Emmanuel
Moments
“My, how
foolish I am! You know what I've always thought? I've always thought
a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And
I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the Baptist
windows: pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through. Such a
shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a comfort to
think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling. But I'll
wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes
the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are, just
what they've always seen was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave
this world with today in my eyes.”
Truman
Capote (A Christmas Memory)
I had the pleasure of
watching Delores Hydock, our best-known local story-teller, perform A
Christmas Memory, last week. Even though I've heard it many times, it
never gets old. Maybe that's because I resonate with the message. If you
buy the notion that heaven is where you go only after your body dies,
then why all the beauty in this world? What possible purpose is
achieved by earth's gloriously colored sunrises and sunsets, or the
sparkle of sunlight gleaming off the tops of ocean waves, or the
rippling of desert dunes, or those wild, arched nature-creations in
Bryce Canyon. Why would there be so much beauty on this earth if we
were all simply to wait for the afterlife to fill us with awe? I'll
be honest, I don't believe in “heaven” or “hell” except for
the one's we create in our midst every day.
I love that the old woman
in Capote's story is considered “simple minded” because of her
love and excitement over the natural world and of the homely task of
making fruitcakes. Think about this: where in the world would we be,
and what kind of creatures would we be if no one had ever made us
sweets—if there had never been a granny or an auntie who just loved
to make cakes and pies for us? What a huge loss that would be—thank
God for the “simple-minded” cake bakers, and the “child-like”
pie makers in this world. Our lives would be far less blessed without
them.
And blessed are those who
see the face of “the Lord” in their fellow human beings, and in
the sweetness of a baby-child, and in the loving loyalty of their
furry pets. We are so used to being blessed on this earth that we
think we deserve it—that it is simply our birthright to receive
such bounty. But that is not the case. Such blessings are gifts that
come only in our Emmanuel moments—our “God with us-God among us”
moments. They are acts of grace for which the only proper response is to fall on our knees
and give thanks.
I hope you are aware of
your blessings today. Little glimpses of God, one and all.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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