This evening I took our two kids out to do some crafts, meet Santa, and watch a living Nativity. But, since it was getting colder, they had school in the morning, and we still had to eat supper, so we left early. Interestingly enough, both kids were disappointed that we didn't see the whole thing. So, I agreed to put on a video about the birth of Jesus after we go some supper.
Unfortunately, mos4 movies about the Birth of Christ are 2 1/2 to 3 hours long. So, I started thinking of other options. I was hoping that one of my personal favorites, "The Drummerboy" was on Netflix. Just my luck, it wasn't. But, I knew that we had the Veggie Tales movie about the real St. Nicholas. So, that is what we watched.
We all have our favorite shows during the holidays. One of mine is "A Christmas Carol." It is a person tradition to warch it at least once each Christmas. Another one (that I have on DVD) is "Jack Frost." To me, it is an entertaining story.
To me, most holiday movies are not every interesting. I prefer to focus on the real reason for Christmas. That is, "...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) The original meaning of advent is Latin for "to-come". As Christians, we celebrate the seaaon of Advent as a way for preparing ourselves for Emanuel, "God is with us." For me, Chrismas is just as sacred and important as Easter and Pentecost. For, if Jeses had not came into this world (dully man and fully Divine), then He could not have died for our sins and then raised again for our justification. And, that in turn means that there would not have been Pentacost.
Each of us have our own personal and family traditions. How ever you choose to celebrate, I encourage you to explore the Christian roots. For me, I give gifts toothers because God gave us the gift of eternal life through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Putting up a Chrisrmas tree and decorating it is a fun family tradition, but not one I like to do until After Advent begins. My wife, however, wants to put it up as soon as she can. So, I let her.
Anotjer tradition that my family has is the sending of Christman letters. For those who are not familiar with this custom, I will explain. Since Christmas is near the end of the calender year, many people will summarize the events for them and their family for the past year. I enjoy writing them, and reading about the highlights of the lives of others.
We all have pur favorite traditions. It is my hope that the help you become a more loving andgivong person, as well as draw you closer to Christ. I hope that Advent is a season of 'eager preparation.' Not just for the presants, the candy and cookies, family gatherings, etc. But, also a time preparation for celebrating Christ's birth.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Advent, Solitude, and Reflection
References:
• LPTS President’s Blog
• Matthew 14:13
• 1 Kings 19:9-13 NAS
• Psalm 46 NAS
I read an interesting blog entry the other day by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary President, Michael Jenkins, cited above. In the article, he talked about how Jesus would often seek a place of quiet rest and solitude. I found this article very interesting, especially with how things are in America today. We seem to be constantly rushing and on the go.
Although all people need time alone, some need more than others. Those of us who are introverts thrive on our ‘alone time.’ We need it to emotionally recharge, to process what we have learned and experienced, and to prepare ourselves for interacting with others. The stronger a person is as an introvert, or if one is a sensitive soul, the more alone time one will often need to ‘recharge.’ It is interesting, though, to note that there is a very big difference between just seeking solitude and ‘being quiet’ or ‘being still.’
Solitude is essentially being alone, by yourself. But, just because one is alone doesn’t mean that one is ‘being quiet.’ In our media drenched society, we have music, news, movies, all sorts of entertainment readily available, 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Many people have smart phones so that they can continuously monitor their Facebook page, their Instagram, their LinkedIn, or whatever social media that they use. Some people watch movie after movie on their smart phones or tablets, others listen to all sorts of music on Pandora or Slacker. It seems that there is noise all around us, doesn’t it?
Now, I will admit that I am listening to “The Gladiator” soundtrack while I am writing this blog entry. As I am work on writing or doing artwork, I find having some sort of classical music playing in the background very helpful. The same goes with reading, studying German, or something like that. Sometimes I will prefer to have it very quiet while I read or study, but usually I will want to some sort of background music.
However, my life is not like in the movies. When I am out for a walk, whether just to have fun and relax or because I am getting from point A to point B, I don’t have music playing in the background. Sometimes when I jog, I will have music playing, but not all the time. Especially if I am running on the road. But when I am out walking to decompress, to just think, or to enjoy all of God’s Creation, I love not having music playing. I can listen to the sound of the wind through the trees (or against the dunes if I am in the desert), the songs of the birds, etc. Not having the ‘background soundtrack’ enables me to enjoy things around me even more because I am not distracted by music.
The same is often true for when I do my devotions. I will often turn my music off when I do my devotions, have time of intense prayer, or something like that. There’s just something about making everything around quiet so that I can intently focus on what I am doing. Though this isn’t the case every single time, it is usually what I prefer to do. That way I can concentrate more on what I am reading, to drink it in, to contemplate its meaning.
Though I feel that this is a good way to approach reading God’s Word any time (in a quiet area without distractions), I believe that it is even more so during Advent and before Easter. Why’s that? Think about it… During Christmas, we are preparing ourselves for Christ’s birth, the “Word became flesh,” as John 1 puts it. We are to preparing ourselves for His first entrance into this world, knowing that He will come again. The fact that God lowered Himself to our level and came into the world as a fragile human being, is just mindboggling to me! But yet, out of His infinite love, He did that for me. And, being the foolish humans that we are, we still get distracted, look for what we want to find, or just get caught up in what drama is circling our life at this time.
