After months of build-up, here we are, in the last breath of the calendar year. And we certainly try to do it all in just one breath:
Merry Christmas and happy new year.
In one breath, there it is - it's all over, and it's about to begin. Just like that.
I have a couple of problems with this.
First, I just want there to be time. I want there to be space between one thing and the next. I don't think our days have to run so close together that big events come in the same breath, even though I know that it feels like that, especially for the last couple of months of the year. Everything rushes together. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and bam! It doesn't feel like we get to breathe until January 1, but by then, it's time to jump back into the hamster wheel and start running again.
I want space. I want things to be their own events, their own days, their own breaths. I want Christmas to breathe, just a little bit, before we jump right into new year's. I want to bring resolution to one thing before we start trying to wind down another.
I don't want to feel like I'm running through a hallway slamming all the doors behind me at the end of the year just because that happens to be how the calendar falls.
Second, it just seems silly. We just had a new beginning, but here we are, already looking forward to the next one. Most of us probably didn't have time to even really appreciate it.
But what greater new beginning is there than when the Lord Himself comes to walk with us again?
In the beginning, everything was formless and void. Then, God created everything with a word. Then, He created man with His hands. Then, He breathed the breath of life into him and began walking with His creation. Until sin. Until figs. Until rebellion. Then, there was a fiery angel to guard the space between us and life.
Until now.
Now, there is God with us. God among us. God walking our streets, pouring our water, breaking our bread. Taking breaths of our air.
If ever there was a new beginning, that's it. That's the one I want. I want the new beginning that Christmas is, and I want to stay with it awhile.
So when you tell me "Merry Christmas and happy new year" like some great big amazing opportunity for starting over is coming...it's silly. That great big amazing opportunity for starting over has already come.
He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger because the inn was full. You might have just been too busy and missed Him.
But I don't want to miss Him.
So this season, take away that and. Wish me a Merry Christmas. And yes, wish me a happy new year, too.
Just...not in the same breath.
No comments:
Post a Comment