The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 11 Hopes & Endures

This is the eleventh day of Lovemas, the next to the last day of the twelve. It has consequently fallen on the Eve of the New Year. Looking back, I personally have an abundance to be thankful for. I live a very blessed and set apart life. But as with any person on this planet, I also have my fair share of experiences that I would not choose to relive. But I can look back from the other side and say with confidence that I indeed was not swallowed up by the various troubles 2014 brought me. That survival could not have existed, though, without a few key things in my life: my family, my husband, GOD, and his love that fills me with strength.

We are to the tail end of verse seven, “love hopes all things, and endures all things”. You see, the thing about love is that it’s empowering. When we are energized by God’s perfecting love, we can survive. Because we are rooted in God, we have the ability to face largely hopeless situations with real, tangible hope. Those around us will witness our daily battles, yes. They will see us struggle to stay in line with God, to keep our households afloat, and anything else that comes across our paths. But they will also be able to see our tenacity to keep on hoping. And the hope that comes from God alone produces endurance.

Circumstances that would have driven the best man to drinking do not have to overcome those of us that cling to Christ, because his love strengthens us to the point of surpassing all worldly explanation. Women and men who do not know Christ will look on with awe as we face the worst situations a person can go through with divine hope and inexplicable endurance. The forced question will be, “how?!” And the answer of answers will be, “Because he loves me, and he died for me”.

So when facing the new year of 2015, yes, I will be making my fair share of yearly goals. And regardless of my past failures, I can continue to do this. I am filled with a supernatural hope, and my zeal to live for God will not be dampened by how badly I have messed up before (and I have woefully failed many times). But in addition to striving to achieve various goals that would shoot me closer to the person God designed me to be, I will not be asking for God to make 2015 a paradise free of hardships.

To have a year free of any struggles would be ideal. So I am not saying that I will be requesting an extra dose of trouble. But Romans 5:3 says that because of our sufferings, we rejoice. For the suffering produces endurance. So there is a refinement that happens when we exercise our spiritual muscles in the face of being in a tough position. This type of fine-tuning polishes us like gold, and we shine in a way that cannot be ignored.

During our 80-100 year span on Earth, because of the broken nature of this world, things that we don’t want to happen will. God’s plans for us are good. He does not strike us with sickness or hardships in order for himself to be glorified. But when we encounter adversity, we will be able to make it through by leaning into God for strength. As we dive deeper into relationship with our Father-Creator, we will discover even more hope and be able to endure all. What the adversaries meant for bad, God will redeem to bring glory. And just as they thought they had won after killing the Christmas baby, so shall we too shall rise from situations of despair. The love that was coursing through Jesus as he said yes to leaving his throne is the same love that can manifest in us when we submit to God. And it is a powerful love that hopes and endures all.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 10 Protects & Trusts

Why hello there again! I made quite merry this Christmas and decided to take some time off. Quite disappointingly, I think this December themed knock of holiday will run into the next year. But given the choice between cracking down on my writing and being able to visit with family, I would have to choose visiting with family. Usually what happens when Christmas rolls around, my family goes into game-mode. We bust out all of our favorite games (Dixit and Balderdash), and this year we even ventured to learn some new ones (Flux and Munchkin). There was much fun to be had and food to be eaten. Time with my family soon turns into cherished memories of loving encounters. So I hope you'll excuse me for choosing a few days of family time over time crunching for my blog.

I do however want to finally get back down to business. So our day of Lovemas, this ugly, icy evening, is centered around the first half of 1 Corinthians 13:7. Love always protects, always trusts. Other versions (I usually gear towards the ESV) say “love bears all things, love believes all things”. To be honest, I like the “bears all things” translation a little better. Love that endures all things is what most people want when they go to sites like EHarmony or watch the latest romantic comedy. We all know the depth of our own failures and the frequency of our personal breakdowns, so we know that in reality, we need a love that will bear all of our various human failures. That is found in God first and foremost. But with God as our source, there is no reason why we can't also bring him glory by exercising a love that bears all things.

The advantage of walking in a love that bears all things is that your relationships will be a free place for mess-ups to happen without condemnation. To place unrealistic expectations on your relationships to live up to the perfection of fairy tales (Nicholas Sparks, I am looking at you) is to set them up for failure. We all need love because it gives us the opportunity to try, fail, and try again.

This is not to say that you still place someone that constantly betrays your trusts in an important place of trust again and again. Neither does it say that toxic relationships are important to keep maintained. We can see this clearly in the way that Joseph was planning to deal with what he had supposed to be infidelity in his and Mary's betrothal.

When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, "because he was a just man and unwilling to put her to shame" he had resolved to divorce her quietly. There was no quiet divorce, though. God had something else up his sleeve. But I imagine that if Joseph had been betrothed to a woman that actually had stepped out on him, he would have resolved to do the same. That is major integrity. That is also a massive step of love. If Mary had actually gotten pregnant by sleeping with another man, that would have been hugely embarrassing to Joseph! The fact that he decided to quietly do away with the issue speaks highly of his love that bears all thing as well as protects.

So if love does not always maintain bad relationships, why does it say that love always trusts? On first glance, that sounds quite foolish. There are people in this world that will do more than enough to loose our trust, and it is not wise to go back to them blindly. So this is one of the verses in the bible where it is in our best benefit to do some additional research, look at the context clues and put the puzzle pieces together. 

 The word used for trusts or believes is pisteuo. It means to believe or trust. So there is a major element of vulnerability by saying that we are going to love to the extent of believing all things. You will probably encounter many who will attempt to use you. I personally have experienced the situation of trusting someone and then realizing that they in fact were a person that I needed to rapidly distance myself from. The experience was not pleasant, tears were shed, and I was widely disappointed with the notion of church for a small period. But I do not wish that I had been more cynical in order to protect myself. 

We are going to face trials and tribulation in this time. We will even face some simply for the fact that we follow Christ. Much of that, I'm sure will be solely because we are operating in love while the world has a different system. We go against the grain much like riding a bike down a road meant for trains. At times, it might bumpy and unforgiving, but in the end, it is better to love than to close off your heart for fears sake. Walling away your heart may feel safe, and in fact it may be. But our point of thriving is not in the safe and closed off areas. We were all made to dive into the hot, bright, arid areas of vulnerability. God is standing in the desert, beaconing us to the scary realms of the unknown. When we are obedient to bear all and trust all, the living waters that flow from us are unstoppable.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 9 Delight in Evil

I think the Ninth day of Lovemas has beaten me. Our verse is 1 Corinthian’s 13: 6 which says, “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth”. The verse has two parts, what love does and what love does not. At first it seems like it should be blatantly obvious. Of course, I don’t rejoice at evil, and only delight in truth. But then I ask myself some questions with a mind to be honest with myself and God. What types of things fill me with rejoicing? What makes me smile or laugh? In a society that gets by on humor and jollies, there is a lot that has the potential to make us glad. But of the multitude of things that one might say makes them express joy, not all are created equal. And, frankly, the thought of having to possibly give up some of the things that I enjoy to watch and laugh at is a nothing short of terrifying.

