.
Jesus is Forgiveness in the flesh.
So really, on December 25th, we are celebrating the birth(day) of Forgiveness.
If my friend decides to leave her fortress, Forgiveness will go with her. That will be a powerful moment.
She will enter into an incredible union with freedom and love born anew, and that other person may be freed as well.
What a gift that would be.
10 December 2012
'Tis the Season: Gifting Understanding
We all drive each other crazy at times--we may hide our annoyance but it remains, just under the surface, directing our heart in vicious, covert ways.
Is there a gift we can give ourselves first, and then to each other, that can counter this insidious drain on our energy?
Consider this from Proverbs 14:
God gives out understanding but it seems to come with a caveat--understanding released as we give ourselves time to get to know Him.
Gift yourself time to get to know God, get understanding.
Stockpile joy of relationship even with those who drive us crazy.
Your bones will thank you.
Is there a gift we can give ourselves first, and then to each other, that can counter this insidious drain on our energy?
Consider this from Proverbs 14:
Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.
A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones.It seems understanding is lost if we let our mind go to runaway emotions first. Not only will we corrode our bones, but we will stockpile stupidity.
God gives out understanding but it seems to come with a caveat--understanding released as we give ourselves time to get to know Him.
Gift yourself time to get to know God, get understanding.
Stockpile joy of relationship even with those who drive us crazy.
Your bones will thank you.
09 December 2012
'Tis the Season: Gifting a Critical Spirit
You are gifting people daily with your words...or not.
Do you speak before you think and impart a critical spirit?
A critical spirit is one that has as its passion an effort to tear a person down rather than build up, or edify.
Well, you say, of course I am not trying to tear down that person. You might not be trying but if your heart hosts a critical spirit, it comes through loud and clear.
Test your heart for a critical spirit toward a person you actually hold dear:
It is much the same for this person you claim to hold dear. God grows him or her. Your job is to like her (or him), admire her, and tend to her by building her up in a timely way with gentle words and considerate action.
God can grow my plants without me. I am not God's gift to the plant world. Similarly, God can grow that person you hold dear without you. He has invited you into her circle by blood or circumstance.
Give good gifts.
Do you speak before you think and impart a critical spirit?
A critical spirit is one that has as its passion an effort to tear a person down rather than build up, or edify.
Well, you say, of course I am not trying to tear down that person. You might not be trying but if your heart hosts a critical spirit, it comes through loud and clear.
Test your heart for a critical spirit toward a person you actually hold dear:
1. Do you admire and respect that person's decisions with your words?
2. Do you think you know better in many areas than that person?
3. In your secret superiority, are you trying to change that person?My house has a lot of plants. God grows them. My job is to like them, admire them, and tend to them by building them up in a timely way with water and fertilizer.
It is much the same for this person you claim to hold dear. God grows him or her. Your job is to like her (or him), admire her, and tend to her by building her up in a timely way with gentle words and considerate action.
God can grow my plants without me. I am not God's gift to the plant world. Similarly, God can grow that person you hold dear without you. He has invited you into her circle by blood or circumstance.
Give good gifts.
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