| Sunny Side Up �2004, Kathleen Gibson Dec. 1, 2004 Turning Christmas Upside Down Years ago, I spent a frustrating Sunday afternoon at the beginning of December arranging hundreds of white lights on our huge artificial tree. (Why is it the rest of humankind disappears about then?) When I'd hung them perfectly I tried to plug them in. But the plug, I found, had slots instead of prongs. I'd started at the wrong end of the light string. I slumped down on the carpet, the better to indulge in a small pity party, when our son Anthony walked in. He noticed my lack of Ho Ho's. "What's the matter, Mom?" he asked. I sniffled out my catastrophe. "Well, you know what to do about that," he said - and had the audacity to chuckle. "Just turn the tree upside down!" He was wiser than he knew, though I didn't see it then. Anthony's comment echoes to me every new Christmas. More than our trees need turning upside down at Christmas. For many the season of peace, hope and joy is easily the most stressful period of the year. There's a zillion extra things to do, places to go, people to see, send cards to, buy gifts for. We eat too much, do too much, buy too much (and too selfishly). Peace? Joy? Where on earth? And the Savior in the manger; the Jesus Christmas celebrates, vanishes. Those who truly celebrate the coming of God in human form know this and hate it. But every year the Christmas roller coaster comes round again, and every year millions jump on, only to find themselves pleading for escape before the first week of December is over. "Never gripe about anything unless you're willing to do something to change it," someone once cautioned. If you're complaining, like I did for years, about 'the way we do Christmas', try changing instead. Seek first for spiritual delight within this glittering season of lights. If you ever went to Sunday School, you know that God loves turning things upside down. Remember the story of the shepherd boy who killed the giant - with a slingshot - and later became king? Or the ninety year old woman who gave birth for the first time? How about the river that split open like log under a woodsman's axe, leaving a dry path? And remember the talking donkey? The birth of Jesus Christ, the centerpiece of Christmas, is no exception. After the angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the Messiah she enthused, "Thank you God! You are wonderful! You are magnificent! I am a simple, poor woman, a servant, and you have chosen me! ... You didn't chose someone who was rich and powerful and proud, instead you chose a poor woman to be the mother of your son �.". Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ - a simple, uneducated, young, single virgin? How much more topsy turvy could God get? Want to turn your Christmas upside down without actually standing your tree on its tip? Watch the next several columns for more. You can respond to this column at [email protected] Return Home |
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