Often, the world runs in such a way that constantly puts others down in order to pull itself up. It’s logic is one of protecting itself at all costs. I’ll make a joke about you before you make one about me. Are the things that we spend time enjoying following that path? Sarcasm and poking fun can come across as quite benign. I don’t think I have ever been in a group of people without it. But upon further honest inspection of that way of interacting with our fellow humans, we will see that the root from which it stems from is caustic and belittling. If we are sincere with ourselves, we will see that to put someone down, or to deal with them harshly just does not line up with love.

In the fourth chapter of Phillipians, in verse eight, Paul instructs us even further, saying "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." This is a great litmus test with which to gage the things we are choosing to delight in. Anything that lines up with this verse can be considered as truth and worthy of our headspace.

In theory, as people who love and know God, our days and minds should be filled to the brim with all sorts of these things. Hopefully, unlike the rest of society, we are actively weeding through whatever thoughts or stimulants our day presents to us to find whatever is worthy of the time God has given us. We can choose not to meditate on or delight in certain things. With the power of the Holy Spirit paired with our willingness to take the narrower road, this is possible.

The urgency to become avid rejoicers of the truth is this: we are the living version of Christ that people see. We can claim that Jesus is the reason for the season left and right, but ultimately it will be what we are rooting for that draws people's attention. Those around us will pick up on a heart that is far from God faster than we will. So let us be choosy about what we delight in, becoming fierce lovers of the righteousness. As we are changed by a savior who gave up his throne to come be with us on Earth, so shall the seed be planted in the hearts of those who witness our celebration of the truth.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 8 Record of Wrongs

The Bokeh of Christmas by Kristina Servant CCed by

As we continue on our trek of love meditation, it occurs to me that a refresher might be in store. The days of Lovemas can run together very easily because of the sheer nature of writing that seeks to study, devour and digest. I hope, rather than to bore you with more tedious dissection of verses, that I can keep the golden thread of hope and love that ties these posts together running strong. It is after all a series that rips it’s name straight from Christmas, so I think there should be a fair amount of cheer and rejoicing envolved!

The verse we have been going through is 1 Corinthans 13:4-8, “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[a] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”

My real and true goal of writing about this lofty subject has been number one, to hopefully act on what I believe to be God’s voice. Any fire or inspired writing that you might come across in my posts is all from him. I know that things will not always run perfectly, but my hope has always been to speak when God wants me to speak, and be silent when he desires my silence.

And secondly, the reason that I have been writing on this subject of love is to be part God’s movement to open our eyes to those around us. I long for a day when we as Christians are known by our love; love for one another, and love for those around us. It pains me to see that often, a combative stance is taken between us as Christians and others who don’t happen to believe as we do. I can’t even begin to describe my sheer disappointment as I hear pastor after pastor draw a cheap laugh from their congregation by making a fun of someone they disagree with. Our battle is not, nor has it ever been against the people around us, but that is another blog post. So rather than emphasize what we should carefully shy away from, I know that God desires to powerfully guide us to greater heights of living completely for him and loving those around us. And what better place to start that adventure than a Biblical depiction of love?

This eighth day of lovemas, on the 22nd of December (or Christmas Eve Eve Eve, as I like to call it), we have reached the tail end of verse five, “love is not resentful”. The Greek reads, “love keeps no record of wrongs”. If you’re anything like me, this verse fills you some very mixed emotions. At first I get goose bumps as I realize that this particular phrase points directly to God. I know that I am getting to know him more when I read the phrase, “love keeps no record of wrongs” because that is God’s very nature. He is generous with his mercy and forgiveness. We never have to worry because of past mistakes, because God first loved us. And he also first counted our sins no more.

But I also try to put on the verse, and apply it to my own life, and it doesn’t seem to fit. With God, all all all things are possible, but to keep no record of wrong seems to be a mountain of a task.

I must point out that it doesn’t say that love forgets everything that has ever happened. It says that love keeps no record of what has been done to them. Paul is not trying to imply that when we come to Christ, we get some sort of case of amnesia. He is saying that love does not take the things people have done and let a seed of bitterness be planted. Rather than imagining a life where Christians are all incredibly forgetful, I picture a bitter old woman hunched in her rocking chair with a notebook full of entries. This blue, ragged spiral has been with her for some time, now. She angrily reads through the book cover to cover as she has since she was a young woman. Her teeth grind, and her fingers grasp at the tattered pages. She quietly thumbs through the handwritten tale of woes. Her life is full of turmoil, and her love is squelched. The neighborhood children avoid her yard at all costs.

While I hope that this story is not real, I do know that those are the sad and eventual consequences of keeping a record of wrongs. Bitterly holding onto things that have been done to us closes off the heart, and eventually a sort of leprosy sets in. We are no longer able to feel compassion for those around us. Our heart becomes hard, cold, and dead.

This resentful feeling is what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 13:5. His warning against offense is simple, but the harm it causes is massive and should be avoided at all costs. Not only does bitterness hurt our testimony because it drains us of our love, but it is incredibly damaging to our own souls. The carnage that comes from habitual resentment is most strongly felt by the person holding onto their forgiveness. While this action of holding onto what others have done to us is bad because it keeps us from loving them, it is decidedly worse for the one who is denying the forgiveness. The storm that is weathered is of their own choice. It hurts, it is isolated, and it can rob you of years you might never get back.

God never intended for us to lose ourselves in a battle to hold onto the past. He sent his son, and with that tiny baby came hope and joy that surpasses all understanding. When we say yes to Christ and his way of living and forgiving, we shine like the star that shone the first Christmas in Bethlehem. Cheesy as it might sound, we are the modern day stars leading others to Christ. They are looking and searching for something different, something brighter than what the world offers them. When God softens our hard hearts and we stop keeping a record of wrongs, the lost notice and flock to see the manger king.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 7 Easily Angered

Let me just start the Seventh Day of Lovemas by saying that I think I might be the chief of sinners when it comes to this aspect of love. I find that this is one of the most difficult areas in my life to stay obedient to God. Are you ready for it? Okay, here it is: love is not easily angered. Let me just be the first to inwardly sigh. Did you guys sigh too? Okay, good. I'm glad that I am in good company.

Here we go, "love is not easily angered". Are you kidding me Paul? Oh wait, I just thought of something. This doesn't apply to us. Yah,'cause you see, it can't! Paul lived in an age befor cars and rush hour. If he had written the letter to the church in Corinth in this day and age, he would have never put that in there!

And don't even get me started on computers! If Paul had had to deal with slow internet connections, he wouldn't have dreamed of asking us to not get easily angered! Not a chance. It would have said, love holds back angry words, or love does not give in to road rage. But that's not what it says.

