I must admit that I am somewhat of a grinch when Christmas season rolls around. I usually tire of all the strings attached to the holiday – the gifts, the decorations, the expectations, the crazed shoppers, etc. Now, I still try to enjoy the season and I promise I do not turn into a full-fledged Scrooge. But sometimes I get so frustrated by all the people who lose focus of the real celebration at hand that I, ironically, lose sight of the sacred season, too. I get sucked into the the stresses of the holiday and let the weight of what we are really celebrating fall by the wayside. His birth means my life. His presence in this world equates my presence in His world.

I’m not saying I won’t put up my little Christmas tree or I won’t enjoy buying presents for my loved ones. I still plan on listening to Christmas tunes and eating a candy cane. However, after all that I have gone through this past year, I plan on ruminating on the risk God took for me by sending His little bitty baby Jesus into a screwed up world…for me. And for all the other lost souls.

Brennan Manning wrote the following passage on Christmas season. His candidness with our selfishness always starts the wheels a turnin’ in my brain and I appreciate writers who leave the sugarcoating for televangelists and fluffy novelists.

“Once a year the Christmas season strikes both the sacred and secular spheres of life with sledgehammer force: suddenly Jesus Christ is everywhere.

For approximately one month his presence is inescapable. You may accept him or reject him, affirm him or deny him, but you cannot ignore him. Of course he is proclaimed in speech, song, and symbol in all the Christian churches. But he rides every red-nosed reindeer, lurks behind every Cabbage Patch doll, resonates in the most desacralized “season’s greetings.” Remotely or proximately, he is toasted in every cup of Christmas cheer. Each sprig of holly is a hint of his holiness, each cluster of mistletoe a sign he is here.

For those who claim his name, Christmas heralds this luminous truth: The God of Jesus Christ is our absolute future. Such is the deeply hopeful character of this sacred season. By God’s free doing in Bethlehem, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Light, life, and love are on our side.”

(source: weheartit.com)

P.S. ANNOUNCEMENT: My Gray Door site will be LIVE very soon (as in the next day or so). Look for it soon! :)

M is for misgivings.
Mistakes. Myself. Missteps. Marred.

Ever doubt anything? Just anything. Purpose, career, capabilities. Of course. Who doesn’t, right? Who doesn’t occasionally get to the point of questioning where one is at and why? I’ve learned a lot the past year about the self-righteousness in the belief in self-sufficiency. Man, I get so darn frustrated with myself when I think I can do it all on my own and actually succeed. No wonder all the stumbling.

M is for molded in Him.
M is for the Messiah who has an intimate patience for a fool like me.