Posts Tagged: messy lives
“Beyond Currier and Ives and Hallmark”
I love Currier and Ives winter/Christmas scenes. They are very lovely. I love the feel-good Christmas stories on the Hallmark channel. I don’t actually watch them very often. I am prone to cry, my nose gets all stuffed up, and I get a sinus headache. But I do like them.
However, my own life is neither a Currier and Ives print nor a Hallmark Christmas special. My life is messy.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There is a lot that is right with my life. I have a wife whom I love, and who loves me. We have paid off our house and cars. We have a little money coming in, and a little money in the bank. We are, in fact incredibly wealthy, compared to probably 98 % of the people in the world.
We have good friends and we have a little dog who lights up our lives, just by being her canine self. We have things that we love to do, some of which even make us a little money.
Still, my life is messy. My mind is messy. My emotions are messy. My sleeping and work areas are messy. As my grandmother used to say to me, “You’re a mess!” (For those of you who think that grandmas are always on your side, I’ve got news for you: It ain’t necessarily so!)
And thanks to me, my wife’s life is messy, due to no fault of hers.
So, as this Currier-and-Ives-Hallmark-Channel season reaches its most feverish pitch, I comfort myself with one simple thought: According to Luke’s birth account, Jesus was born in a barn.
What?! That’s no place for a baby to be born!
No, it isn’t, and if I had been making up a story about the birth of a king, I don’t think I would have made this story-telling move. But Luke makes precisely that move: Jesus, the King, was born in a barn.
I struggle to believe it sometimes, but there it is: a king, The King, born in a very messy, humble place. I grew up on a farm. Rest assured that even the cleanest barn isn’t—clean, that is.
So, for all of you who are alienated from your families, for all of you who wish you were alienated from your families, for all of you who have lost a loved one recently, or are afraid you will soon, for all of you who are alone, for all of you who feel hopeless on this 25th day of December, 2018, for all of you who just wish the day was over, I say this:
Merry Christmas! I can say this, not because of Currier and Ives, not because of Hallmark, but because of a King who made a humble entrance, rather than a grand, royal one. I can say this because Jesus is always willing to be born in messy places, messy places like my heart and your heart.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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