God knew the frustrations that we would face in our day to day. He could see from that moment in time to here and back, and still that part of the verse is in there. And this wasn't written from a cushy sheltered Christian standpoint either. Paul faced wrongful imprisonment, and even physical beatings. If anyone had a cause to be angry, it was the author of the verse. But yet it still says, "love is not easily angered".

So how does one assuage the tempest we face every day? It seems sometimes that there is just unending stream of idiots coming across my path, honestly. I mean really, there is practically an endless list of things that tip me over the edge. Which leads me to believe that, when trying to line up our hearts with this seemingly unobtainable holy love, the first step is to find the root of the anger rather than trying to just hold our breath and wish away our feelings.

So let's take a real look at this odd emotion. We never desire the catalysts-traffic jams, nosey neighbors, false rumors. No one goes out of the house saying, "I really hope I am chewed out by a customer today!" But we seem incredibly quick to turn on that faucet of rage, even spewing profanities and declaring people to be anything but worthy of humanity. Why is that? Well I can say that for myself, anger can be a lot like a drug. One can get dunk off of angrily gossiping about someone who has wronged them. I'll even find myself sometimes imagining fights that have never happened with people in my head! It's as if I enjoy the feeling. That's because I think we do.

Often, the root of our anger is insecurity. We are desperately fighting to not be forgotten or stepped on, or treated as less than. This self doubt causes us to live in a constant combative mode, and ultimately, we become very angry people. We read into situations, assuming that we are being put down, when really people are just going about their day. The reality of situations is lost, and our default setting becomes being thin skinned. 

Think of it this way. Why do we sometimes get mad about someone passing us on the road? Are we really mad that they are driving in that lane, or is it because we are thinking of it in terms of how they are viewing us? In reality, the driver is just going about their day. They aren't making a statement about how fast or slow we are going, they could probably care less about us personally. But we take it as a belligerent message about our shortcomings. It's not about them. It's about us. Our self doubt has tricked us into believing that we are being insulted, and our toxic response is anger. When you're in the moment, their insolence feels very real. But after we have calmed down it's usually clear how foolish the whole thing was.

Everyone deals with self esteem. Some have a better handle on it than others, but the real way to feel better about yourself is not to go on a diet or pick up a new hobby. God must be our source, and he has some pretty great things to say about us! Dont forget that no mater what people at work, on the road, or in your home think about you, God loves you and thinks you're incredibly special. According to him, we ARE good enough. God is the only constant that we can depend on. If we wish to live more confident lives, it won't come in a pill. It will come when we lean into the lovingkindness of our Father.

Another root that will have us on the fast track to anger is unforgiveness. There will be people in our lives that act very inconsiderately towards us. We will be counted out, pushed down, and made to feel like we are not enough. It is wrong for them to do that, any way you slice it. It is not okay. But when we decide to keep our forgiveness locked up, we open ourselves up to a life devoid of peace and consumed by anger. Holding on to forgiveness is like dangerously spewing gasoline on our blazing fire of anger. It crushes our capacity to love and eventually, it's slimy fingers reach into every part of our life.

Forgiving someone who was dead wrong is no walk in the park, though. I don't wish to minimize the difficulty that faces someone that decides it is time to let go of anger. It takes a lot of prayer, and leaning into God. The journey to forgiveness is a daily battle. We must continually choose to not pick back up the intoxicating emotion of holding a grudge. And ultimately, we have to place our trust and our heart into the hands of the Healer, and let him do his work.

The last of the possible roots for love consuming anger is fear. The first time that I heard it said that animals act aggressive when spooked, I thought that made no sense. As a young girl, as I knew it, when I was afraid, I acted timid, not aggressive. But as I have grown older, it has become much clearer to me. Sometimes when we are afraid, we tense up and lash out. We fight the urge to give in to timidly being terrified and vulnerable, throw up our defenses, and act out against those around us. The anger is not because of them, but because of the fear we harbor inside.

The only fix for that, again, is God. Fear is crippling. It can cause is not to step out in faith, and it can crush our ability to love. But God's perfect love cast's out fear. When we ask him, he is faithful and powerful to help us walk in peace.

Anger, in most of it's forms affirms our fears and need for justice. It tells us that we're right and to hold our ground against our brother. As humans, we are going to wrong each other. We are going to wrong each other again and again. But the sooner that we are real with ourselves about where this anger is coming from, the sooner that we can allow God's love to pour out rather than fear, insecurity and unforgiveness. 

Now you will notice that it says that love is not easily angered. It doesn't say that love never gets angry. Anger is not a sin. Even Jesus was angry, but he never sinned. So Paul is trying to urge us to have a longer fuse; to be gracious and loving with each other. We must connect with God on a daily basis to learn to walk through lives less irritably. Anger is a massively difficult emotion to navigate, but by leaning into God for help and guidance, we can grow not in anger but in love.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 6 Self Seeking

We are to the sixth day of Lovemas, and personally, this is the first day that I have actually felt like it was Christmas. The Christmas commercials, and jingles on the radio have been on since after Thanksgiving, but I still didn't feel the tingle of Christmas magic. With air crisp and cool, Teagan and I finally have started the rounds to our many families’ Christmas’s. And I am happy to say, that at long last, Christmas, for me, is definitely here.

Today’s Christmas was with my mother’s side of the family. As we all piled in to my parents’ heavilly Christmas clad home, I looked around to see many parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents; all wonderful people that had large hand in raising me and pouring into my life. Year after year I have eaten great food, and received thoughtful Christmas presents. So it occurred to me, while spoonful deep in stupendous soup, that I will never be able to repay any of the selflessness that I have been privileged enough to accept throughout the years. The numerous times that the ridiculous requests of little Candace were met without complaint or objection will never be paid back. This might cause me to approach family holidays with dread. I could very well be consumed with the fear that the love from my family might run out if I don't personally refill the tank, but I don't have to look at it that way. This is because love does not keep a tally. Love is simply not self seeking.

Just out of speculation, I would say that Paul left, "love is not self seeking" for later on in the verse because it encompasses so much of what has already been said. Rude, prideful, envious behavior all revolve around one thing; looking out for ourselves. And conversely, the way that we have seen love played out in the Bible so often is in a manner that forgets the needs and desire of the person loving. Much of the time, stories in the Bible seem unjust, leaving the person at fault with forgiveness rather than retribution. 

Jonah was sent to deliver a message the Ninevties, a ruthless and Godless people. He reluctantly accepted, not expecting his message to be received. But after seeing the Ninevites change their ways rather than be consumed by God, Jonah was found himself to be upset instead of joyful. The Ninevites were notorious for being a barbaric- even impaling their enemies. They were not a popular people to say the least. Jonah, knowing all of this, had kind of betted against them. He had even chosen a nice perch upon which to watch them burn! Talk about pesimistic.

But when the Nineties repented of their ways and humbly mourned their completely sinful ways of life, Jonah was dumbfounded. He had assumed that God had him on a last ditch effort type of mission, not a mission of salvation. As if God was saying, "okay, Jonah, I would really like to blow these guys into last Passover, but just to cover my bases I'm going to send you to make sure that they at least have knowledge of me. Ya know- since I plan to wipe 'em out and all." So when they weren't consumed with fire and brimstone, Jonah threw a fit saying, "It is better for me to die than live".

