We have now entered the lull between Christmas and New Year’s. I have always enjoyed this time, as the activity of Christmas has mostly ceased but my daily schedule hasn’t yet returned to the normal routine. I can rest and spend time with family and friends.
This is also typically a time of reflection, as the year draws to a close. We remember all that’s passed during the twelve months, and we look forward to all that’s to come in the next twelve.
There is an ancient practice with invites this sort of prayerful reflection into our daily lives. The practice of examen uses a set of opposing questions to guide reflection on the positive and negative of each day.
Read moreIt was the most tragic day in the history of the nation of Israel. Ezekiel watched as the glory of the Lord slowly left the Temple and then the city of Jerusalem. The cloud of God’s glory was the Lord’s presence manifested in the midst of the Israelites. His presence set them apart from all other nations, marking them as his chosen and beloved people. It had led them out of Egypt, as a pillar of cloud and fire, and it had covered Mount Sinai as the Lord gave Moses the Law to govern their new nation. A cloud of glory had washed into the Jerusalem temple after it was dedicated by Solomon, and God’s glorious presence had been so overwhelming that the priests could not even stand to do their duties. It had come as an explosive flood of glory, and now, several hundred years later, God’s presence departed quietly, slowly slipping away.
It wasn’t long until Jerusalem was sacked by Babylonian forces, the temple demolished, the city ransacked, the ones who survived the carnage carried off to a foreign land.
After a generation in exile, they would return, a rag tag bunch trickling back to their ancestral homeland. They would slowly rebuild, with hope in their hearts. The Lord had promised that He would return to them. Ezekiel had also seen the glory of the Lord returning to the temple. The prophets promised that God would once again dwell in their midst.
But God’s presence of glory didn’t return when they completed and rededicated the new temple. There was no roar of its coming. There was only their prayers echoing into silence.
Read moreYou can’t escape them—the rhythmic ring of their bells reaches your ears from the time you open your car in the parking lot. Then you must decide as you near the large doors if you will ignore them by busying yourself with your phone or smile and make eye contact. I don’t even know if I have any change. Will they expect me to put something in their large red money cauldron if I say hello? I doubt I’m alone in my general discomfort at running the Salvation Army gauntlet in and out of every store during this time of the year.
They aren’t the only ones asking for charitable donations. The majority of non-profits and ministries I know of ask for their supporters to consider a year-end donation, which means we are facing an onslaught of requests for our financial giving as we draw closer to December 31.
There is nothing wrong with this. Many people are moved to generosity by the joy of the season, and Ebenezer Scrooge has taught us that part of the Christmas spirit is thinking of others less fortunate. We fill boxes for Operation Christmas Child for children in far reaches of the world. We volunteer at a local soup kitchen or purchase gifts for Angel Tree. World Vision offers a wide catalogue of gifts, which can be gifted in someone’s name to a family or individual in need.
Read moreA voice cries, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together . . .” – Isaiah 40:3-5
Jesus’ birth is not the only miraculous one we read about in the Christmas story. Mary was not the only mother-to-be who received an angelic declaration of her pregnancy. Elizabeth and Zechariah also were told of a miracle baby who would come. Though they had probably long ago given up hope of ever having a child, Elizabeth would become pregnant and give birth to a son. His name would be John, and he would be a great prophet, preparing the people of God for the Lord’s coming.
John’s role was to prepare the way of the Lord and make way for His coming. His job was that of a forerunner, announcing Christ’s coming. He came as a witness, and would eventually step aside so that the spotlight of attention shifted to Jesus. “I must decrease, He must increase,” he would say (John 4:30). What a humble calling—to prepare the way for the Kingdom but to never see it come to fruition.
What does it mean to prepare the way of the Lord?
Read moreDoes the Sabbath seem like a surprising spiritual discipline to be talking about this week? We’re down to a week and a half before Christmas, and it’s crunch time. There are last minute purchases to make and gifts to be wrapped. It’s the time of year for school productions and office parties which demand our participation or attendance. Churches put on special events, requiring practices and memorizing. We have a stack of Christmas cards to write to people we never otherwise communicate with. Some of us are preparing for travel and scrambling to finish work and personal projects before we leave home for the holidays. It’s a festive time of year and we want to enjoy it—but in the busyness, sometimes it’s about more than we can take. Sound familiar?
What if you would choose to refuse stress? To simplify? To rest? What if you could create space to be quiet, to be with your family, to reflect on Christ’s coming?
There is a strong human impulse to do. It keeps us moving, working, producing. Our lives fill up quickly with obligations and responsibilities, of which there seems to be no end. If we wait to stop once our to-do list is empty, we never will.
This is part of the beauty of Sabbath keeping—it builds rest into our schedules. We stop not because we’re finished but simply because it’s time to stop.
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