Little things.
It was the collision of my experience from India to the cold embrace of an early Winnipeg winter that fuelled the idea for this blog. I was going from Curry to CandyCanes (TM) much faster than I expected and had put in my mind to write daily about advent as a means to prepare for the event of Christmas itself. I'm not sure what I was expecting and I wasn't able to write everyday but when I missed a day I missed trying to capture the little moment that God had set aside for me that day. And perhaps that was what surprised me the most in this little venture was how God often spoke, encouraged and shed light on something through the little things in life. Normal things, experiences of each day that I pass by, I simply miss miracles and stories that God has set aside for us to notice. The frustrations of a leaky rink, a flopsy mattress and a slow moving train became moments that could be unpacked, observed and digested as though they were real physical items...gifts packaged only for me...but I had a choice to open or reject it. Perhaps one of the gifts I gained this advent was that each moment of the day, God is at work, God is drawing us to Himself, God is pleased to reveal Himself afresh. He does not slumber, he does not sleep (Psalm 121), I began to see in the writing of this blog that days, weeks and months are not to 'get through', not to arrive at some magical moment (like Christmas morning), but actually each hour God has set aside something quite remarkable. Can we see it? Can we take the time for it? A smile, a kind answer, an engine that starts on a cold morning, a friends' unexpected phone call, the sound of the church singing rich carols. The list can go on, but perhaps in my writing of this you can consider the little things that God puts in your life simply to bless you, to remind you that He loves you, that he cares for you and is preparing a home for you. I'm often drawn to where the big things and moments are, thinking anything small and 'ordinary' is not worth my time. But what if life was not a journey simply to get to the end, what if each minute was an exploration to see what God has packaged for you, like a scavenger hunt with clues and riddles...seems kind of mischievous of God to do that doesn't it? I'm quite sure that as Christmas moves on, I will move on as well to bigger and busier things...and will drive past the little things God has set aside for me. I hope not. Life seems more pleasant, even holy when I see him actively involved. Perhaps the word, Emmanuel (God with us) is a title I use only when times are really tough, or confusing, but I fail to see Emmanuel in the little things, but it seems this past month for me at least God has been alive, bearing fruit even bursting the seams of the little things to squeeze life into my soul each drop of the way. Just to be clear, I'm not drifting into some mystical avenue, Scripture stayed the main diet and light for the path, in fact scripture when read slowly with the expectation that God has something afresh for today became real food for the soul. And it gave light to the experiences I was having, helped me remain humble when my kid laughs at me, or when I could not see my way through a tough turn. God so graciously gives us His Word, alive, active, sharper than a two edged sword!
Merry Christmas to you, thank you for reading, I trust this was somewhat encouraging. I'm not sure if I will write much more or what project will be on my mind but I will keep this blog up to post new thoughts along the way. Let me close from a quote from a friend of mine who wrote recently, quoting Buechner:
“I never heard a tall tale I’d sooner have true than that tale.
How the Light of the World come into the darkest night ...
so there’d never be cause to fear darkness again" - Frederick Buechner
wishing light to you and yours this Christmastide ...