Now I could sit here and criticize Jonah. He ends up being given a plant for shade from God and mourning it's eventual death more than the potential annihilation of an entire city! That's pretty harsh there, Jonah. But really, I relate to him a lot more than I wish to admit. I often sit and stew about other's that I know are not living for God. I easily get annoyed at their shortcomings, and just as God asked Jonah when he fumed about the salvation of the Ninevites, I can feel God also asking me, "Do you do so well to be angry?" As if he is saying, "Are you enjoying this? Does it feel good to care for yourself so much more than others that the second they do something wrong you are simmering on a perch hoping for them to die?" 

Eventually, the question that God presented to Jonah to softly let him know that he was out of line (Do you do well to be so angry?) gets answered with a surprising amount of sass! After Jonah's self proclaimed need for death, God asks him once more, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he retorts with, "Yes I do well to be angry, angry enough to die." Woa now, Jonah, you're talking with God here. Maybe you should be a little more reverent or something? You seem a little more headed for destruction than the Ninevites ever were!

Okay, so Jonah's comment back to God was pretty brash, but I think it's not unlike something that I have probably thought before. I might not have directly prayed it to God, but the thought was still there as well as the weight and meaning of this declaration of it's not worth it if I have to live with such injustice. I mean, lets face it, there have been people in each of our lives that have wronged us in really un acceptable ways. That makes it is incredibly hard to love selflessly. In order to even pull off this God-sized feat, the key is dying to ourselves.

Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." So to fully live in such a way that you are not self-seeking, we have to no longer submit to our desires for ourselves. Rather than considering ourselves first, we must assume a posture that directs our priority to God. As explained in the verse, this is all done by faith. The do it power that we need to overcome our urge to live for ourselves can never be conjured up by our own hearts. We must live by faith. We must trust in God. 

It is when we submit to God, saying "I don't quite understand how, but please help me live for you. Help me to live selflessly", that he is able tor flow through us and teach us the gracious and kind ways of love. No, it doesn't come easily. In fact, about the only time that we see each other living selflessly is when we are dealing with our children and family (and even then, sometimes we don't). But day by day of asking God to help us be obedient to opportunities of selfless love is all that is needed. God can use the small portion that we have to bring, and multiply our faith into material that changes lives just as he did with Jesus. So just as Jesus first submitted to the will of God by the somewhat humiliating birth in a manger, we also can place our faith before the God of Christmas wonders, and watch as selfless love pours out.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 5 Rude

"Christmas #27" by Kevin Dooley/ CCed by

Prepare yourselves! Today I decided to deviate off of the normal path I have taken this Lovemas. Our verse snippet today is, "love is not rude". I was feeling a little silly (and possibly somewhat serious about this whole loving on Christmas discussion), and I may have gone a little overboard. Whatever the case, I present to you, my Rude Christmas Poem:

Rude Christmas Poem

People.

People.

People people people!

It’s Christmas,

and everywhere there are people!

My normal activities,

Quiet and serene,

Now include interactions.

Life’s less than pristine.

The cat lady in me cries out for solitude.

Her claws are sharpened

Pointed straight at the multitude.

I was here first.

Everyone else should go home!

I repeat-

Pack up, and get yourself home!

Don’t dare cross me,

Or talk to me in any way.

You’ll cater to me,

If you wish to stay.

This world is mine

Not yours

Not ours.

My rude attitude has set in

Much like how milk sours.

But why shouldn’t it, of course?

I am the queen!

When one is so great,

They get to be mean.

But all joke’s aside,

Have you seen some of these folks?

Their diving’s so bad,

This must be a hoax!

I’m having a bad dream

This is the Truman Show!

What are you doing in that lane?!

Going fast, going slow?

My shopping is bombarded

With a thousand soccer moms.

Each with their screaming Suzies

And fit throwing Toms.

Why can’t you handle your kids?!

Weren’t you raised right?

If I were in your situation,

Things would be run much more tight!

My anger is rising

But we can’t stop now.

It’s the time of day

When we stop for some chow!

Now what have we here?

My order is all wrong.

You’ve mixed me up

With someone else in this throng.

And after all of this

was said and done

I looked at my water, and-surprise!

I looked and found none.

This is wearing me thin.

I wish all these people would go away!

If they weren’t here

I could go about my day.

I’m busy living for Jesus!

It’s his birthday, you know.

You’re making it so hard

For me to spiritually grow.

If you would all stop existing,

That would be great!

I’m sure we don’t want to overcrowd

Heaven’s pearly gates.

So this December

My gift to you all

Is for you to quietly remember

The depth of your fall.

With driving that bad,

Kids screaming, and food service so late

I’m sure you can see

That my words are not hate.

Tough love is indeed,

As it says,

Nice and tough.

I really mean well,

Even though it sounds rough.

So take my gift of judgment

And be on your way.

This is after all,

My Savior’s day.

Wouldn’t want you to taint Christmas

With your messy needs.

Medicine for Suzie’s ear infection,

A father to be there

for a family of three.

You say that you won’t

Be able to make rent?

My food is still cold.

And your excuses aren’t worth a cent!

Because I’ve got it together

I don’t know why you do not.

I think it’s your fault

You aren’t doing so hot.

Whatever the case,

Keep a distance from me,

So I can celebrate my salvation

Alone in quiet jubilee.

The Fourth Day of Lovemas| Day 4 Proud

"35 Days Until Christmas - Christmas Lights" by Chris Jones/ CC by

The fourth day of Lovemas is upon us! Our Lovemas season is only four days in, but already it seems that love has proven to be quite a complex word. The box that we put love in is bursting at the seams as we get into what counts as love and what does not count as love. But very briefly, I just want to get back to the point of all of this. Let me just express to you that the reason that I have typed out four blog posts, all with the rather campy term "lovemas" in them, is because love is important to God.

I would rather not carry on for twelve days about something that is fruitless and has no meaning. Nothing would give me more joy than to pull back on the reigns and be a little more conservative on how much and how often I creatively put my voice out there. But Jesus himself plainly stated how important love is multiple times. So I continue on, believing that the tiny spark that I hope to generate might be fanned by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This time of year, as Christians, we get wrapped up in making sure that the public knows and honors what is important to us. Stating that the reason we choose to partake in the festivities this Christmas is Jesus and Jesus alone is good! But I fear that we sometimes forget that one of the easiest ways for an outsider to understand what is important to us crazy Christians is to witness us act it out rather than to hear us shout it out. Jesus said that they would know us as Christian's by our love. So I think, in a world that is desperately struggling for a savior, it is paramount that we spend some time in figuring out what is meant when it says to love our neighbor in the Bible.

