December 15
I SEEK THE DOOR
“I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will
be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9
When I was nine years old, I attended a Christian Camp. As part of the program, we had Christmas in July, and, as part of the Christmas “season”, we put on a traditional Christmas pageant. I was Joseph. I remember it well, since I had to wear a horse-hair beard, a flannel dressing gown, and a towel headdress – and it was at least 85 degrees in the shade.
We had fun, but we knew it wasn’t even close to the real thing. In our experience, Christmas was deep snow, starry nights, frosted windows and icy blasts, not sunny skies and warm beaches.
It wasn’t until years later that I realized our camp Christmas was the real thing to those who celebrate in Australia, where a picnic on the beach is a Christmas tradition. And, as more of my friends opt for a Christmas holiday in the sunny south, even my North American perception of what is right – is wrong!
“It isn’t a real Christmas without snow,” some say.
“It doesn’t seem like Christmas if I miss the Sunday School Pageant,” another says.
“I don’t feel very Christmassy this year,” someone tells me. “I guess it’s because we haven’t put up our tree yet.”
Each of us has our own little doorway through which we must pass before we can declare, “it feels like Christmas”.
And so it goes. We all have our own little measuring sticks for determining the realness of our Christmas. And yet, when it comes right down to it, the only measure of Christmas is the reality of the birth of the babe.
The babe; the child Jesus; the son of God, the door through which we enter into eternal life.
MEDITATION: Almighty God, help me strip away all the trappings of this coming celebration. Lead me to an understanding of the infinite truth of the day: that your Son was born so that I might have eternal life. Thank you. Amen.
more quiet spaces 