The Cattle are Lowing

“Ha ha!” I shouted as I walked into my friend’s living room.  "What?” she asked, joining me where I was standing.  I am easily distracted by brightly colored objects and had stopped in the doorway to admire a new treasure.  “This!” I held up the magnet in my hand.  I knew immediately why she had purchased the trinket, she liked the cow. I smiled and waited.  “I liked the cow,” she explained, peering at it over my shoulder. “Uh huh. I can see why,” I countered.  “She’s handsome!” 

My friend had returned from holiday which meant I was invading her space to catch up, drink tea and eat her food.  I never have to edit myself when I’m with her, she will entertain any question I ask, no matter how daft.  I examined her ornament, “What happened to Jesus?” I asked. “Hmmmm,” she smiled, peered at it and was giving the matter some consideration.                                         “He’s clearly not as important as the cow, I think this might be blogworthy,” I declared.  “Here, let’s get it out of the plastic.”  She unwrapped the magnet as I reached for my phone.  “It will be easier for you to photograph.”

I confess I was surprised to see my friend breaking out the Christmas decorations.  November is almost over and I feel like advent snuck up on me this year.  Shopping madness has begun and online retailers didn’t wait until cyber Monday to break out the savings propaganda.  Everyone I know seems to be off and shopping while I sit at home wondering what happened to fall. 

I’m kind of behind.  Truth is, I approach the holidays with a particular type of dread.  Some of the nicest memories I have of the Christmas season, involve churches and the message of the nativity. But as the years pass, I struggle with how slick the holiday has become inside the church.  

It’s not a bad thing.  Many of the churches in my area are filled with talented people who like nothing more to give of their time and treasure over the holiday.  They are astonishing and fund Christmas events for hundreds of families, as well as opportunities for giving and blessing others.  Christmas productions put on by churches are of such a high caliber, that some are far better than shows I have paid to watch.

It wasn’t like that when I was growing up.  Secretly, I yearn for the days when boys dressed up in their dad’s bathrobes and placed tea towels on their heads.  No self-respecting shepherd would be caught dead without one.  Likewise, the girls would don coat hanger wings, covered with tin foil and put on halos made of garish tinsel.  Any parent with an ounce of talent, who thought to create wings bigger than the mandatory coat hanger size, or who somehow managed to jerry rig a halo that floated above their child’s head, were rebuked and shunned until they conformed to the lowest common standard. After all, Satan stared out as an angel and look what happened when he lost his humility. 

Simple nepotism determined the roles of Gabriel, Mary and Joseph.  Talent had little to do with anything, and I doubt words like “outreach” and “gospel opportunity” crossed anyone’s mind.  They were all too busy trying to figure out where the cardboard star from last year was placed and where they were going to put the two token hay bales. It was simple, basic and all together lovely.

I examined my friend’s magnet again.  I liked it.  The cow was clearly the celebrity.  Mary was charming, the donkey needed orthodontic work and Joseph seemed sincere.  I had to look hard to figure out where the redeemer was.  Wait. No.  I found him.  I wondered what the artist was thinking when they drew the savior of mankind because honestly Baby Jesus looked kind of like a fried egg.

So this was my week.  I’m sitting at my laptop, after a lovely church service, contemplating advent, in a world that takes the shiny parts of Christmas and reduces the coming of Emmanuel to a tiny, insignificant detail.  A fried eggs worth of attention in a decked out mass produced scene. 

I am praying for you this season dear friend.  Praying that somehow, by God’s great grace, you will keep Jesus at the center of this holiday.  Not just with deeds, but in your heart and in your mind.  That as the world strives to decorate its darkness with lights, that you will gain a deeper understanding of what advent means, in such hard and unsettling times.

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Praying for you this advent season,

xoxKaren

PS.  Thank you dear friend for letting me take a picture of your trinket.  You have never reduced Jesus, your life glorifies him.