Love, as it turns out, is a verb rather than a noun describing a fickle emotion. As seen in the days of Lovemas one through three, it is clear that love is a powerful surging action rather than a lofty fleeting feeling-is present one moment and gone the next. In fact, love is a major game changer. When loving someone, we don't treat them as we might treat someone that we don’t like. We amend our actions towards them and act kinder and gentler. We don't get quite as mad at them as we would others. In short, we show them that we care. Why? Because we love them, and this is how one loves someone. What we choose to do or not do is how others know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we love them.

On this most glorious of Lovemas’s, the part of the power verse that we have been going through that we shall dress is "Love is not proud". Proud. Now there's a word that almost feels archaic. The usual usage of the word proud is a positive one- one that could even flow into the rhealm of love. When I think of the word "proud" I usually imagine a father looking into the eyes of his son and saying, "I'm proud of you". That particular scenario is a beautiful scene of love and acceptance. In fact it is also a type of picture of God's paternal love for us! But that is not what 1 Corinthian's 13 is referring to here.

The Greek word φυσιόω (fooseeo' o) literally means to puff or blow up. I imagine a puffer fish quickly enlarging it’s body in an atempt to scare away a hungry predator. The word used for pride in 1 Corinthians 13:4 is synonymous with the word arrogant. So we are talking about embodying a sense of superiority, self importance, or entitlement rather than delighting in someone we adore. Those characteristics are some of the most recognizably negative traits that a person could encompass. I think we have all been annoyed by an arrogant person some time or another. But pride goes much further than an annoying quirk. Pride opposes wisdom.

Biblically speaking, where there is pride, wisdom will not be. This is because pride is blinding. When we are proud-sure of ourselves and our ability rather than God's- we take our eyes off of God and place them squarely on ourselves. It’s like putting on a big pair of horse blinders and trying to navigate a rocky path. An unwanted and unexpected tumble into the dirt will quickly be on its way, because we are unable to see when God is pointing us away from calamity. Eventually, we will walk right into it.

Pride and wisdom might not sound related when first hearing the two words. But the important connection between being puffed up and tapping into wisdom can be found in two key verses of Proverbs. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Okay, let’s stop right here for a bit and break that down some more.

The fear of the Lord has always been a biblical phrase that perplexes me. Are we supposed to be afraid of God? Is our loving father supposed to strike us with terror? I thought we were now able to boldly approach the throne. Well, if we look at the word used in the Hebrew for fear here (yirah), we can see rather than being horrified, it is referring to a sort of awe and reverence. So when Solomon was talking about the beginning of wisdom, he was talking about admiration, amazement, and even worship! That humble posture is where we need to be to even be at the starting point of wisdom. Knowing who God is (knowledge of the Holy One) brings us to the meek stance of being usable by God. And if we are standing in humility before God, it is impossible for us to also be prideful.

Proverbs 8: 13 continues to further explain what the fear of the Lord is saying, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate." When we stand in awe and knowledge of God’s holiness, our our hearts are changed. We may still struggle, but the Holy Spirit is alive and working in us. And in that work, pride and God simply do not mix. Assuming a posture of pride in our thoughts and actions leaves us unusable by God, and ultimately cut off of understanding and discernment. Throughout the bible, we can see case after case of the crippling affect of pride.

King Nebuchadnezzar is a wonderful example of pride going before the fall. King Nebuchadnezzar was big into mystics, other gods, and pomp and circumstance. In this particular chapter, good ole Chad was feeling pretty highly of himself. Daniel 4:30-32 says,

“30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’
31 “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. 32 You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’”

I love that. While Nebuchadnezzar was still mouthing off about how great he was, he is interrupted. Mid sentence, I would guess. I imagine God saying, “how much longer will he go on?! Just start now-deliver the message now”. See, God cannot stand pride. It goes against the very fabric of love. God designed us for fellowship, and not to lord ourselves over others because of our false sense of entitlement.

Herod had some trouble with pride too. Upon the birth of Jesus, instead of being overjoyed at the fact that salvation for the world had finally come, he was consumed with the need to be the great King. Fully immersed in a pride and insolence, Herod ordered all of the baby boys in Bethlehem to be killed. He greeted the son of man with attempted murder. Pride is like that. It clouds the mind like a poison, making us forget that God's mission for us and those around us is to be reconciled to him. God longs for us to put down our supposed titles and love one another.

We are not better than anyone, even societies proclaimed "least of these". We are not more deserving than those around us, even people who we feel like aren't doing enough. We were just as lost, just as in need of a savior as that one person that we might feel owes us. This Christmas season, rather than unwittingly attempting to crush the love that God has extended to us by keeping it from others, let us look and behold the son of God. Let us gaze upon the manger with awe and worship, and realize who he is, and who we really are.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas| Day 3 Envy & Boast

The third day of Lovemas is here, and it seems that our true love has decided give us the gift of not gifting. He presents us open armed with lack; a lack of envy or boasting, that is. We have reached the part of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 that talks about what love is not. And love does not envy or boast.

One would think that we should understand by now how to love. Paul has instructed us using word's like pacient and kind, which are wonderful indicators of the rich depth of love. But you see, Paul was smart. He knew that one of the best ways to communicate the definition of something is to include a portion about what it is not. We learn by hearing what to do, but we also need to learn what it is we should not. And envy and boasting are a great place to start.

Envy and boasting walk hand in hand. Envy joins us when we covet the sucess of others. She is quick to hold our hand and validate any talk we have of being less than those around us. Her mood is always low, and her skin a pasty shade of grey. The phrases, "I want" and "it's not fair" are ever on her thin lips.

Boasting is always available to join the party when we think too highly of ourselves. He always says yes to invitations of self praise. While he is there, we can be sure that he will help us up every rung on the ladder of pride. It's not at all uncommon to hear him bellowing obnoxiously in the streets.

These partners in crime love to see us scramble in conflict to be the best. The motivation for their handiwork seems to be self preservation; "I'll take care of me because no one else will". But the end result is much more monsterous than we might guess. The true biproduct of behavior such as envy and boasting is actually dehumanization of everyone around us.

The game we play while envying or boasting is not unlike the action of climbing a ladder. Those we envy are merely obasticles to overcome. No longer are they our brother or sister, with whom we would usually rejoice, but now they take on the faceless form of a roadblock. Our perception of their sucess and our lack of what they have quickly turns into marshy, dirty waters. When deciding to envy, we inadvertently trap ourselves in this muck, and doom ourselves to lives devoid of compassion or joy. The rotting feeling of envy soon consumes us, leaving our love blackened with fuzzy patches of mold.

Boasting follows in suit. The object of it's affection is Number One (ourselves). It will use any and every chance to take an accomplishment and run with it straight to pride. From zero to puffed up in point five seconds, boasting is a path leading directly to placing ones self higher than those around you. The aftermath, again, is that those around you become lifeless encumbrances to your plight in becoming better than the rest.

The thread running through this double sided mess is comparison. We line ourselves, our acomplishments, and our mistakes up against everyone we encounter. It's a natural response. I know that personally, I hate to be behind. If I find myself falling behind my own perceived expectations, I will end up running myself ragged in order to catch up. The problem with that, though, is that God has us all on our own paths. He delights in each one of us individually, and his plan's for us are not one size fit's all.

