Ponder

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  Luke 2:16-20

I take heart that the first Christmas was far from perfect.  It was messy and inconvenient.  It was stressful...and I thought I had it bad making sure the bulletin was error free and all the candles were ready to be lit!  The first Christmas was not perfectly wrapped or a Norman Rockwell painting.  To quote the Grinch, the very first Christmas, "Came without ribbon, it came without bags, it came without packages, boxes or bags!"  Good to remember when tonight, someone cries because they are tired, or Aunt Bertha has a bit too much liquor, or life does not seem to go according to the script you wrote in your head over the last four weeks.  Take heart... Jesus' birth was not exactly picture perfect despite all that great religious art.  God works with our best intentions, God works with the messiness of our lives.  God rolls up God's sleeves, sinks God's finger tips into the over cooked turkey and the bad Jell-O salads and all the other miscues of life.  

But somewhere, we've taken all the messiness out of the manger.  We've taken all the drama and tension out of the first Christmas and left only a soft-focused Hallmark cards of sugary sweetness.  Can we, to quote Elsa the Frozen Princess, "Let it Go!"?  

I love that Mary ponders all this in her heart.  Ponders the dirty, drafty, dusty stable.  Ponders Joseph over there wondering what in the world he has gotten himself into.  Ponders shepherds standing there before her talking too fast about angels in the field (Yeah, right, angels appeared to you shepherds, my sarcastic side would say, were they riding ponies??).  To ponder is not just to contemplate or to act like I did in my Philosophy 101 class, stroking my chin and saying, "Ah yes, Plato's ideas shed light onto the depravity of the human condition...got an A for comments like that!  No Mary's ponder is not the image of the Thinker...it is the ability to hold together two complex, even contradictory, ideas with grace.  To hold together that God would enter the world in this way, to these people is a contradiction that needs some serious pondering today.  

I pray tonight you will find ways to sit with Mary and ponder.  Ponder how God is moving in your life, maybe in ways that cause you to scratch your head.  Ponder the ways you hear God's voice in that annoying neighbor, who makes good points.  Ponder the ways God is calling you to do something new and different and even bold in 2015.  And let your pondering open you to the traces of God's grace that are all around us.

Merry Christmas!  May the hope, peace, joy, and love of this season sustain you and guide you every day in 2015.

Many blessings~