Melancholy of the past,
Rhapsody of the future,
Where is the present you may ask,
For which I have no answer.
Memory of the past, I linger,
Thoughts of the future, I wonder,
Hmm… where is the present I ask,
For which I get no answer.
Lord help me to learn from the past,
Hope for the future,
But live in the present,
For I know every today is not past, or future,
But is now, present. In Jesus, Amen.
Pic from: here
It was late but Johnny’s mind was filled with many things that it felt like 12 o’ clock in the noon. He can’t stop thinking what could be the purpose of God for him at this milestone of his life. All the things that were happening, are they from God or just humanly originated events? The answer to the question was vital because he wanted to understand all the all the pain, all the hopelessness and the confusions that he felt, whether they have some purpose to fulfill. It does not help when he might also need to forget about having something that he wanted because of it. It was nothing new but usual for him anyway. However it was still painful so much so he hoped he could quickly pass through this stage of his life. Poor Johnny, it was too late but his mind was still thinking like it does under the broad sunny day.
Christmas is said to be a time of sharing and giving. Christmas is said to be a time of love and joy. While all are true, ultimately Christmas is a celebration of the Incarnation of the Son of God or the Word of God. He came as mere a man to bring forgiveness, salvation and show us the way to the Father. This is not impossible for the Almighty God for nothing is impossible for Him. As we celebrate let us also remember why He came and that He will come again. May God bless you and Blessed Christmas.
Now where is my gift? Lol.
Yesterday a church member commented about the view that Christmas tree and all other things that distracting true meaning of Christmas, which is Jesus’ birthday. He said there a lot of other things that we do in church that distracts us from Christ and does that mean we strip of everything and only focus on Christ? That means no food, no music and you may think of many other things to add to the list.
I guess he has a point. Some things we are so used to that without those things we do not feel complete. Therefore Christmas is not complete without the decorated Christmas tree and famous Christmas carols. All these are symbol that reminds us and gives us the mood for Christmas. Personally I am not so concerned about whether we have Christmas trees or whatever as long as we remember that the main purpose of Christmas is celebrating Christ’ birth.
Having said that, no one actually knows when Christ was born. December 25th may have been chosen to counter the pagan festival in early church and was made as a day to remember Christ’ birthday. Therefore even December 25th is just another symbol to remind us about Christ.
For Christians then, Christ is the focus everyday and having a day to remind us that Christ was born is a bonus. After all it is a significant event that the Word of God became flesh to save from our sins and bring us to a new relationship with the Father. To me there are two types of people who celebrate Christmas. Those who understand the Word of God became flesh believe Him and those who do not. With or without Christmas tree is not an issue for me.
The need for intimacy should never be underestimated. It can drive a person to do anything. Good, bad and ugly. Because of it one may love, because of it one may sin and because of it one may take much hurt in life.
