| Sunny Side Up Dec. 15, 2004 � Kathleen Gibson, 2004 From Christmas complaints to Christmas meaning Ten years ago, I started eating differently and exercising regularly. Fifty pounds evacuated. "Kathleen," warned a friend, in the beginning. "Once you start down that road, there'll be consequences. Your body won't let you go back." I've let in a little chocolate (well, okay, a lot) and a few of those pounds come back and go forth regularly, like a ball on a paddle. But my friend was right; I can't go back there. My body rebels; my mind even more so. I remember too well what that extra baggage cost me. If you've been following these columns this month, you'll know I've been encouraging personal change: centering your Christmas, finally, on the reason for the season, the God-Man in the manger, Jesus Christ. Rather than complain about the spiritual vacuum that surrounds the season, I've asked you to look beyond those swaddling clothes. To read the gospel of John, to learn everything you can about that baby all grown up. His mission. His focus. His passions. An old gospel song talks about looking into the face of Jesus and finding that all else - all the 'stuff' that gradually sucks the life from us and chokes the meaning from our days - becomes insignificant. If you've decided to get close to Jesus, I feel bound, like my friend, to warn you about something: Expect consequences. A genuine hunt for truth always changes the hunter. If your search shows you the mind and heart of Jesus Christ; if you decide that no one else in this tired world has better answers to the question of meaning; if you accept as truth his claims to be the only bridge between God and man - you'll find you can't easily go back again either. Not only your Christmas will change - ultimately no part of your life will remain unaffected. You'll find yourself asking questions with far-reaching implications. "What would Jesus do? How can I (my family) live out his values? How can I stand up for truth? How can I honor those society scorns? How can I be more giving, more compassionate? How can I think less of me? How can I practice simple living? Honest answers to those questions will spur changes in your attitudes and behavior. Your focus and priorities will shift. People will notice eventually, just as they notice when our diets bring results. "Golly, where'd the other half of you go?" someone asked after my weight loss all those years ago. Your friends will make comments too. They may tease you about transmutating into one of those characters we loved to mock in decades past, the Jesus Freaks. Just tell them that you haven't transmutated, you've transformed. That God turned a Christmas Light on inside you. Stop complaining about the meaninglessness surrounding Christmas. Instead, grab the guts to change your personal celebration. Correction: grab the grace to change. It's God's Christmas special, waiting by the blue light over the manger, in the aisle with a cross at the far end. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
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