Skip to main content

Two sides of Christmas


I have had two experiences this Christmas season that left an impression on me. One was being part of a line in a gas station and the guy in front of me turned around and asked what I was getting and how much it cost. I stated that I was getting gas for my car and what it cost, then asked why he was asking. He responded by saying that the person ahead of him paid for his items and so he was paying for mine. This really brightened my day. I had been getting over congestion and a struggle with the weather among other things, it made a difference. I turned around and asked the guy behind me how much his items cost (of course I had to make sure I could afford it). I paid for his too. The store clerks were pleasantly surprised and one remarked that she "needed to be on the other side of the counter." It is always great to see a total stranger showing that there is goodness in humanity. They said the Christmas cheer had been started by a lady earlier in the day.
 My second experience was at a store when someone struck up a conversation with me about how Christmas is a really depressing time for him. It was sad and I prayed for him that night even though I didn't know his name, God does. 
 For some, Christmas is a season of festivities and it is easy to get caught up in who is around the table or the gifts we get or do not get. We all have our traditions and cultures.  On the western side, there is a lot of gift-giving and cooking. In the culture I grew up around, it was mostly eating and receiving visitors. However, when I think about what the first Christmas meant, I see it as the celebration of a God who gave His son because He wanted a relationship with mankind. He could have looked the other way but He chose to send love. If you are in a giving mood or in a sad mood, that same God sees you where you are and He is reaching out to you with outstretched arms. 
Merry Christmas!




updated

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The existential crisis of Job: The search for meaning

The phrase " existential crisis" may sound deep and far fetched to you so lets use Job's story to set it up. Let's introduce Job, a wealthy man with kids who do what most rich kids do, they party. He has lots of land. Set up a large farm in your  mind and add some 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 1000 oxen  and 500 female donkeys. You need a lot of land to hold all those animals! He is a man with so much integrity that one book of the bible is dedicated to him. The question is why did he have so many trials? Everything went wrong in Job's life, yes e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. It all started with something he could not see in Job chapter 1. God boasts about Job and Satan tells God that the only reason Job serves him is because of the things God does for him.  His proposition is for God to let him , Satan, switch things around so that Job would curse God. God agrees but states that Satan cannot take Job's life.                 ...
2 comments
Read more

Answers

Post a Comment
Read more

The need to know the future

I read this verse today and an idea jumped out at me. Funny thing is, I have read it before and never really thought much about it. In this season there is more context for this verse because there is so much of a need to know the future right now. We need to know when things will go back to normal and sometimes that makes it difficult to adjust to the new normal. In this verse Jesus was saying to his disciples that it is not for them to know the times and seasons which are in the Father's hands. That statement reminded me that faith is trusting when we don't know. We won't always have answers or find them but we can find peace when we decide to let go of the need for answers and decide to trust. It's easier said than done but it is a process that we can work towards. 
Post a Comment
Read more