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.
My dearest, you are created in the image of God. You bear the Creator's thumbprint on your very soul. Your very existence has worthiness, for you bear God's reflection in a way that is yours alone. The world would be less without this facet of God's light. Simply by existing, you are helping to paint a more complete portrait of our Creator for humanity to see.
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.
Control itself is an illusion. We live in a world that is not determined by our sensibilities. Throughout the course of our life, the only predictable element is the capriciousness of life. We will lose people we love. Plans will not come to form in the ways we imagined. We will have exuberant, overwhelming surprises of joy, and other times of unimaginable loss.
JoyPlusGrace 