Tonight I’m breaking stride, writing the blog from a miniature table in a tiny Starbucks, warmed by a tall cup of herbal tea. Floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows look out on a Christmas scene: well-decorated store windows, traffic lights “blinking a bright red and green” and a brick sidewalk on which a steady parade of shoppers pass.
Just outside the windows is a long line of trees laden with tiny white lights, making the street look every bit like a page from a fairy tale. Christmas carols are playing on the Starbucks speakers, and as if on cue, snow has begun to fall.
The counter top nearby is lined with cheery red bags of “Christmas Blend” coffee, and the menu posters overhead are coordinated with the same red, along with pictures of alluring cups of whipped-creamed-topped hot drinks. This scene couldn’t be more perfect. It’s a combination of “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” and “Let it snow.”
All of us envision a similar perfection when we look toward the holidays. But even though I’ve not exaggerated my description of the scene, I’ve left out some of the details.
A mother and two elementary school boys just left the Starbucks with three cups of hot chocolate, but before they did, the mom had to grab each of them, point out my computer and yell a reminder that liquids and laptops don’t mix.
At the next table a husband and wife argued about where they’d eat dinner, one wanting hot dogs, the other a gourmet meal. When six middle school girls came in, the catty gossip flying between them nearly colored the air blue, and because of their dilly-dallying, the woman behind them eventually stormed off saying, “I don’t have all day to get one cup of coffee!”
A boyfriend and girlfriend became stressed when he decided nothing on the Starbucks menu interested him. Outside people hoped to stay warm by hunching forward as they walked through the bitter cold.
Scenarios of holiday strain dotted the Christmas-y atmosphere, destroying the fairy tale ambiance and reminding me life isn’t, nor ever will be, what it seems.
Lately I’ve noticed couples seated together in restaurant windows (including Starbucks), and feel a sense of self-pity. I’m not part of a couple anymore, and as I look through the windows, especially now with Christmas lights and music adding to the attraction, I long to be part of that picture. But I ought to remind myself things aren’t always as they seem. What looks idyllic may not be, and being jealous of a fairy tale picture is silly.
This principle holds true in the spiritual realm, too. The promises of this life are just like a seemingly beautiful scene. “Through the window” they look satisfying and delectable, and we project ourselves into those pictures. But if we go there, we learn it’s often just “smoke and mirrors.”
Most things aren’t as they seem, and spending time wishing or hoping when in truth we might not want them anyway, is foolishness indeed.
“You need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)
I find myself wondering just who I am.No longer part of a coulpe,not really a wife,yet not really single,not able to give to my family or friends.Just who am I and what should I be doing?
I know God has a plan for my life,but right now it is impossible to see what that might be.
Blessings,Ruth
What a good post, Margaret. Makes us think about what reality is – and isn’t. I once heard someone say something like, “Reality is what God knows is true. He sees through all the tinsel.”
Thank you for this post. I have recently been grieving the death of a dream (again) and your reminder has helped. I have also been reminding myself that “He became like us,so we could become like Him” in the words of Max Lucado and that is the reality that I really seek.
May we all have His Peace with us, this busy week. Inhale deeply, and exhale slowly. “All is Calm, All is Bright”.
Hi Margaret,
I so appreciate the title of your blog. Isn’t it interesting how much Christmas has been “romanticized” for lack of a better word. It is as though Satan has tried to hijack the most incredible event of history (aside from the crucifixion and empty tomb), and has turned it into a season of despair and disappointment for so many who look at their lives and think somehow they lie outside what others must be experiencing at this time of year.
Last night when I was getting my hair cut, the shop owner was talking about all the hubbub and said it should be all about family. With a rare stroke of boldness, I said, no, it’s not even about family, it’s about Christ, it’s about the amazing reality that God became man.
The Greek word for “world” interestingly enough at this time of year is “ornament” or “bauble.” As we look at city sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style, that’s the best the world can do. It’s “smoke and mirrors” as you say. But the real Light of the World came not to adorn us with external trappings, but to give us real life and that life was the light of men.
When I think of the original Christmas, it far outstripped anything we could ever imagine, though we still don’t fully see it. The most awesome thing that ever happened was shrouded in humility, poverty, obscurity, fear, and scandal, not ornaments and bows. It was so utterly mundane from a human point of view, and yet the one thing that cannot disappoint. We humans try to “flash up” Christmas and in our efforts it always disappoints. December 26th comes in deflation- garbage bags of discarded wrapping paper, merchandise lowered in value and offered at a fraction of the cost, decorations waiting to be taken down and stored until next year.
Yet Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow- He offers joy and purpose on the 26th as much as the 24th.
I’ve been reading a little 31 day Christmas devotional that I HIGHLY commend to blog readers everywhere for next year- Pursuing The Christ by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. On December 21st, I got my nugget for the season, and indeed I think is my story- two simple verses- “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.” Psalm 18:16,17. This is what Jesus did- He entered enemy territory, spilled His own blood, and pulled us up on His victorious horse. He does that at the moment of personal salvation, and continues to do that at every choice toward sanctification.
That God can take a test and turn it into a testimony, a mess and turn it into a message (a borrowed jingle I recently heard)-this is the meaning of Christmas, and what we can celebrate who have embraced Christ as Savior.
Though a host of unseen enemies of our souls camp around us, He is greater.
Jesus is the reason, despite atheist billboards otherwise.
Love,
Terry
Good blog, Midge, and I so understand your place; however, Terry hit it right on. when we focus on the real realson for the season…everything else dims..and becomes “baubles”. Hope you enjoy your children and grands this year and MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all !!
Did you ever wonder why it is called ‘Christmas’..? CHRIST – Master And Saviour….!
Thanks for a well-timed post, both seasonally and personally. God’s plan for each of us is unique and unknown, and wanting someone else’s, while often tempting, is indeed foolish. All in due time, all according to God’s will. Merry Christmas, Margaret, to you, your lovely family, and all of your blog readers.