Christmas
Dear Friends,
The older I get, the more my questions about Christmas change. I don’t ask as much about what I got, or did I give the right thing. (Although I think getting and giving presents are great.) But I find myself asking more, did I miss it?
It seems like every year, I count more and more on the Christmas season to give me moments. Little, small fleeting moments of time where I just get this transcendent sense that all is right with the world. That faith and love really will win out. That it is going to be OK. Maybe it is Christmas morning with my kids, or a song at a Christmas eve service, or a family ritual or something else. But Christmas has become a lot more about moments for me.
The thing about moments is you cannot manufacture them yourself, and they don’t show up at the same place every year. They come from outside of you, and then they get swallowed up quickly by life.
And that is why I am afraid I will miss them. Because I don’t create them. God does.
So, I have been praying more for moments. And as I wait, I have tried to embrace the hunger I have for them. Because moments are little gifts from God that remind us that this world is not all there is, that my hunger for love, justice, peace and faith are pointers to me that I am created for more. And that more is Jesus.
Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. I also believe He is the source of those moments. It’s not the tree, or the food, or the people, or the stuff. They are the wrapping paper. The real gift is Jesus. And I believe in those moments, He is tapping us on the shoulder and lifting our gaze upward, and homeward.
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
There has been a lot of activity with Leadline this year. But the best part of the activity is the moments they created. Leadline is all about reaching busy, sophisticated, skeptical adults. You can’t hit people like this on the head with the gospel. You just awaken the hunger and wait for the moments. And hope you don’t miss them.
Just like Christmas.
God bless,
The Donohues
