Faith Matters 20: For The Gardner News, Dec. 9, 2006
Getting our Attention
There was a time when kings and other important people sent heralds ahead of them to get people’s attention, to announce their arrival, and to prepare the way for them. Maybe that’s an idea that needs to be revisited! In these days of self-absorption, electronic overload, over commitment and busyness, it would be so easy to miss the coming of an important person, even God.
Scripture tells us that John the Baptist was chosen to be the herald, the forerunner of Jesus, God’s Messiah. John, cranky and irascible, dressed in a camel-haired cloak and living on a prophet’s diet of locusts and honey, called the people to repentance, baptism, and a life of sharing with one another. He was a great prophet in his own right, but he always pointed beyond himself to one who was yet to come, the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps we need a John the Baptist to douse us with cold water and turn our attention to the Holy One waiting to arrive in our lives and in our world. We need John’s voice crying out from the wilderness of shopping malls, calling us to look up from our shopping lists and notice the arrival of the Christ child. We need John’s reminder that preparing for the coming of Jesus is about sharing with others in need, not just purchasing more for people who already have too much.
How do we keep our spiritual perspective in this fast paced season? How do we tend our souls in the midst of the pressures of the season? How do we prepare for the coming of the Christ? Here are a few of my suggestions. Set some time for prayer each morning before things get busy. It can be as simple as sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and asking God to help you be open to the arrival of the Christ child in your life. Imagine how the coming of Jesus might make a difference to you. Savor this, and let it guide you during the day. Keep his image before you as you move through your day!
Simplify your holiday preparations as much as you are able to. But since almost all of us must at some point brave the mall and face the pre-holiday crowds, make it a practice that every time you hear a Christmas carol, on the radio, in a shopping mall, or even from outside speakers, instead of treating it as background noise, allow yourself to take a few moments and think about what the song is about, at least for the length of that song. When you hear “Silent Night” on the PA system at the Mall or the grocery store, enter into it, and turn your attention to the scene in Bethlehem. Turn your attention for that brief moment towards Jesus and his birth.
When you see or decorate a Christmas tree, remember what it symbolizes--the light that shines in the darkness, the evergreen reminder of eternal life. Take the time to go deeper into the season, past the commercial trappings that distort what this season is really about. Turn your attention to Jesus. See his face. Imagine the scenes that the carols describe. Don’t tune out the Muzac, find the real music inside of it. Every time you open a Christmas card take a moment to think about the message it brings, the wishes that come with it, and make it real again. Every time you buy or make a gift, think about God’s gift that we celebrate in our own gift giving. We have the opportunity to take back this season and make it truly holy. See God’s human face, the face of Jesus, wherever you go, and it will be a rich time.
And more important, be the body and the face of Christ to those whom you meet. Let your attention to Christ bear fruit in your life this season. Take advantage of the seasonal opportunities for making a difference in the life of others in need. Find a service organization whose mission you support and offer gifts to it as you would to the child who came to be Emmanuel, God with us. Imagine yourself kneeling at the manger with your gifts, however humble.
Listen for the heralds, cranky prophets and angel voices, who remind us what this season is really about. Turn your attention to God and the coming of the Christ child into your life and the life of the world. Make this a holy season of preparation and watching and waiting for the One who comes.