CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT GOD BEING PRESENT

While it is true that God does not have to do something, there is still, I believe something that God had to do. What God had to do is what God did on the day we celebrate Christmas: become one of us. God had to become present in and among us human beings to know what it is like to be human. There was no other way for even God, all-knowing and all-wise that God is, to know what it is like to be human.

And so God became present among us, to live as we do, to love as we do, to suffer as we do, to die as we do. No, God not live, love, suffer and die in the exact same way as any other person who has lived, is living or will live. No two people live, love, suffer and die in the exact same way. But we all live, love, suffer and die. God became as one of us to understand just what being human means and is all about.

Now I know I am treading on heretical grounds here. This is not deep theology. I just don’t go there. Where I do go, where I do travel is this life where good and evil, love and hate, joy and pain are present everywhere and in every one of us. And when pain and suffering come my way, when I feel lost and alone and cannot understand why, I want to know that my God understands what I am going through.

Thus, because I know my God knows because God in Jesus experienced what I experience, suffered the way I suffer, and in many ways experienced more and suffered worse than me, I am comforted. I can come to God in prayer knowing God knows what I am going through because God in Jesus went through the same. The pain and suffering may not be lessened but knowing God understands certainly helps me in dealing with what is going on in my life.

God’s being present among us is akin to our being present with someone we love who is in pain, is akin to another being present with us when we are in pain. The pain is not taken away or even reduced but we give comfort and are comforted simply by that presence. That is the meaning of what we celebrate on Christmas: it is God’s present to us by becoming present with us.

And is that not what our Christmas presents are? They are symbols, reminders, of our presence, when we are apart, of our love and care for them and they for us. We cannot always be physically present with the ones we love, but our presents are reminders that we are always present if only in thought and prayer.

Christmas is a reminder that God is always present with us and knows and understands what it means to be human. God becoming one of us in Jesus, being present in Jesus, is the greatest present God could give to us. Our Christmas presents need to remind us of just how important being present really is. Our being present to another is the greatest present we can give to that person. We must never forget that.

DYSFUNCTIONAL

I saw a little sign in a craft store the other day that read: "Let's put the 'fun' back in dysfunctional." At first thought that sounded like a good idea. On second thought it reminded me that what makes being dysfunctional so "in" is that it is fun to be so. And make no mistake about it: being dysfunctional, coming from a dysfunctional family, is in.

           

The classic excuse these days for doing what we know is wrong is to blame it on the fact that we come from a dysfunctional family, live in a dysfunctional society, are prone to being dysfunctional because of our genes. For once we can blame our wrongs on something or someone else, we are off the hook. Then it is someone or something else's fault that we are the way we are.

           

And that is true. We are the way we are because of forces beyond our control: our genes, for instance, maybe even society. But being is not the same as doing. I may very well be the way I am, who I am, because of my parents. But they don't do what I do. I do. I am responsible for my actions: not my genes, my parents, my society.

           

Still, I am dysfunctional. We all are. Whenever we do that which we know we should not do, we are not functioning the way we know we should. We are dysfunctional. That is the psychological term. The theological term is sinful. My psychologist may tell me that the reason I lie or cheat or whatever, all of which I know is wrong, is that I am dysfunctional. My priest will tell me it is that I am a sinner.

           

Nevertheless, sinfulness and dysfunctionality have the very same reality in common: fun. We sin because it is fun, because we enjoy it, because there is pleasure involved. That's what drives us to do that which we know we should not in the first place: the pleasure, the fun. We don't have to put the fun back into dysfunctional. It was always there.

           

Now I know that there are those who will tell me that I am being too simplistic. Perhaps so. But I also think it is an oversimplification to blame wrong doing on forces beyond our control. We can't help it if we have genes that are prone to put on weight. We can help it when it comes to what we put into our mouths. We can't help it if we were born in a slum. We can help ourself get out of that environment; we can help make sure we overcome it and it does not overcome us.

           

It is so easy to spend a lot of time making excuses why we are the way we are. It's a waste of time. We are who we are and we will never be other that who we are. But we certainly can do something about why we do or do not do what we do or do not do.

           

The other reality that we will discover is that there is more fun, more enjoyment in doing what we should be doing than in doing what we should not be. There is more fun and pleasure in loving someone than in hating or hurting someone. Always. Every time. There is no need to put the fun back into being dysfunctional. What there is a need is for us to find the fun -- the good -- in living our lives as sinful but redeemed, as sinful but always-the-ability-of-getting-better Christians.

GOD’S HOUSE

In her wonderful book An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us that in truth “the whole world is the house of God.” And, of course it is. The world, the universe, known and unknown, is God’s creation. How all this came to be is a moot point because we really do not know. Scientists and theologians have debated the issue for centuries and are nowhere nearing an answer than they ever were.

Yes, it would be very interesting to answer the “how” or “when” of creation, if it could be done, but would it change anything? The fact is that we will never know no matter how smart we are. Believers believe the world is God’s house. Unbelievers believe the world, well, I don’t know what they believe because I am a believer and I really do not care how or when the world, the universe came to be. I simply accept the fact that it is all the work of God.

