If Only I Had More Time!
One of the more difficult challenges we face at the Christmas season is "How to get it all done!"
What we fail to realize is that IT has already been done for us and all we need to do is to accept
God's greatest gift, love, and saving grace.
The Rev. Pat Stiles, of West Virginia , wrote a letter published in the 2005 December "Anchor"
which addresses the notion of "too much to do, too little time."
It has been said many
times that Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without presents. Well, when
you
stop and think about Christmas, you have to admit that Christmas is about
gifts. Always has been.
But we feel uncomfortable with this emphasis on gimme,
gimme, gimme. Buy, buy, buy. Charge, charge,
charge. We admonish our children
to remember the reason for the season, even though we have difficulty
remembering it ourselves when we're caught up in the chaos and commotion of the
holidays.
Today let's think
on the REAL role of gifts in the Christmas story. Those gifts were wrapped in
miracles,
which is probably why we can't find them at malls or in mail-order
catalogs. The first gift was of Spirit:
unconditional LOVE. The next gift
came from a Jewish teenager named Mary. Her Christmas present was
selflessness,
the complete surrender of ego and will needed to bring Heaven down to earth.
The gifts of her fiancé', Joseph, were trust and faith. He trusted that Mary
wasn't pregnant with another man's child;
he believed there really was a Divine
Plan to get them through this mess. The Child brought forgiveness.
Wholeness.
Second chances. The angels' gifts were tidings of comfort, joy, and peace, the
reassurance
that there was nothing to fear, so rejoice. The shepherd boy's gift
was generosity: his favorite lamb for
the baby's birthday present. The
innkeeper's wife's gifts were compassion and charity: a warm, dry,
safe place
for the homeless family to stay, her best coverlet to wrap the new mother and
little one, a
meal for Joseph, the donkey's fresh hay.
Three kings from
the east traveled many hot, dusty miles following a bright star in search of a
royal birth. But
when they arrived in Bethlehem, they found the newborn prince
in a cow stall instead of a palace. The shocked
Wise Men unwrapped gold,
frankincense, and myrrh, but the real gifts were wonder, acceptance, and
courage.
They offered wonder by surrendering logic, reason, and common sense.
Accepting the impossible, they
suspended skepticism long enough to double-cross
the insane King Herod, frantically searching for the
child who would change the
world. With courage, at the risk of their own lives, the Wise Men helped the
young family escape to a safe haven in Egypt.
Lovingly and prayerfully, Pastor Margaret (Pat) Stiles
A blessed Christmas to all from the Terrace First United Methodist Church