When you look outside, what do you see? What do you think about? How does it affect you? 

If you’re “normal,” you see sunshine and feel uplifted. Clouds bring a sense of gloom. A squirrel  is a very active varmint that makes a mess of bird feeders and leaves a mess under the trees  where it chooses to eat. Frost on the windshield means that extra minutes are required to get  where we want to go. The prospect of a cold snap next weekend is just depressing. 

Davis is my youngest grandson and he is, to quote his father, a ‘tunker,’ who ‘bulldozes the  world to his will.’ At two years old, he is as solid as can be despite the fact that he is growing  taller. I kept that in mind as he saw me at church last Sunday and came down the aisle  towards me, a big smile on his face. As he neared me, the smile turned to a mischievous grin  and his pace quickened. In the last six feet, he started to run at me with clear intent. He was  going hard enough that, if he had run into the arm of the chair in which I sat, he would sustain  a serious bruise or a broken rib. He gave no thought to that. His only goal was the thrill of  impact. He was totally confident that I would catch him — which I did, while he laughed at the  good fun! 

The first time it struck me was when I sat in a rented house in Navrongo, in northern Ghana.  Scattered around me in the living room were a short-term missionary team from our church.  We had trained for months. I had gone ahead of them to do some teaching, experienced being  robbed of almost everything, picked them up at the airport in Tamale and now, at last, we were  together in the place that would be our home base for the next couple of weeks, preparing to  both minister to, and learn from, our Ghanaian brothers and sisters. It was mid-January and I  had begun another year of a bible reading plan. Thus, the verse was fresh in my mind. I  quoted Jacob to the group as I began: “To see your face is to see the face of God.” 

I begin the new year with a confession — I find myself misled by my “smart watch.” Perhaps it’s a plot conceived in the dark bowels of a concrete structure for the proletariat in mainland China, though I don’t see how misleading me can possibly further any communist plot. I should also add that I’m pretty sure that my particular watch is made in the U.S, therefore rendering my conspiracy theory null and void. But, I digress.

As this year began to wind down, I set a literary challenge for myself — to read some novels  by the Scottish author, George MacDonald, in his original 19th century English. Having completed one novel and commenced the second, I make these observations. First, there is a reason that Michael Philipps was inspired to translate the books for a modern reader. If you think I am long winded as a preacher, you should read this guy! Second, there is a reason that men like C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton were so influenced by this man. His insight into life  with God as a disciple of Jesus is profound. 

It was the sad reflection of a friend who is close to seeing and experiencing almost a  century of Christmases: “You know, it doesn’t even feel like Christmas anymore. Jesus  is hardly given a thought.” 

By mid November, before Advent even began, my inbox was full of advertisements for  Black Friday sales. As soon as that weekend was over, the next tidal wave was for  Christmas sales. For the last week or more, the emphasis is Boxing Day sales. To be  fair, we’ve also had a month of school Christmas concerts and choir concerts. There  has been carolling and food preparation and Advent wreaths. Tonight, there will be  Christmas Eve services and church attendance will boom. Apparently, it’s now  politically incorrect (actually, it has been for some time) to wish people a Merry  Christmas (substitute “All the best of the season” or “Happy Holidays” to be safe)…

…But the character quality that allows us to wait wisely and well is just as hard to  develop as generosity or controlling our tongue or loving the unlovable. Anyone can  perform a selfless act on a one-off basis. That requires only a modicum of self discipline. But to do the selfless thing over and over again — even to train to do so —  is very hard. 

Despite all of these Christmas activities and displays, I don’t feel one bit in the  Christmas mood. Even as I write this, I’m looking at flowers blooming, clear blue skies,  and hummingbirds flitting from branch to branch. There is no snow, no crisp air that can take your breath away, and no slippery street to navigate carefully. The paradigm is all wrong and I’m realizing how much the paradigm affects my appropriation of the season. 

As Advent gets underway, let’s think together about waiting. But first, let me tell you about my recent shopping fiasco. 

First, a confession of sorts: I really try to strike a balance in my daily living between consulting the Lord for things/guidance/etc while using the wisdom, intelligence and drive that he has given me….

First, an anecdote and a statement, both of which arrested my attention in the last week. 

The anecdote: A woman stopped attending a church group because, though she liked the group and its activities, she clashed often with the leader of the group. In the end, she attributed it to differing personalities and left. 

The statement: Recently, a church leader told me (I’m paraphrasing), “This church has never known unity. It’s just that the causes of disunity were different than they are now.” 

We read it on the first evening of a pastors’ retreat three weeks ago. There we were, in the magnificent setting of King’s Fold, having had a full day and very meaningful engagement with one another. To end the day, each day, we went through a reading and meditation exercise called “Compline” (from the Latin word for “complete” in reference to the completion of the waking day) which has a long history in Christian tradition. On that evening, we read these  words: 

All of this is good news to me and I enjoy telling you about it, even if it really isn’t the same for you. These things are a big deal in my life and easily shared. I appreciate you taking the time to read about them, even if you don’t share the same level of delight that I feel. 

It is almost two years since we moved out of our old house and into Tim and Laura’s  basement. Having lived there for more than forty years, there is nothing about that house that  I didn’t work on….

What are you facing this week? Grief? Fear? Doubt? Loss? Your own sinfulness or failure or inadequacy? Uncertainty?

It seemed like a good and logical idea at the time. We were backfilling the foundation of our new house and there were chunks of cured concrete (from pouring those foundations) and various other pieces of refuse from the building site. The simple solution was to throw them into the ground and cover them with the new “fill” that we were trucking in. 

I love living in this neighbourhood where we have built our garden suite! Since we started building two summers ago, I’ve met so many great people. Sharon and I have talked about how we’ve already developed more and better relationships here than we had developed in the 40 years that we lived in our previous home.

I got the word on July 24th of this past summer. I still have 20/20 vision. That was good news but it was also frustrating. If my vision is so good, why do I need reading magnifiers to read over half the time? How is it that I can perceive the smallest movement of an animal in a field while driving by at 100 km/hr and not be able to clearly see the print on a shelf label at Home  Depot?

Parents, grandparents, — here is a truth that I would strongly advise you to take to heart. Kids are always watching you and they are learning about the way life works, what to expect from life, their “rights” with respect to life…..

Human beings are born with the need to hope. We find life incredibly difficult and not worth living if we discover that there is no hope in whatever area that we need it. The writer of  Proverbs understood this

“Where does it say in scripture that God ‘sings’ over his children?”