Quote of the Day: “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Albert Switzer
I’ve been thinking a lot about living in the present since it’s a safer place to be, mentally, for me. But naturally, I’m a dreamer and I want to dream about the future, which I still do but always with a tinge of doubt. Living in the present is certainly an easier skill for a child. Everything is in the present, that’s why they cry when the T.V. gets turned off, or cry because someone they love is walking out the door. They don’t know that there is a future, they don’t understand the concept of “delayed gratification” yet. But I couldn’t have made it through chemo without “delayed gratification”. That’s what it was for me the entire time, I just kept looking forward to June 28th and it seemed at times that it would never come. It did come and it’s almost been 6 months since then.
So I read the following excerpt from The Spoken Word, a program that runs on Sundays. I thought it was such a good reminder of enjoying the journey as we move toward Christmas Day. As much as we all complain about the commercialization of the season, we all add to it or at least I know I do. Joe always longs for the Christmases when he was young. He remembers the focus being on Christ and not so much on Santa and moreover, presents. It’s always such a difficult task to separate the worldliness of Christmas with the joy of a Savior coming to save the world.
“The Journey to Christmas” from A Spoken Word
The month of December is a time of joyful anticipation. The sights, sounds, and smells of the season evoke feelings of excitement and wonder. For generations, children—and grown-ups—have used advent calendars and paper chains to count down the days. But does our focus ever become so fixed on the future that we forget to enjoy the journey to Christmas?
This year, instead of just looking forward, let’s also take pleasure in the preparations: in the little, less spectacular moments along the way, even in the spontaneous joys that may, at first, seem like interruptions to our bigger plans. In order to recognize those moments for what they could be, it sometimes helps to slow things down a bit. We may need to shop less and savor more. We might have to dim the bright lights in order to see the stars in the heavens, but if we look, we will find them.
Often it takes a child to redirect our focus. Think of how much children enjoy the present moments, the preparations, and not just the finished products. When helping to decorate the home, wrap presents, or bake Christmas treats, they usually make more of a mess than we would; they might not do it just right, but they also usually enjoy the moment more than we do! Their enthusiasm can be contagious.
A three-year-old girl, wholeheartedly living in the present, exclaimed: “It’s not tomorrow! It’s not today! It’s to-now!” When was the last time you felt “to-now”?
Yes, we are busy. But the days leading to Christmas are not just to be endured. In fact, perhaps they offer more of what the season is really about. The promise of Christmas is everywhere to behold. It’s not saved for Christmas morning. If we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to open, we truly can enjoy the journey to Christmas.
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