Any Opportunity for the Incarnation

Today is Christmas Eve, and below I am posting a video containing one of the Christmas songs that I've written over the years. However, I use the word "Christmas" gently, lightheartedly and passionately all at once.

Gently, because yes, I know the arguments behind the calendar days on which Christmas and Easter holidays occur as having pagan roots, I know the realistic theological and historical argument that Jesus was not born on December 25th. I use it gently because I don't want to come across as one who thinks that December 25th by its very nature is a magically holy day. It is a normal day that has been made holy, by the intentional and cultural meditation on the incarnation. Some people slam Christmas trees, but people through history, St. Boniface and Martin Luther included, used them as spiritual illustrations pointing to Christ. The nativity? St. Francis wanted to people to taste, feel, and smell what it must have been like to experience that special night of Christ's birth. (My friend Ben wrote about it well on his blog) And even me, I look at the materialism that surrounds Christmas and often have a heavy heart, yet I choose to use this day as an excuse to speak of the incarnation on a day that, culturally, some are more open to hearing about it. That is reflected in my song. If it ends with presents and a tree then we've missed it, but if we use it as an opportunity to speak out when the rest of the world may have ears to hear, I say, "Yes! Merry Christmas!"

This time is lighthearted for me too, because there are warm memories attached to Christmas. Yes, I'm not calloused to peppermint mochas, or spicy mochas (thank you Caribou Coffee), decorating a tree with ornaments of years gone by, and watching silly Christmas movies. Christmas is a lighthearted time for me, because there is so much heaviness in the world (and in my brain), that sometimes I have to not take life so seriously, otherwise I miss the little joys that are waiting behind every corner.

Lastly, this time of the year is something that I'm passionate about, because the reality is: just like the argument that the seasonal celebration of day on which we celebrate Christmas has pagan roots, the reality is so do we. Christ died for us when we were not just sinners, but when we were the very enemies of Him (Romans 5). So, let's use any opportunity to meditate on the incarnation: the master plan of redemption set forth by our Creator. And let's speak out about it, let's share the awesome story of God becoming man, and relay the significance of that to a world that definitely needs life/hope/mercy.

Coffee and Resting in Restlessness

Great are You, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; Your power is immense, and Your wisdom beyond reckoning. And so we men, who are a due part of your creation, long to praise You – we also carry our mortality about with us, carry the evidence of our sin and with it the proof that You thwart the proud. You arouse us so that praising You may bring us joy, because You have made us and drawn us to Yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in You (Confessions of St. Augustine, Book 1, Chapter 1).

This morning about 5:30 my baby girl awoke hungry, and since the past couple of days she's been fighting a fever possibly due to a slight ear infection, my wife and I both ran to her side. After she was satiated (more or less), I decided to get up, throw a pot of coffee on, and have some time in the Lord's presence. As I meditated on Scripture (Psalm 46), I remembered Augustine's words that "our hearts are restless (unquiet) until they rest in You." Like a baby who will not be satisfied in any other way than its mother's milk, so our souls are actually designed to hunger and thrive for God. All else will fall short. "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You" (Psalm 63:3-5).

"Father, forgive us for looking for satisfaction in anything other than You. Let our lives put on display our hunger for You...that the world would see You in us. This Advent awaken a hunger in Your Bride, Your people, a hunger that cannot be quenched by the fleetingness of this plastic world, and release an undying desire in Her heart to proclaim You and Your love and mercy. Amen."