Learning from a grandchild...

It was a new and thoroughly enjoyable experience for Jami and me to have a grandson (Hudson, 17 months) in our home for Christmas. Though we had covers for the outlets and had moved a few things higher up, our house was not nearly as “baby-proofed” as his own. While the District 56 “Dickens Village” was up on the mantle and Hudson had to be lifted to see and enjoy it, the Christmas tree and the gas fireplace were out in the open and on his level.

After a day or two, Hudson learned that as he approached the fireplace to touch the glass he would be admonished “No, no. That’s hot.” Similarly, as he approached the Christmas tree to look at and/or grab an ornament, the call would go out, “No, no.”

By the third day we laughed as Hudson would approach either one and, turning to us, wag an index finger and say, “No, no.” He was learning!

Still, quick as a wink, he’d regularly turn and try to examine an ornament with his own hands. He knew he wasn’t supposed to, but the ornaments were so pretty and the temptation was too great.

It was an important illustration for his Nana and Pops. God has given us His Word – His directives and warnings about what we should and should not do. He has given this to us for our own safety and good.

In the same way as Hudson, we fall to the temptations all around us. When we do so, we experience the consequences: consequences akin to broken ornaments and burned fingers, and often more serious.

Thankfully, in a way much more powerful and lasting, our Father in heaven sees to our healing and our forgiveness as Nana and Pops did for Hudson. In this season of Christmas, turning soon to Epiphany, we rejoice in the sending of God’s Son, Christ Jesus, Whose mission was to win our forgiveness and reunite us with God through His passion, death, and resurrection.

I pray yours was a good celebration of the nativity of our Lord and that yours will be a happy new year.

When life gets turned upside down.

Haggai 1:1-15 was the Old Testament lesson in our devotions this morning. Through the prophet the LORD was chastising the people for having the wrong priorities. It was because the people were always and only involved in their own satisfaction – and not in the worship and service of the LORD – that their endeavors were always left wanting. “Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes” (1:5b-6).

This got the attention of the people of Judah! They dropped what they had been doing for themselves and set themselves to the rebuilding of the Temple, which lay in ruins for years. They returned their attention to the LORD and His will.

Let us consider that perhaps this year now passing is something that God is using to once again refocus our attention. The stock market has been soaring. The employment rates had been the best they’ve been in our memories. The Middle East was and still is marching towards historic peace. Please don’t misunderstand me: all of these are good, blessings from our gracious God!

But has our attendance on these issues distracted us from or lessened our resolve to value all life, from conception to natural death? Has the enjoyment of the relative ease of life numbed us to the coarsening of and, in some cases violence in, our common life together?

Let me close with some slightly altered words from the Society of G. K. Chesterton about God working through things that turn our lives upside down. My wife, Jami, had recently shared them on Facebook, as well:

Chesterton said that many things are made holy by being turned upside down. Was there a moment (or many!) in your life in which God turned it completely upside down to increase your holiness and faith? Often in those instances, we fail to realize the value in our situation as it undergoes change. Most of us hate change. We just want to remain comfortable, to have things the way they always were. How did God use those upside down moments to change your life for the better? How did you grow in virtue and holiness? Take a few minutes to think about those times and thank God for changing your life and bringing you closer to Him through them.

Lord Jesus, thank you for turning my life upside down to draw me closer to you. Help me in those future moments when you change my life for the better, even though I may not understand. May I always remember to cling to the [example of Mary], whose life was turned upside down when she bravely said “yes,” to you. Give me strength like [Joseph] to be trusting, wise, prudent, and faithful in those blinding times of uncertainty when I just don’t understand. Help me to always want what you want for me. Amen.

Songs that take you back

Psalm 101:1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.

The car I drive is old enough that it has a CD player, of which I often take advantage. But I usually listen to the radio when I’m driving these days. Sometimes it’s Talk Radio, but often it’s the satellite radio. I like that fact that I can choose channels based upon a certain genre or a particular era.

Those of you who have satellite radio probably also know that you can select a rather large number of favorite artists and a large number of favorite songs. The radio will then let you know when they’re coming on. I take advantage of this feature, too.

Songs have an ability to take us back. By that, I mean they can trigger memories of certain people. They can trigger memories of certain experiences. When Styx is playing I think of high school and college years, as well as attending their concert one snowy evening, the night before Thanksgiving. (If I had been my parents, I wouldn’t have let me go. It was snowing that hard!). With ABBA or Boston, it’s more junior high as well as trips with the family – ABBA was welcome, but Boston sometimes got the 8-track removed from the player and thrown into the back seat.

With our entry into the season of Advent, we have moved into “The half-year of our Lord”; the season of holidays based on the life of Christ Jesus (e.g. Advent leading to Christmas/the Nativity of our Lord and Epiphany, Lent leading to Easter and Pentecost). I certainly am not disparaging the wonderful songs and hymns we use in worship during the Sundays after Pentecost – they are plenteous and meaningful. But the songs in this half year tend to bring back more memories for me.

Advent hymns bring reminiscences of evening worship services and sitting around the Christmas tree at night, it being the only light in the room while music played on the stereo. Lent also reminds me of worship services. Easter’s memories are of singing in the balcony with the choir my mother led, standing next to Luke and Don (guys who helped teach me to sing the bass line), playing the trumpet with the Groth brothers while Frosty Ferstenau played trombone, and serving the Easter breakfast for the congregation, which we the youth provided.

God bless your singing and memories as we move closer to celebrating the birth of our Savior, Christ Jesus. God bless, as well, those who continue to make music that warms our hearts and stirs our souls.