It was Christmas 1978, and I was set on a mission to find the toy of the year—the infamous Cabbage Patch doll. They had sold out quickly, but I was asked to help a mother find the only remaining Cabbage Patch doll in the nation for her little girl. It was the week before Christmas and all the stores were sold out. But I made a few calls to JC Penny’s Worldwide Headquarters who put me in touch with their West Coast warehouse. Two days before Christmas, the Cabbage Patch doll arrived at this mother’s door.Now it’s Christmas 2007, and the “next impossible gift” request turns out to be a snow globe with the statue of a reindeer inside. Mind you not some silly Rudolph prancing around the North Pole but an image worthy of National Geographic. This family loved “reindeer” decorations. Thirty years later, I can go online to “shop the world” to search for this unique gift. But, my quest came up empty except for a few poor, plastic images of Rudolph dancing around Santa’s sleigh. Not quite the quality reindeer I had hoped to find.
Snow globes have a certain wonder and fascination for me. A scene encased in water, you pick up the globe, shake it and watch the "snow" magically rise up in a swirl and cover the scene. Set it down and gradually things settled and became clear.
In some ways the days after Christmas can offer such clarity. The Christmas stories represent a very special intervention of God in the human condition, they reveal to us just how much God loves us, one that, as G.K. Chesterton said, turned the world upside down and, astonishingly, when viewed from that perspective the world made sense.
God, in the words of the Irish Dominican poet, Paul Murray, loves us so much that if we should cease to exist, he would die of sadness. The Christmas stories reveal to us that God loved Her human children so much that He took on human form so that he could show us how to live and how to die, even walking with us down to the valley of death itself.
Like the colorful glitter in a snow globe –we can easily get caught up in the swirl of busyness that can be a tempting distraction to get lost in. Yet – how often do we feel lost? We don't know who we are. We lose our sense of clarity. Everything seems confused. New Year's resolutions are about spending time more with special friends, exercise, and dieting. Instead, we get distracted by more meetings to attend, e-mails to answer, crisis to resolve, credit card debt and we lose sight of our number one goal to simply be a more happy person.
I like to suggest that these first days of this New Year can be days of grace, to be still and let the activity drop away. To adapt a phrase: Don't just do something – sit there and pray. Before you toss away those Christmas cards in the recycling bin—read again slowly and pray in gratitude for your friends, which is the way God, reveals how much she truly loves you.
God prays for us as we reflect: “The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11).
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who in this New Year have mountains that need to be conquered, temptations to overcome; feelings to be mastered and problems to be solved. In you are found the answers and in you are found the strength to carry on. Bless my friends as they climb and overcome the swirl of life with you their Heavenly Guide.
