Breathe

Good Morning Bethlehem Trekkers,

The Peanut’s Gang, of Charles Schulz fame, is once again getting ready for Christmas. Sally is lying on a bean bag chair, watching TV and her brother, Linus, is reading to her about the real meaning of Christmas: “Listen to this, Sally!” “The census that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem is said to have been ‘of all the world,’ but this probably really means only the Roman Empire at that time…”

“And when we read that there was no room in the inn, the word inn is really better translated as ‘guest room.’ The intention of course is to contrast a place of human lodging with a place for feeding animals...”

“And look at this, says Linus. “The name Bethlehem is interesting too. It literally means, ‘House of Bread.’ I think things like this are so fascinating, Sally…What do you think?”

“Well…I think if I don’t get every single thing I want for Christmas this year, I’m gonna totally gross out!” :)

Well…How many of us can relate to Sally’s response? Maybe not literally, but I believe there is such a thing as a “Sally Trap”—missing the meaning of Christmas all together because we keep our minds and hearts more on the trappings of Christmas, rather than capturing the true meaning of Christmas.

But the “Sally Trap” can also include being inundated, even beaten over the head with (a nice peaceful sign of Christmas, huh?) “the true meaning of Christmas…” “…the true meaning of Christmas…” Enough already! What if you can’t quite capture or discover this “true meaning of Christmas?” What then? Do you forfeit your church membership? Are you no longer a card carrying Christian? Are you forever banned from attending Christmas parties? Are you eternally relegated into the Bah Humbug Brigade and thereby frozen in time with your cynical, doubting, even unbelieving attitudes?

Of course, none of the above consequences really happen. But I have also come to the conclusion that there really is such a thing as trying too hard to believe…trying too hard to find the meaning of Christmas. But “trying too hard” implies that you and I are actually in control of all this. “Trying too hard” implies that we can somehow “do something” to make this all happen. Ah, if it were only as easy as following “This Way to the True Meaning of Christmas;” not missing even one sign or turn; or baking up a batch or two of “Christmas Spirit” perfectly putting the recipe together; or cranking up the CD player and blasting Mannheim Steamroller or The Trans-Siberian Orchestra through our weary and sad hearts and…Voila! We find the true meaning of Christmas…Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but none of these exercises makes it so either…

So, my advice is quite simple…take time to breathe! Better yet, take some “holy time” to breathe. Breathe deeply and exhale…breathe deeply and exhale…repeat until you relax…with each breath in, breathe God’s presence into your body, mind and spirit…with each breath out, exhale any impurities, sadness, frustrations, worries, concerns, loneliness, struggles, whatever seems to be taking up residence and threatening to take over the entire neighborhood of your being…and make room for the Spirit to move in like an “Extreme Home Makeover…”

Make this exercise a part of your daily prayers, add some patience—maybe a whole lot of patience :); practice at least once a day and discover how God is blessing you on your way to a fuller, richer, deeper understanding of hope, peace, joy & love—the very gifts of God—that move us closer and closer to Bethlehem town to receive the greatest gift of God to the whole world…Jesus Christ…Blessings, Joanne