Christmas Ramble...

Through the course of life we will be asked the question; Who are you?
For most of us, the cursory response is our name or the name of our parents.
We don't typically wrestle with the deep philosophical question of who am I, until we get toward our teen years and beyond... but it is an interesting question, none the less.
I grew up in a family with a rich heritage that was founded in our faith in Jesus Christ.  There was never any question that what we believed was synonymous with who we were.
As I got older and began to really delve in to what it meant to have faith in Christ and the tension of making that faith my own, I discovered the aforementioned assertion to be even more certain than in my tender youth.
This, however, was not always the case... who I was or am, was not always synonymous with what I believed.
As one begins to grapple with issues of faith and in particular, having a personal relationship with Jesus, it is easy to find inconsistencies tucked in to the fabric of liturgy and life in the every day.
I have written and spoken about this on many occasions, but I'm going to ramble on about it again anyway...
When we focus on people and the hypocrisy between what they say and what they do, it's easy for our "faith" to unravel.


And the unfortunate consequence of this reality is, this is where many people get derailed in their faith.  As children or young adults, we observe failures in people to whom we look up and the disappointment and disillusionment this brings, serves to chip away at our faith in God.
As the old saying goes, (there are many variations on this) "what you do is more important than what you say."
With that in mind, we have to, as adults, be vigilant in our behavior, publicly and privately, so that we give no one cause to question their own faith in God.
Now comes the conundrum, or the contradictory statement; what we do does not define who we are.
Our identity cannot be derived from or achieved by what we do, though many try.


This can be especially difficult to swallow, when there are many in our society who put a premium on personal performance and achievement as a means for acquiring distinction or glory.
And while you might be able to find some semblance of notoriety through achievement, from a humanistic perspective, when one realizes that we are so temporary in nature, that what we do barely serves to make a ripple in the grand expanse of time and history and that we are not the center of the universe, it is possible to obtain a little clearer perspective as to what, or rather, who it is that actually defines us.  
Once we grab on to that framework, it aids us in building an understanding of who we are through the lens of Christ Jesus. Because, out of our relationship with God, flows the life we falsely think we can achieve through our own efforts or merit.


Again, it is easy to get focussed on the doing, because we are a production oriented society, but we really must lose our fascination with doing and try to find some success in just being...
What the heck?  So, are we supposed to assume the lotus position and meditate on our navel until we reach some form of enlightenment?
Not exactly.
Being is not meant to sound like some pharmaceutically induced state of nothingness.  I'm talking about an actual state of being...like being in relationship with another person.  "I'm in a relationship", denotes a state of being present, being with, being about, philosophically, emotionally, physically, spiritually engaged in a place of connection.  And this connectivity has little to do with what you've done to get there.  It's like you just knew and you said yes...
All of that to say, that at this time of year, Christmas time, this belief holds most true for me.  
I know it sounds absurd to think, write, even say such a thing but then,
it is so highly imperceptible to think that out of such humble beginnings could come such wonder and mystery, glory and truth.  An unwed teenage mother, a baby, a barn, lowly shepherds, a middle-aged carpenter, a strange celestial anomaly, 3 noblemen from some far eastern land traveling so many months to get to their destination by following said celestial anomaly, angelic hosts...


See, we didn't do anything to make that miraculous event come about.  It happened as a result of God's sovereign will.  
And this state of being that I'm talking about, happens in much the same way.  
God has opened an opportunity to us, to step in to the reality of being with him...each of us, to know Him.
What we've done or what we can do, doesn't interfere with or help us obtain this reality.  We simply have to believe and to ask...


It's like we just know and we say yes...


And out of this most unorthodox, unbelievable circumstance comes the hope of the entire world...the very Son of God, through whom we have life, significance and identity...not because of what we or anyone else has done or can do, but because of who He is and who we now are through Him.


Grace and Peace