When my son was in fifth grade, I joined his class on a field trip to the Biltmore House. It’s a mansion in Asheville with over two hundred rooms. In the months before Christmas, they elaborately decorate the rooms with poinsettias, Christmas trees, ornaments, and garlands. I was assigned a group of six boys to chaperone, including my son.
With boys that age, however, I had no time to ponder the impressive decorations in each room. The boys would enter a room, hastily look around, and then race to the next room at the first opportunity. It became a competition to see who would be the first to see something new. They spent more time racing to what was next than appreciating what was before them. I felt a little breathless after the tour.
In their haste, they missed what was most important, the beauty of what right in front of them. Too often we go through life with the same breathless pace, especially a few days before Christmas. What is the next present I need to wrap? The next place I need to go? The next bit of décor I need to add? We focus on the ‘next’, not the ‘now’.
Even worse, when Christmas arrives, we sometimes miss the significance that matters the most – the entrance of Jesus into the world – because we’re too exhausted, distracted, or disappointed with our efforts.
God does not speak to us in the ‘what is next’ or ‘what was before’. God speaks to us in the ‘what is now’, the present moment. As you enter this Christmas week, don’t miss the moment. More importantly, don’t miss the significance of the moment.
Think of Mary a few days before the birth pondering these events in her heart, the shepherds sensing a change in a night sky about to be populated with angels, or the Magi contemplating the significance of a new star. All of these nativity figures, and many others, reach out with the question, “What is God up to now?”
During this Nativity week, focus on the ‘now’, not the ‘next’.
May God send you abundant Christmas blessings.
Leave a Reply