FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
(12/21/2008)
CHRISTMAS
DOTS
Cindy Hong
 1…2…3…4…Who
knows how many activity sheets kids (and some adults) complete and color
in a given year. Yet as kiddish as these dots may be, they connect for
us a picture of Christmas and the child of Christmas. Like the number
1, the Christ-child is the starting place of our salvation. Without the
baby born in Bethlehem , there would be no subsequent death and resurrection
in Jerusalem . Without Christmas, we would have no Easter. And as we trace
the numbers, 14…15…16, a picture starts to form. So also as we follow
Jesus our lives form a picture of their own. Sometimes fuzzy, sometimes
with greater clarity, other times with stuff we either want to crop out
or photoshop in. Our dots may differ at times with the various challenges
God uses to form us: unemployment, health issues, loved ones dying, unforeseen
bills, conflicted relationships, and other fill-in-the-blank challenges.
And while we may assume it is Mary and Joseph in the picture here, when
Christ is born in us and His light kindled within us and shining through
us, it can just as easily be us in the picture with the baby Jesus. If
we trace these numbers to the end, we also see the big picture as it unfolds.
And the ending point is the same for all our pictures because in the end,
God wins. All glory is His and His alone. With Christ as our starting
and ending points, all the dots in between can be filled with joy and
peace, hope and love. The Christ of Christmas connects our dots and draws
a beautiful (perhaps not perfect in our finite thinking) picture, the
present reality of Jesus Christ living in and with us. This Christmas,
may we gaze at Jesus with child-like wonder, hearts filled with joy at
the salvation and victory He brings. 40…41…42…
God
wins. Merry Christmas, indeed.
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