The question remains, however, is that if we believe “the whole world is the house of God”, do we live and act as if it really is? Even more to the point, Taylor asks a very searing question: “Do we build God a house in lieu of having God stay at ours?” In other words, do we keep God in God’s place as the deists did? They believed, still believe, that God created the universe and since then has kept a hands-off approach to creation. Do we act as if the church (building) is the house of God rather than acting as if God lives in our house, namely, inside each one of us?

If we believe we are children of God, then it follows that God lives in us, not in some even very beautiful building or somewhere out there. God really lives in our very homes because God lives in each one of us. That can be very frightening or very exciting depending on how we respond to that truth. We can be scared to death as it were, if we understand that our home should reflect the presence of God when it obviously might not.

We can be excited if we understand the privilege we have in having our home be God’s home even as that is a scary proposition.

The truth is that for the most part our homes are God’s home. Love lives there, love for one another. The further truth, however, is that we often don’t see it that way or are even aware of that reality. It is almost as if we are oblivious of what our home is and is always to be: the house of God. If we were more aware of that truth, we have to wonder what this world would be like. What would our own life be like?

It might not be too far from the truth to assert that the problems we encounter in our daily lives stem from the fact that unconsciously we keep God in what we think is God’s place, whatever that place is, like a church. Again, it is as if we are afraid to come to the realization that the one place God chooses to dwell is in our own homes. God is not afraid to dwell there so why should we be afraid to offer God a prominent place there? It will make our life better once we personally invite God in.

SOMETIMES IT ONLY TAKES A SMILE

Several years ago, don’t ask me how many as the years pass so quickly and fade so easily into oblivion, I was out grocery shopping. As I got out of the car and approached the entrance to the store, I noticed a sign on the closest parking spot to the store’s entrance, a sign that I had never seen before. It read “Parking for expectant mothers”. I smiled and continued towards the entrance. A young employee was sitting on a bench on her break. She said to me, “It’s nice to see someone smile today.”

I suspect I made her day, or at least that part of the day. On the other hand, my wife, The Nurse, whenever she sees that same sign anywhere reminds me that the sign should be at the far end of the parking lot and not next to the door because what expectant mothers need to do is walk. They need the exercise. Once again, I smile. Sometimes it does not take very much to do so.

Sometimes we forget that. There is so much to smile about in this life, in this world of ours. That is not to discount the truth that there is also so much to be sad about. The daily news is replete with tragic stories near and far. One cannot smile when floods devastate, when innocent children are struck down by a stray bullet, when a terrorist strikes. No smile at all, just tears.

And yet sometimes all it takes is a smile to brighten the day of someone having a bad day. We’ve all had them and will have them again and again. Even more, we never know when those days are coming. Some days start off wonderfully and then something happens, something is said, and we’re down in the dumps, Maybe, like the young lady at the grocery store, we take a break to get away from it for a while hoping that when we return, things will be better. Maybe they will be. Maybe they won’t.

That does not mean that when life is not going the way we would like it to go at the moment and, for whatever reason everything seems to be going south, we put on a happy face and pretend all is well. That only makes the situation worse. What it does mean is that sometimes in such situations we have to remember that things could indeed be worse. That, at least, is a reason to smile.

The point is that we so often takes life’s little pleasures for granted. We don’t take the time to stop and smile about whatever it is that gives us a sense of joy at the moment. I don’t remember why I stopped and smiled when I read the sign. I don’t even know why I looked up to see and read it in the first place. The fact that I did and that it made someone I did not know who was obviously having a bad day feel better made me feel good. And I have never forgotten that moment.

Silly? I suppose. But it is those unexpected moments in our lives that make another smile that can lift someone up who is down and make our life at the moment even more joyful. 

THE JOY OF WONDER

In this very, very busy world in which we live and move and have our being, we are encouraged time and again to “Stop and smell the roses”. The emphasis is on “stop”. We can see much of the world as we travel its highways and byways, but we only get a glimpse of what that world really is. But unless we actually stop and take a serious look at what are eyes behold, we will never really see what we are looking at.

Those in the know, and I am not one of them, tell us that we need to spend at least fifteen seconds observing whatever it is we have cast our eyes upon to really see and smell that rose, for instance. It is only when we stop and take serious time to see and smell that we can experience the joy of the wonder of God’s creation. Otherwise, I think, we take so much, if not all, of creation for granted.

Well, I know I do. I’ve seen it all before, I say to myself. But the truth is that I have not really seen it. I looked at it but did not see the essence of it, whatever that “it” happens to be. That is true not only of the world around us and everything in that world, but it is even more true about the people around us. It is only when we take the time to truly see the other person that we can find the joy that person brings into our lives.

How often have we said to ourselves that we did not expect to see what we just saw? We stood there in wonder. “I never saw that coming,” we say. “I never expected that from her.” “He surely surprised me!” Why were we so stupefied, if you will? Because we had never taken the time to get to know that person. We just sort of took him or her for granted and let it go at that.