When Jesus was born, all of Israel was under Roman oppression. The Jewish people know that God was going to send them a Savior, but their expectation was that God would send a mighty warrior. This warrior would lead Israel in rebellion against Rome, throw off the chains of tyranny, and Israel would be an independent nation again. Because of this kind of expectation, grounded at least partially because they were so focused on what was happening around them, that they totally missed (as a whole) that God was going into the world to redeem a fallen people.
When we allow music, news, interesting trivia or entertaining articles on the Internet, TV programs, or whatever, to be distractions to us, we miss out on important details. For example, if we are reading God’s Word while watching the news, are we really paying any attention to what God might be speaking to us about? If we are constantly going about our lives with background noise and not trying to quiet things down, how often do we miss little things? Little things like how a co-worker’s body language is speaking volumes of the pain they are carrying, or not noticing how a person is reacting to our words or actions, or even just the beautiful sounds of nature?
During this time of Advent, let us all be more purposeful in seeking some solitude, time alone. Time away from all that is distracting so that we can focus more on reading God’s Word, on praying for others, and in preparing our own hearts for remembering Christ’s birth. I know that it may be hard. Some of us have very, very hectic schedules. But yet, even just taking 5 minutes here and there to just turning things off and focus for a little while on God and His Word, I believe that it can work wonders in your life. I know it has in mine.
• LPTS President’s Blog
• Matthew 14:13
• 1 Kings 19:9-13 NAS
• Psalm 46 NAS
I read an interesting blog entry the other day by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary President, Michael Jenkins, cited above. In the article, he talked about how Jesus would often seek a place of quiet rest and solitude. I found this article very interesting, especially with how things are in America today. We seem to be constantly rushing and on the go.
Although all people need time alone, some need more than others. Those of us who are introverts thrive on our ‘alone time.’ We need it to emotionally recharge, to process what we have learned and experienced, and to prepare ourselves for interacting with others. The stronger a person is as an introvert, or if one is a sensitive soul, the more alone time one will often need to ‘recharge.’ It is interesting, though, to note that there is a very big difference between just seeking solitude and ‘being quiet’ or ‘being still.’
Solitude is essentially being alone, by yourself. But, just because one is alone doesn’t mean that one is ‘being quiet.’ In our media drenched society, we have music, news, movies, all sorts of entertainment readily available, 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Many people have smart phones so that they can continuously monitor their Facebook page, their Instagram, their LinkedIn, or whatever social media that they use. Some people watch movie after movie on their smart phones or tablets, others listen to all sorts of music on Pandora or Slacker. It seems that there is noise all around us, doesn’t it?
Now, I will admit that I am listening to “The Gladiator” soundtrack while I am writing this blog entry. As I am work on writing or doing artwork, I find having some sort of classical music playing in the background very helpful. The same goes with reading, studying German, or something like that. Sometimes I will prefer to have it very quiet while I read or study, but usually I will want to some sort of background music.
However, my life is not like in the movies. When I am out for a walk, whether just to have fun and relax or because I am getting from point A to point B, I don’t have music playing in the background. Sometimes when I jog, I will have music playing, but not all the time. Especially if I am running on the road. But when I am out walking to decompress, to just think, or to enjoy all of God’s Creation, I love not having music playing. I can listen to the sound of the wind through the trees (or against the dunes if I am in the desert), the songs of the birds, etc. Not having the ‘background soundtrack’ enables me to enjoy things around me even more because I am not distracted by music.
The same is often true for when I do my devotions. I will often turn my music off when I do my devotions, have time of intense prayer, or something like that. There’s just something about making everything around quiet so that I can intently focus on what I am doing. Though this isn’t the case every single time, it is usually what I prefer to do. That way I can concentrate more on what I am reading, to drink it in, to contemplate its meaning.
Though I feel that this is a good way to approach reading God’s Word any time (in a quiet area without distractions), I believe that it is even more so during Advent and before Easter. Why’s that? Think about it… During Christmas, we are preparing ourselves for Christ’s birth, the “Word became flesh,” as John 1 puts it. We are to preparing ourselves for His first entrance into this world, knowing that He will come again. The fact that God lowered Himself to our level and came into the world as a fragile human being, is just mindboggling to me! But yet, out of His infinite love, He did that for me. And, being the foolish humans that we are, we still get distracted, look for what we want to find, or just get caught up in what drama is circling our life at this time.
When Jesus was born, all of Israel was under Roman oppression. The Jewish people know that God was going to send them a Savior, but their expectation was that God would send a mighty warrior. This warrior would lead Israel in rebellion against Rome, throw off the chains of tyranny, and Israel would be an independent nation again. Because of this kind of expectation, grounded at least partially because they were so focused on what was happening around them, that they totally missed (as a whole) that God was going into the world to redeem a fallen people.
When we allow music, news, interesting trivia or entertaining articles on the Internet, TV programs, or whatever, to be distractions to us, we miss out on important details. For example, if we are reading God’s Word while watching the news, are we really paying any attention to what God might be speaking to us about? If we are constantly going about our lives with background noise and not trying to quiet things down, how often do we miss little things? Little things like how a co-worker’s body language is speaking volumes of the pain they are carrying, or not noticing how a person is reacting to our words or actions, or even just the beautiful sounds of nature?
During this time of Advent, let us all be more purposeful in seeking some solitude, time alone. Time away from all that is distracting so that we can focus more on reading God’s Word, on praying for others, and in preparing our own hearts for remembering Christ’s birth. I know that it may be hard. Some of us have very, very hectic schedules. But yet, even just taking 5 minutes here and there to just turning things off and focus for a little while on God and His Word, I believe that it can work wonders in your life. I know it has in mine.
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