Final Christmas Thoughts

A Final Christmas Requies  

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:19

In our house, Christmas recedes like a slow tide. It slowly falls back, leaving behind various oddments; some are treasures and others poignant reminders of what might have been. I cherish Christmas, starting early and ending late. Like Mary, I store things up in my heart and ruminate; pondering, how will I fit this into this new piece into my daily walk. I think about the incarnation and what it means to me.

God became flesh and dwelt among men. The creator becomes the created. All the vast universe generating power set aside to reside in an itty-bitty living space. The hands that crafted time now moved constrained by its rhythms. The being that conceived gravity now fell victim to its whims and vicissitudes. The common cold, His. The ebbs, flows, and floods of emotions, all part of His experience. The incarnation stuns with its implications, but wait, there’s more.

The son, Jesus, took up residence in a rather run-of-the-mill family in unostentatious circumstances. While probably not impoverished, life for Jesus would have been unremarkable. The son of a carpenter in an unimportant village would have lived simply. The son of God embraced a humble lifestyle that did not come with the comforts I take for granted. He would identify more with the mass of humanity that dwells in what we call, “the developing world.” When God came down to experience our walk, He chose to rub shoulders with the masses. All of this speaks to me and what I consider important.

Advent makes me take the time to reevaluate my priorities, especially the American penchant for acquisition. How do I use the resources God has placed within my scope? God graciously shared His bounty with me. My embrace of Western culture leads me to think of things as my own, when, all that surrounds me is a gift from His hands into mine. What I do with His largess reflects my priorities. Fortunately for me, I was high on His priority list. Perhaps in this coming year, I can bump the “least of these” up a bit higher on my priority list. 

The richness of the reality of Advent makes me reconsider many things. Perhaps that’s why I find it so important to my yearly spiritual journey. God becoming flesh and walking among us carries such import that I need to reexamine my life in its stringent light yearly. So this annual exploration of and reacquaintance with Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, Jesus, and other participants in the incarnation helps to ground me in the spiritual reality of God reaching out to His creation in love and adoration.