Journey on

We are close to celebrating the day Jesus started his journey on earth. What an amazing event!
 The whole decision to leave heaven behind, become flesh and blood, be bound to earth by gravity and limited by time and space.....

As I thought of his journey and how completely and wholeheartedly he embraced it, I started reflecting on how good we are at embracing ours.....

It seems we are always on the move, even at a standstill, our mind still works on moving.
Be it planning for the future, hoping for a change in our current state of affairs - whether it be a longing for marriage, be done with school, freedom from debt, to move from sorrow to joy, from feeling lonely, from sickness to health.
The desire to move on from any of these is completely understandable, I've been in each one and spent much time trying to get to the next stage.

We forget we are on a journey - or rather we cease to embrace the journey we are on.
It is easy to journey on summer days when a gentle wind kisses your chin and the blue skies reflect in your eyes - and even knowing not all days will be like that doesn't stop us from trying to skip ahead when the cold rain pours with no end in sight.

But right there, in the trying, in the longing for the new tomorrow, - in the time spent pining for what we don't have or what we aren't yet, etc. right there we lose our connection to the 'here and now' on our journey and even more,

         I think we miss out on something deep and valuable that only the 'here and now' can give.


Jesus left heaven to, through birth, journey on earth as a human being. It was far from an easy journey. Isaiah 53;3 "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief...." Surely there were days of laughter and merriment, but there were many other days as well.

                          Jesus changed throughout his journey on earth .....

Heb. 2:17 says he had to be made like his brothers in every respect SO that he would BECOME merciful and faithful ..... and further in Heb. 5:8 "... although He was the son, He learned obedience from the things He which suffered. And having been made perfect..."

            Through suffering and hardship, Jesus became something he wasn't before!


If we decided to embrace this 'day' on our journey, if we, instead of trying to escape it, chose to explore it, I believe we would become 'richer'.
And I mean embrace, not with the intent on getting stuck and settling down there for good ..... keep the balance.
Think of loneliness....
Loneliness creates emotions nothing else does, as does sorrow and illness - if we  avoid/ignore or pretend them nonexistent we will be void of not just the emotions, but what they create.
Because what they create in us, in our character, in our heart, in our thought pattern - that will stay even after the emotion is gone.

When we go through hard times on our journey, being sifted, hewn, molded, something beautiful is being created in the process. That we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't.
Romans 5:5 "....knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope....." Something eternal is being produced!!

Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that God who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Take courage dear heart, embrace every part of your journey -  know and trust that God is with you every step - he set you on the path, and will walk you to the exit.


Merry Christmas

-b

Christmas is not in the meat....

"In the season that is meant to fill us with peace, hope and joy, we are surrounded by the call to buy, spend, be something for everyone, join the race of getting all for all! It requires attentive thought to step out, slow down, see the little things and hear the quiet that needs less......"

Sharing these words the other morning before running out the door, kept me thinking the rest of the day, so here is the extended version. 

It is everywhere! In the stores in sparkly, flashy, 'lookatme' wrapping,on billboards, in news paper adds, in your car if you have the radio on.
                                                              It is everywhere...
 even as you walk in the door after a long day with a sigh of relief you shed your coat and shoes -
you are home......but even here, in your own little sanctuary, it comes seeping out through the tv.

Some commercials are ridiculous, others hilarious but each one is put together and on multiple layers selling the intangible and invisible things ......... joy/peace/status/respect/ visibility etc. etc.

I see beautiful long tables, decorated and set with everything perfect, ready to wow a king. I get sucked into this dream, my mind working on how to make this happen until looking into our dining room and reality lands, because there's no way a long table would fit.
               
               And this is just coming from the outside adding to what goes on inside you!

 What about tradition?????? Or; this year needs to match or be better than last year????

For a few years I've tried to have the Danish traditional flæskesteg as the meat for our Christmas eve dinner. There is a story connected to each year about this tragic piece of meat that seems to be impossible to get here in Portland.
The time spent, not only trying to find a place that will sell it, but then explaining what exactly it is to the butcher, then answering phone calls from the butcher with follow-up questions, to picking up a piece of meat looking no where near the piece I was expecting to get, to one having the order canceled on me a week before needing it, left with the; now what......

                    

                                           We are having pulled pork this year!

why? because it is easy, it is delicious, it is doable and most important: Christmas is not in the meat!!

And here's a thought;

 - In all the running around, in all the busyness, in all the striving to make that evening/day  special 

               
                  - how many little moments am I missing that could have been special..........

I realized how easy it is to get caught up in the frenzy, to get stuck in tradition,  get sidetracked from the simplicity of this season, and the fact that we need to be alert to what we see/listen to and discern not only what it is saying, but also to what it is doing inside us.
It takes conscious thought to be present and focus on what matters

         
         - to not forego the special in the here and now in my aim to make a future day special.

-b