Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
What a whirlwind it has been in the Advent prelude to a grand Christmas celebration. Trinity Lutheran Church has been functioning 7 days a week, meals are served, children receive loving care at our preschool, we have hosted guests from afar and local concerts, we have gathered for congregational meetings, a meet and greet with soon to be Pastor Katrina, there have been a variety of Christmas parties and open houses and each Sunday the people of God have come to worship God and fellowship in our coffee hours. The season of Advent ushers in full schedules, and seemingly endless preparation. In the midst of this joyful season we will also stand at graveside twice as two of our dear members have gone home for Christmas.
This past weekend was taxing and when Monday morning came, fatigue greeted me before the sun came up. I pulled out my to-do list for the 7 worship services we will be hosting in the next week, and with so many moving parts I felt a little overwhelmed. The ferry, the traffic and the unrelenting rain were navigated, and I was now sitting at the airport waiting to embark on a quick trip.
Details and emails… and then I observed some commotion, laughter, a banner, it was a family waiting to begin a very different journey. It was a “Make a Wish” moment. A dream come true in the midst of a terrible human tragedy. A young boy had been fighting for his life, spending months in the hospital, enduring countless appointments, tests and treatments. It was a personal ordeal to be sure, but when one member of a family is diseased the whole family carries that illness. So many missed family moments had preceded this “Make a Wish” journey. How often had the family eaten dinner on the run or not at all? The younger siblings sometimes felt neglected as mom and dad juggled life and work, while also trying to navigate a medical system that is complicated to say the least. Dad said that there was a time in the hospital when the only food that his son could tolerate was salt and vinegar potato chips.
They would board a plane on this day. All of them together. No worries about the expense of this family vacation, thanks to the amazing donors that support “Make a Wish.” Their problems, the grim longer-term prognosis, the dark days ahead would wait for now, put in their place for seven days. May God bless them; may they find courage and comfort and hope in these days before Christmas.
Perspective. I was given gift today, the gift of perspective. God brought this family into my orbit just when I needed a reality check, a wake-up call. My to-do list looked different now, not so daunting, not quite so urgent. Were the items important, did they still need tending to? Yes, they related to my calling in life, they needed attention, but they were first world problems and paled in comparison to the journey of a family off on a “Make a Wish” adventure.
Perspective. I wish you perspective this Christmas. As you are reading this, we will only be a few days away from a grand Christmas Eve celebration. A teenage mother and a confused peasant carpenter were approaching Bethlehem. Their world had been turned upside down by events that defied logic and left them with scandal. The baby would be theirs to raise, but the baby would never really belong to them. This journey to Christmas for Mary and Joseph was not a “Make a Wish” vacation, but the prognosis for their little one was terminal in nature.
I wish you perspective this Christmas. Give thanks, count your blessings, see your problems and challenges in the light of life lived with privilege.
Merry Christmas my friends! One beggar, telling another beggar where to find the Christmas Child, I am your,
Pastor Jim
rvlindus@whidbey.com