The guy next door may be a few promotions ahead of you, but that's not any reflection on yourself. In fact, it very well may be that you are still in that position, because it is actually more profitable for you than if you were to jump the gun like you would want. All while we are coveting what those around us have, God may be saying, "but look at what I have for you! I have tailor made this life exactly for you. Please just stay with me a little while. I'll show you that it is not all for nothing." 

Oh the joy and fulfillment we could experience if we would realize that God has got us! Envying keeps us from doing that, and is even a little bit of a slap in the face to God. If we are interested in something that a friend has, we would do well to take it as an opportunity to place our trust in God. But we must also realize that God might just simply have other plan's for us. We can always trust that they will be good, and this should take some of the air out of comparing.

Trusting that God as our source should help eradicate the need to boast too. After comparing ourselves with others, and pushing them down instead of up, we are essentially forgetting where it is we have come from and who it is that has enabled us to get here. 

1 Corinthians 15:10a  says, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain." God is our source. Without his grace, we are nothing. James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above". So really, when we hit that great accomplishment, the glory is to God, and not ourselves. Even though in the physical, we did a lot of work, we know that we were able to because God decided that we should. But don't take that as a bummer, because it is invigorating to know that the King of the Universe has got our back. Instead of boasting in ourselves, we can boast in God throughout the bleakest of situations. The tables turn from, "look what I did" to, "with God, there is nothing I can't do".

Envy and boasting are lose lose situations. They stifle our ability to love others, and they rob us of the opportunity to trust in God completely. We must lean into God as we strive to see those around us through his loving and forgiving eyes. God longs for us to interact with each other in a way that places high importance on the person rather than the boost we might get while passing them by. And that's why our King of Kings was born in a manger rather than in the halls of some great palace. His father, a carpenter, and his mother, a teenage girl.

The Twelve Days of Lovemas | Day 2 Kind

"Christmas decorations - Charlie Brown and Sally read the Sunday comics" by Kevin Dooley/ CC by

Love is kind. Our second day of Lovemas is centered around kindness. This simple word is one that we have been taught from a very young age. Little girls and boys are told to be kind as soon as they can understand speech. But as we grow older, sometimes the result of that early teaching is that we forget what the word really means. The word "kind" becomes ambiguous, drawing images of Mother Teresa and Pooh Bear. Somewhere down the line, the weight and importance of kindness leaves us, and as a result, we become irritable unforgiving folks.

The word used in the actually Greek is χρηστεύομαι (khraste-yoo'-om-ahee). It means full of service to others; gentle. Some of my favorite synonyms of the word kind are considerate, gentle, gracious, charitable, compassionate, and friendly. Isn't that just like drinking a nice fresh mug of hot chocolate? The idea of kindness, or rather, kind acts performed for you, is actually one of the most wonderful thoughts there is. The concept alone can leave one feeling like they've just gotten a big hug.

But kindness is not passive. While the thought of it can be intoxicating, kindness cannot be simply thought into existence. We are not kind simply by being Christians and going to church. The very nature of kindness demands to be physically acted out. In order for us to be kind, we must act kindly, rather than just thinking or saying that we are.

The concept of acting out what we believe and who we say that we are is clearly outlined in the rather jarring passage in Matthew 25:31-46. It starts with the good news,

"34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’"

Okay I can handle that. That's good! Go sheep! But then after that, it get's pretty shaky. This parable is about when Jesus comes back, and to be honest, this sheep and goats passage makes me massively uncomfortable. Here is what happens next.

"41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”"

Gah, that's not fun. Honestly, I wish that that weren't there, because it calls my soul to ask the question, "am I really loving?" Are my actions reflecting my faith in God, or is my faith more like what was mentioned in James 2 when it says "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead"?

This day of Lovemas has turned out a lot more sobering than I had expected, believe me. I had to gather all of the guts I had to address Matthew 25:31-46. And after putting those verses in there, that parable just turned around and ripped them right back out. But the call to arms, while a necessary step on the way to being kind, is not all that there is to the second day of Lovemas. 

Being kind is like having a flamethrower slung over your shoulder. Kindness is not a weak or fearful stance, as the world might have us believe. Strength is not found in those who put on a tough front and push others down. It is found in the spiritual buffs who serve and are kind, despite the attitudes of others or the situations around them. Simply put, kindness in action can move mountains.

This is seen clearly throughout the Bible. The most impressive stories of transformation begin with seemingly misplaced kindness. When everyone else turned up their noses at the thought of a tax collector, Jesus decided to spend some time with a guy that probably didn't have very many friends. He not only talked to him, but he decided to spend the day with him at his house! And what was the result? The heart of Zacchaeus was softened. He had newfound generosity! Not only did he give back what he had fraudulently taken from others while collecting taxes, but he gave it back fourfold! Times four! And on top of that, he gave half of his goods to the poor. 

This massive change of heart did not come by force. No amount of eye rolling when Zacchaeus walked in he room made any headway in turning his heart toward the poor. He was shown kindness and love by Jesus' act of befriending, and in turn, his heart was transformed.

But he encountered Jesus! How could something I do have the same effect as that of the Son of God? Well you're right. We could very easily chalk it all up to the fact that he encountered our Lord and Savior, Jesus. But in reality, Jesus was a man just like us. He had no magical powers. He was not born with some sort of extra sector in his brain that allowed for him to be holier than the rest of us. He was born by a woman in a barn while cattle watched. Jesus was not superhuman. He had he Holy Spirit. A part of the trinity that dwells in us today as well.

So we ought not think of acts of kindness as an unobtainable fairytale. The power of the Holy Spirit is in us, enabling us to be different. No, kindness is not how the world operates. But it is how God operates. God sees those whom the world calls "the least of these" and announces the birth of his son to them while they're watching their sheep at night. His answer to the pain and brokenness of the world is not anger and rejection, but the ever soft beckoning of salvation through his son. 

God's priority is and always has been his creation. The entire Christmas story is one of undeserved kindness, starting with Jesus' decision to leave heaven to be with us. The choice for Jesus to be the sacrificial lamb was not a move of weakness, as adversaries might have thought. They recognized Jesus vulnerability and simplicity as a baby, but failed to see the death conquering potentiality of God's action of overflowing kindness and love. In the end, the curtain that kept us from God was torn from top to bottom. Reconciliation and transformation are always the direct product of kindness and love.

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Thank you for reading! I would love your feedback! What comes to mind when you think of kindness? Feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas in the comment section bellow. You can subscribe by email for content on every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday as often as possible.

If you enjoyed your read, please consider sharing on Facebook or Twitter.
Above all, know that you are loved.

Happy Wednesday!

