Relationships come with strings attached. They are built over a rhythm of scheduled get-togethers and shared memories, but are strengthened by the surprise interactions. The drop everything and show up times. The hospital visits, the meals cooked and left on doorsteps. The can you come-over-I-need-you-now calls. In order to be good at relationships, you have to allow yourself to be interruptible.
Love chooses relationship, believes that inconvenience and judgement are able to be overcome. Love makes a cradle out of hay, and marvels at the sweet smell instead of mourning the lack of the coordinated nursery décor. Love allows strangers to come witness a private moment, it opens the door to the unexpected and the unplanned.
Love shows itself most fully when things are not easy. When the stomach butterflies and all night conversations have passed, and the everyday reality of work and washing dishes and wearing the same t-shirt for 6 days and a row sets in.
In the Nativity story, there was a star. In the dead of night, a bright, new light. One that shone so brightly that people were convinced to interrupt their lives and follow it's path. The star. The heavens, lit with angels. The Light of the World, born as an infant. This was the continuation, the passed candle, of the spark lit in Eden. Passed through generations, by Moses, by Isaac, by Rahab, by David, by Ruth and the Prophets. Then, it inhabited the Christ Child. Now, the candle is passed to you.
I love Christmas Carols. Their lyrics are timeless and sometimes reveal profound truths. But I don't love all of them. Why in the world do we need that tearjerker Christmas Shoes Song? Mary, Did You Know is history's most egregious case of mansplaining. And then there is the Little Drummer Boy.
How married are you to your plan? How much deviation to your internal agenda for your day, your week, your life, do you allow? Does an unexpected detour in your path throw you into a tailspin? Do you carry room for the emergent needs of others to reroute your priorities?
We as humans were created in the image of God, but then, in turn, God created Godself back into our image. Jesus was born, fully human, and the world was forever changed.
In his life and ministry, Jesus did not make a project of the empowered. The established church in Jerusalem was powerful. They held money and reputation and sway on the community. It would have been strategic to play politic, to win over the Pharisees and Sadducees, to get the endorsement of those who were educated, wealthy, well connected, estimable. Instead, those were the ones Jesus seemed to criticize the most. He mercilessly pulled at the strings of power, unravelling systems that benefitted them and showing the ways that power had corrupted the truth and authenticity of faith.
Parenthood is a long game. One made primarily of patience, love, and faith, with liberal amounts of discipline, wisdom, and laughter sprinkled into the mix. As God parents us, we have the divine promise that our Heavenly Father will not forget us.
Oftentimes our reputation is what keeps us clinging to the known and the safe. It is what makes us afraid to step out into faith, to claim our individuality and our giftedness that makes us beautifully unique. I have observed that when God decides to get his fingers dirty in our lives, our reputation is often one of the first things to go.
JoyPlusGrace 