Not until we were overjoyed as we stood there in wonder at what we had just seen, just experienced, that is. Life is full of surprises mostly, I dare say, because we tend to rush through so much of it that we miss so much of what is right there in front of us. The good part is that at least when we do take the time to stop and make eye contact, we see something or someone wonderful and that fills us with joy.

The old song tells us to slow down because we move too fast, that we need to make the moment last. Being told what to know, even knowing what to do does not always make us do what we should. We keep on moving too fast through life and, as a consequence, miss so much of what God is trying to help us see but won’t make us either stop or open our eyes even when we do. It is up to us.

The memories of those times when we did in fact stop and smell the roses, when we stopped and had a conversation with someone we have known for so long but never really got to know are only reminders of how much joy there is for us to experience when we are overcome by the wonder of what we have just experienced. We need to slow down and take time each day to experience the joy of wonder.

SEEING GOD

How do we see, how can we see the unseen God? We believe in God even as we cannot prove that God exists. We believe God loves us unconditionally even though we always have our doubts when we have done something we know God would never wish we would have done. We believe there is life after death even though no one who has ever died has come back to earth to make us believe it is so. Okay, Jesus did. But then we believe Jesus is God and God can do anything but we cannot.

So much of what we believe is just that: belief. It is not knowledge, yet we accept it almost as if it were knowledge even if we cannot prove its veracity. But we have to in order to live life in this world. That is true not only about our belief in God but also true about our belief in others and about life itself.

Yet we are always striving to prove to be true what we can only believe to be true. Our minds are restless from birth to death, restless for the truth whatever that truth happens to be at that moment in our lives. Thus, we will never stop trying to see God, grab hold of God, learn about God in whatever way we can. Most of the time we only catch a glimpse of God and that suffices for the moment.

But to actually see and touch and feel God? The only way that that can be done is to see God in people. We are all children of God. We believe that. And as a child of God, God lives in us just as our parents live in us and we live in our children. It is DNA but more than that. The genetics make it true. But, as we all discover as we grow older, we find our parents coming out in us – the way we think and act and speak.

So, too, God our parent, comes out in us in the way we think and act and speak. How often have we said or done something that was exactly what had to be said or done at that moment in time and then afterwards wondered where that came from? It was God coming out in us which we call the Holy Spirit. That is true for every human being regardless of race, gender or even religion. God lives in each and every person.

Thus, if we truly want to see God in the flesh, all we need do is look in the mirror and look at every person we see. Somewhere inside that person is God alive and well. That person, including ourself, may not always think and act and speak in Godly ways, but that does not lessen the truth that God is alive therein.

What each of us has to do is twofold. First, we have to recognize the God who lives in us and who works in this world in and through us. Second, we have to see the God who lives in everyone else. That will not always be easy in either instance. But it is the only way that we will be able to find reconciliation with one another in this life in this world. We cannot bring about this reconciliation all by ourselves but we can do our part in our little corner of the world by helping others see God in us as we seeing God in them.

THE DIS-EASE OF DISCONNECTION

Richard Rohr – Franciscan priest, spiritual director, prolific writer – in his wonderful and readable book on the Trinity, The Divine Dance, explains, as best that can be done on the subject, the connection between the three persons of the Trinity. That said, that also does not mean that after reading the book I have a clear understanding of the subject, only a clearer one than I had before I read the book. Such is the Trinity!

One of his main points is that not only is there a connection between the persons of the Trinity, there is also a like connection between the Trinity and each one of us. Given the truth of that reality, and I do believe it is true, the follow-up to that truth is that there should likewise be a connection between each and every one of us, between all of humanity. There should be.

But there is not. To quote Rohr: “The greatest dis-ease facing humanity right now is our profound and painful sense of disconnection.” If we are not uneasy about this disconnection, we are living in an unreal world. The disconnection is both small and great. Go out to eat. Look around. What do we see? Once the waitperson takes the order, everyone at the table pulls out a cell phone. The disconnection begins.

One might argue that these marvelous devices keep us connected. Yes, but only to a degree but not really. The art of real conversation is being lost and so has the connection between people. Arlena and I have lived in our neighborhood for over eight years. We walk almost every day. Because we are free, we walk whenever the spirit moves. The other day we were walking when the high school bus stopped and left off the riders. We saw a young man get off the bus whom we had never seen before. He has lived down the block from us all the while we have lived on the block.

As a nation we are uneasy because we have become disconnected one from another. We have lost the art of conversation and have crawled into our little shells and into our own little world. We cannot see anything but what we see because we refuse to even try to see from another perspective. The only way to see as another sees is to have a conversation with that person. That takes being connected.

Again, as Rohr explains, we are already connected through the Trinity. But making that connection work in this life in this world means being open to the other, listening with open ears and heart and mind, being willing to change our thoughts and actions if necessary. That, of course, is not easy because it may mean that we were wrong.

We cannot change this dis-ease with the present disconnection all by ourselves. What we can do is make the effort to become more connected in our own lives. It will not always be easy because we may learn something about ourselves that we would rather not; but if and when we do, we will be better for it and certainly less at ease.