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Twelve Days of Lovemas | Day 1 Patient

In the last blog post I wrote, I made a case for devoting the Christmas season to Jesus by loving those that we come in contact with. I carefully laid out why we should choose to make a special effort to love during the month of December, but I didn't outline specific ways to do this. So in light of my latest challenge to myself and anyone else brave enough to take it, I present the Twelve Days of Lovemas! 

Tada!

Love is a word that is thrown around quite a bit. We love cake. We love coffee. We love Grandma. And we also love our significant others. But the Twelve Days of Lovemas are not centered around any of our colloquial definitions of love. The ordinary interpretations that we use for love are fleeting, unpredictable, unreliable and shallow. This advent series is centered around 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in which Paul lines out the characteristics of love. 

Before we get into that, though, I think it is important to mention the context of this angel-punch of a passage. Paul had just finished talking to the church about being unified. He likened them to a body; all being different, yet all essential parts that come together to complete the entire body of Christ. Then he goes on.

1 Corinthians 12:27 says "27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way."

I love that. And I will show you still a more excellent way. Paul had just outlined to them some of the different gifts that the Holy Spirit has for us to operate in. Teaching, healing, administering; they're all  wonderful and exciting ways for us to live for God in what we do. The lineup would seem to be complete; then Paul says, "But wait, there's more!"

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 continues on, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing." 

Paul is really trying to get our attention here with some obvious repetition. He might as well have written *alarm sound* in his letter before these verses. He is saying, "Don't miss this! Because any of the gifts that I just mentioned-the things that you are arguing on which is best- mean nothing if your actions are not rooted in love". Wow. What a statement. If anything that we do that is done without love is futile, then the urgency to learn what love is and what it is not would be disastrous to ignore. 

And that brings us to our Lovemas passage, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. You'll notice that it says patient on the lovely Lovemas picture. That's because the first characteristic that Paul chooses to list is patient. "Love is patient". I wonder why he listed it first? Maybe it just came to Paul's mind first, or possibly it was first because it was one of the most difficult attributes to actually live out. Or maybe he was hinting to the church in Corinth how difficult they were. Either way, our first day is on patience.

According to dictionary.com, patience is defined as "the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like." Hmm. You know, at first glance, this sounds pretty unappealing. I mean, when I think patience, I think about waiting on macaroni in the microwave, not enduring pain or misfortune. I thought patience was more about waiting than anything else. And look at the last part! Patience is two parted, supposedly! Without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like? You know what, lets just close shop. Lovemas is off. This is too hard.

...

..

But that's not an option, is it? See, because God first loved us. He first showed us patience. God took on all of the provocation, annoyance, misfortune, and pain that we caused and did not complain. He did not loose his temper. God did not simply get irritated, or even the like. God's response to us was patience. And he was patient unto the point of sending his son to die for us.

So how do we do this, this love thing. Because that is something else! This two parted patience definition is blowing my picture of loving others out of the water. How does one choose patience in the face of annoyance? It's easy to say a hearty, "amen" and vow to show people the patience this holiday season. But the second someone decides to cut me off on my way to the mall, or the item I rush ordered online gets addressed incorrectly, that word patience takes a Christmas vacation from my vocabulary. And I get it. This is me. I am speaking from experience when I talk about having the best of intentions but having know idea where to start. I will be the first to admit that patience might have been listed first by Paul because God knew that I was coming. So I have two additional p-words for us: prayer and practice.

Like any new habit, loving others takes time to become successfully integrated into our daily actions. If one wants to loose weight, it will take time to get into the habit of exercising often and eating right. Patience is no different. As God helps us change our actions and changes our hearts, there will be many times when we will miss an opportunity to be patient with someone. Thank God for those times, because before starting on this Lovemas adventure, it might not have even occurred to you that there was an opportunity to be missed. Simply stand up, dust of your britches, and rest assured that this month, there will be even more chances ahead of you to practice patience.

And we must make sure that practicing isn't where we stop. Practicing these new concepts without prayer would lead to eventual burnout. Just as any action that we do that isn't rooted in love is fruitless, any attempts to change our hearts without God are also going to fall flat. Apart from God, we can accomplish nothing. The Holy Spirit is the one who can work miracles, and the changing of hearts towards God and his ways are no exception. 

When saying yes to the Twelve Days of Lovemas, the best way we can go forward on each of the characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is to pray and ask God for the strength and ability.  It is a challenge, but when we ask God for help, he is faithful. It may not be immediate, but God will open our eyes, and open our hearts upon our honest and humble request. And when we put our trust in the one who was patient enough with us to say, "Just wait. I'm not done with them yet. Just wait and see what I do in Bethlehem", we be able to walk in a love that mirrors that expressed the first Christmas day.

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Thank you for reading! I would love your feedback! What are some of your stories on patience? Feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas in the comment section bellow. You can subscribe by email for content on every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday as often as possible.

If you enjoyed your read, please consider sharing on Facebook or Twitter.
Above all, know that you are loved.

Happy Sunday!

Christmas, Trees, and Meaning

If you have never cut down your own Christmas tree from a tree farm, you have yet to experience one of the best Christmas traditions that exists. For much of my life, my mom, dad, and two brothers would cram into my Dad's truck and drive to the nearest tree farm to pick out the best, most beautiful, symmetrical tree possible. Rows upon rows of trees of all sizes would present themselves to us as we stepped out of Dad's red truck.

There is no trick or rush to shopping for a tree on a Christmas tree farm. They don't run out, or wilt because no one has bought them. None of the trees are wilted or packaged like sausage in netting outside of Walmart. They are all beautiful, green and smell like magic. As my family would walk down the rows of trees, measuring pvc pipe in hand, my heart would race in anticipation of the beginning of the best time of the year. Much like has been said about golf, Christmas tree shopping is really just one long walk in the park. You go with the goal of snagging a holiday centerpiece to show off for the month, but end up relishing in the company of those special enough for you to be with on the holidays.

 Upon finding the perfect tree, my brothers and dad would all work together to saw it down. One of them would hold the tree while the other would cut, trying to get the cut nice and level. After slaying your tree and bringing it up front, and they put your prized tree into a device not unlike a retro fat melting jiggle machine. This alarmingly rough handling of your tree is simply to shake off all of the bugs and dead needles. Lastly, they put your tree in a net, you hand the nice man some money, and receive  the obligatory Christmas tree shopping candy cane. I have never been to a Christmas tree farm that doesn't offer you one, and the small gesture is definitely a perfect finish to a wonderful tradition.

Christmas never stops in those fields of fir trees. Year round the coniferous trees stand tall, merely waiting for us to come partake a little slice Yuletide cheer. Despite a lack of traffic during the other eleven months of the year, these fir trees are always green, and constantly smelling of Christmas. Their loyalty and unchanging face throughout the unstable seasons should not go without notice. Yes, they are trees, and I might be stretching here, but I still think we have something to learn. We too should be like the Christmas trees.

