Inexpressible Gift


As Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, it seems that in an instant the neighborhood changed from Fall to Christmas. For the most part, pumpkins and hay bales and turkeys disappeared overnight and were replaced by Grinches and Santas and reindeer. Once the Thursday feast was ended, it is as if everyone went right to work. Perhaps they put some of those visiting friends and relatives to the task of stringing lights and changing seasons. However it works, it works. I went to bed in the Fall and woke to Christmas.
The contribution of this homeowner has given new meaning to the term “Christmas tree”. The Oak in their front yard is decorated with large red ornaments hanging from the perfectly trimmed boughs and branches. They sparkle in the sunshine. And, around the base of the tree, packages of varying sizes have appeared. It is simple, yet a beautiful statement of the coming celebration. In fact, I think it is the simplicity that adds to the impact. The power of giving. The beauty of giving.
Those of us who earn our living in the business of religion have a tendency, it seems, to complicate things. We take the awe inspiring mystery of God and try to fit God into a neat box we can carry around and own. We take an amazing thing like grace and try to hold it back with caveats and exceptions. We take the beautiful opportunity to live in community with one another and tend to institutionalize the joy out of it. I know this sounds like a confession of sorts, but I doubt anyone is surprised.
Sometimes it would do us all well to stop and get back to basics, to the heart, of life and faith. Perhaps this season of Advent, as we prepare for Christmas, is a perfect opportunity. On one hand, the idea of exactly how God acted in the birth of Jesus is an idea that has fueled debate for two thousand years. On the other, it is an act of love to be embraced. Perhaps this year we can join the apostle with this simple yet life changing response to what Christmas means:
“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

Peace. 

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