I really loved FX last week, especially the skit that our friends Billy Bob, Ima, Marsha, and Jim did. I thought it was really poignant and timely because it is exactly what I've been feeling this year as we lead up to Christmas. There's so many really good things to do. Bake Christmas cookies. Take them around to our neighbors with invites to Christmas Eve services. Put up lights. Write our Christmas letter. Mail the Christmas letter. Attend Christmas gatherings. Read the Christmas story. Go see "The Star" movie with the girls. The list can go on and on.
And I've felt rushed. I've felt stretched. I've felt, just like those characters on stage at FX, that I'm not focusing on what's really important. How do I slow down? What am I supposed to cut out to make time? I don't have a good answer to that, but I have a sense that I need to. And yet as I reflect on the Christmas story I think the busyness of that moment for those involved gets lost. I'm sure there wasn't much time to sit and reflect on what was happening. There wasn't space to stretch out. There were deadlines. Joseph was probably thinking, "We have to get to Bethlehem by such and such a date to register." There were probably financial concerns for him. Every day on the road meant less days to work for the income which he and Mary needed.
The shepherds, I'm sure, couldn't stick around and just soak in all the time they wanted with Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. They had to get back to their flocks. There was work to do. The magi had to get back home, they had a long journey ahead of them. If you look through all the people involved in the Christmas story each and every one probably felt rushed, stretched, and like they weren't taking enough time to focus on what was really important – the baby born heralded by angels and stars in Bethlehem. But I'm sure as they headed to wherever they were traveling, back to the fields, or back to Babylon, or down a dusty road toward Egypt, the identity of this baby was on their minds.
My prayer for myself and for you is that we will be able to find moments in our lives this Christmas season to truly reflect on the amazing fact that God came to earth as a little baby boy. He is Immanuel, the Creator of the entire universe, with us. May we be awed at the wonder of it all this season. May we, in the midst of our busyness, have moments that help us see clearly the meaning of it all.
"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)" Matthew 1:22-23.