This is not news to anyone, though. In fact, I think we might be overdoing it a little. Year after year, another experience I muddle through somehow is hearing the phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season"! (I wonder if Jesus ever thought that his name would rhyme so well with the word season that it would become part of a platitude?) Honestly, it feels as if we as Christians have made it our goal to keep the season sacred and completely acknowledged by anyone who dares partake in the most hallowed of holidays. We are convinced that there is some sort of righteous battle to be fought in the Christmas season.

Any notion that Christmas might have secular influences is taken as blasphemy. Anything less than the two words "Merry Christmas" is an all out attack on the sweet baby Jesus! We must defend our obviously waining right to celebrate Jesus birthday! *sarcasm* But after going through year after year of seeing the body of Christ don this sort of militant mentality, I can't help but to ask, is this really the true meaning of Christmas?

If the heartbeat of the Christian Christmas season has become, "my Christmas is holler than yours! And I will not have my toes stepped on, so let me put up my defenses along with my nativity scene", then I think we are massively missing the point. Jesus came to Earth and was born as a baby because he loved us. Simple as that. Nothing was earned. He wasn't taken back by our good looks and overcome with a need to never be without us. The gift of salvation that we celebrate during the month of December is founded in grace and love. If we opt out of loving others during the Christmas season because we feel that our traditions, ideals, or specific way of celebrating during the 25th of December are being compromised, then our priorities are catastrophically skewed.

What we believe the point of Christmas to be is no mystery to the public. Linus has been quoting scripture to Charlie Brown for a long time. (Close to 40 years, actually!) But if we choose to emulate the love and grace that Jesus showed us that first Christmas morning, then people's ears might actually perk up, and lives could be changed as a result of Jesus birthday.

So let us, instead of approaching the Christmas season in the same way that we have since childhood, try a new take on the treasured day. Let us conduct ourselves in a way that unceasingly puts those that we come in contact with ahead of ourselves. In the pandemonium that is the month of December, let us, the Christians and Christmas fanatics, be the ones that go the extra mile, rather than leaving that to the clerks at the mall. The strangers that we encounter this holiday season matter to God enough for him to have sent his son. I think the true meaning of Christmas would be to follow in suit.

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Happy Wednesday!

Starting Line Christianity

With the Christmas season grows nearer and nearer (I still count Thanksgiving as not Christmas season), it seems that more Christian pop culture posts are rolling down my Facebook feed. If you have been on Facebook lately, you are no stranger to the number of Christian blog posts about celebrities. The aim of these Christian posts is to applaud various public figures for being Christian. They aren't being praised for being martyrs, bringing the good news to the lost, or loving extravagantly, but for simply being Christian.

Shia Lebouf was reported to have converted to Christianity, and it seemed that over night, we as Christians went from not caring about the actor to backing him because of his newfound Christianity. Tim Tebow is no stranger to the Christian limelight, being applauded frequently for simply praying during games. Even Matthew McConaughey recently received praise! For what, one might ask? Simply for mentioning God and getting married to a woman.

All of these things are good, don't get me wrong. Coming to know Christ, getting married, and praying (even if it is for less than a second while everyone can see you) are all things that I hope every Christian would be comfortable with. But are we really so quick to applaud these people and find them worthy of praise? As a Christian, should this really be so noteworthy? Should we be so freely giving of our support to people for doing essentially nothing? Are we starting to make Christian versions of Kim Kardashian? Celebrities famous for doing NOTHING?!

Articles such as the one about Matthew McConaughey get reposted and retweeted with comments like, "what a good guy" or, "I will look for more of his movies", and "It's really nice to see someone in Hollywood standing up for their faith".  We as a group rally around any such example of the unicorn that is the Hollywood-Christian, offering praise and unwavering support. The moment Huffington post tells us about the next celebrity that also happens to be Christian, we excitedly begin to spread the word! But have we become so desperate to have our views heard that we are willingly to jump on the next bandwagon that has "Christian" plastered to the side of it?Simply declaring our Christianity was never meant to be the act of trailblazing, but rather the precursor to the act of living it out the declaration. John 13:35 names our love as what we will be known by, not our press release.

The Bible takes note of people who turn the traditions of their time on their head. The tales of controversial love in the Bible were not of Jesus saying "Merry Christmas" (I guess Happy Hanukkah) or annoying the Gentiles (the nonbelievers) with his belief in God. Much to the Pharisees' chagrin, they were recordings of Jesus speaking against their misguided actions that valued tradition and religious standing over people. I am sure that the religious authorities of the time would have preferred Jesus to have safely sat on the sidelines voicing who he was rather than actually being the Son of God, but thankfully Jesus had other things (us) on his mind. The Gospels are riddled with the retellings of Jesus' blatant actions for people. He wasn't in it for the popularity, but rather he unapologetically did more than just talk.

Which leads me to what worries me about our fascination with Christian pop culture. Our fixation is becoming problematic. Our scales of importance are quickly tilting towards hugely trivial things, leaving the mountains God made us to move ignored and untouched. Simply put, we are beginning to care about things that God finds LARGELY UNIMPORTANT. Is weather or not the Walmart clerk says "Merry Christmas", the number of professing Christians on that PG-13 action movie, or the number of times a football player unemotionally points to the sky after a touchdown really worth our time and energy?

The world is looking on as we applaud these acts of little to no value, and they are left asking, "what do Christians believe again?" I wonder if it isn't looking like we have a great sense of believing in ourselves more than anything else. Rather than caring for the poor, and getting excited about loving those around us, we are turing out to be no different than those we claim not to be. The difference between Christians and non believers cannot be an exclusive Sunday morning club and a title that we slap in other's faces. But it will be only that if we continue doing nothing in response to Jesus being our savior other than declare our name and our stance.

If the announcement of our existence as a Christian is our first and final step, we are camping out at the starting line.  Our spiritual bones and stamina will waste away due to lack of exercise if we do not stop exerting the least amount of energy needed to fit in among the ranks of other Christians. And frankly, it is a lie to think that we do anything by idly supporting largely skin deep acts of pseudo-Christianity. Simply joining the gang is not what we were meant for, and we are missing out on the chance of a lifetime.

It's true that lackadaisical and safe approaches to Christianity are peaceful and somewhat fulfilling. It feels nice to be able to claim you've figured out something the rest has not. But that sort of approach to living for God eventually accomplishes nothing, because it lacks the one thing that Jesus deemed most important: to love. Love is not sedentary, stoic, or even judgmental. It is not interested in who's who and who is not. Love moves, love reaches out, love gets dirty.  And it's not a "controversial Facebook post" type of dirty, but a "I am going to acknowledge and heal this woman who has been bleeding for twelve years" type of love. A "I am going to stand in the gap for this prostitute" love.

Dont miss out on this adventure. Don't become merely yea or nay sayers. We were made to be the revolutionaries of this day and age. The adventure awaits! God is waiting for us to pick our crosses back up and follow him in order that others might see and come with us. No, it might not be the most popular thing to do, and it might not get circulated on twitter. But to place importance, not on what the world values, but on what God values is to truly enter in to what God made us to do and who he made us to be.