What do I want to be?

 Reflections on life thus far (well, mostly on the year 2010)

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

For the majority of my life, this has been one of the most frequently asked questions in my life, aside from “Is your room clean?” and “Is your homework done?”  

It seems like the majority of my life can be broken into two categories 1) activities of daily living and 2) pursuing what I want to be when I grow up.

As I reflect on the past year, this has been true to the umpteenth degree.  I want to be a doctor, so naturally, the main thrust of my life is in that direction: Work hard to graduate from college so that you can continue on to medical school.  Work all summer so you can buy a car to drive to medical school.  Make sure that your job is such that you’re gaining experience that will lend towards going to medical school.  Do well in medical school so that you can get into a good residency so that you can be a doctor when you grow up.

 “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Sometimes that question seems a little discouraging.  Yes, I still want to be a doctor.  No, I don’t know in what field I want to specialize.  Yes, I have a long way to go.  Yes, I want to be a wife and mother even though I want to become a doctor.  No, I don’t have a time table for that, so don’t expect me to have a ring on my finger or baby names picked any time soon.   

It all just seems so far off in the distance…

“What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I am sorta grown up.  I have my own apartment.  I live in a different state than my parents.  I “work” full-time.  I pay most of my own bills.  I make it where I need to be, mostly on time and usually unaided by anything other than an alarm clock and my own set of wheels.  My friends are getting married and having babies.  I love a man who pays his own bills and lives in his own apartment and is probably way more responsible than I am.  I guess that’s all kinda grown up, right?  I thought so, but it must not, because people are still asking me this question:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Maybe instead of getting hung up on what other people ask me, I need a new question, one to ask myself.  Maybe as I approach this new year, I need to look in the mirror and say, 

“What do I want to be today?”

Today, I want to be patient.  

I want to be the one who loves those around me.  

Today, I want to be an enjoyer of the little things.  

I want to be an encourager.

Today, I want be a connoisseur of good food.  

I want to be the one who makes someone smile.  

Today, I want to be more like Christ than I was yesterday.

“What do I want to be today?”

Yes, that’s the question I think I’ll ask.  Then, someday, if I make it that far, I’ll ask it as a doctor, wife, or mother. 

A fat man, a crying baby, and needy people

Sometimes I forget the punch lines to jokes. Sometimes I start to tell a story, and the reason that it even fit into the conversation at hand slips my mind completely. And then I feel stupid.

Remembering the point of what’s going on seems to be pretty important. Keeping the point in mind helps focus the direction of the story. Getting to the point saves a lot of hassle. Stating the point clearly keeps people interested in the story.

Well then, as we reflect on the season that's slipping by, what’s the point of Christmas?

I know how we celebrate it. I get into that whole thing. My heart gets a little fluttery at the sight of white Christmas lights and red bows. I love Christmas cookies and candy canes and shiny ornaments and family gatherings. I love the smell of a good fir tree. I love caroling and wrapping and unwrapping.

But could someone just cut to the chase? What’s the point?

I guess if I were to use literary devices to determine the point, I would examine the main characters. I’ll pick two for now.


Jolly Old Saint Nick. He's a good one to start with. The Christmas season practically begins with writing him a wish list, and the climax of the big day itself is running down the stairs to see what goodies he’s left in exchange for cookies. But how did he get roped into the Christmas festivities anyway?

I'm not entirely sure, but many stories have been told of a Saint Nicholas through the years, the evolutions of which have led to the Western version of Santa Claus. There are many legends of the original Nicholas- where he was from, what he did, and whether or not he could do extraordinary things, but all testify to the same general theme: Nicholas was a man who gave to those in great need.



Now for the other leading character: the baby in a manger. There is element of mystery surrounding his appearance on Christmas Eve. Why was it such a big deal that he was born anyway? He was a squalling infant, born to unassuming people in an unassuming place. If He truly was God incarnate, why would He even bother to show up on earth as a baby?

To answer a few of these questions, it seems necessary to go to the beginning, the very beginning...

God is perfect and holy. His very nature does not allow Him to be in contact with sin. Man is the opposite of perfect and holy. The turning away from God, or sin, brought a great need to the very core of humanity- we were no longer able to be in direct communication with the very One who created us. We had no hope of being in connection with God because our radiating scum cannot even encroach upon His radiant glory. Thankfully, God didn't abandon His plan for the world because of the distance.  He set up a system of sacrifice in the Old Testament, because there had to be payment for the wrongs committed. But that wasn’t enough. To approach God through the blood of lambs was a messy process. A tedious process. A repetitive process. A gory and ritualistic process. Praise God that He wasn’t through with His plan to bring that which screwed up back to Himself.

That’s where Christmas comes in!

A perfect child was born into the world, one who was fully God and fully man. This perfect little babe would grow up to become the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. His sacrifice made man clean, not for a day, but forever. Man could now have access to the perfect and holy God of creation, not because of his perfection, but because of Jesus’ sacrifice. And all that man needed to do to take advantage of that opportunity was acknowledge that Jesus was the sacrifice, that He was the perfect son of God.

He was God’s gift to needy people, in need of a right relationship with Him.


All right… I’m starting to see the trend. You could say that the point to the baby’s story is much like that of Santa Claus. The point of both stories is giving to those in need.

More accurately, Saint Nick was probably just someone responding to that gift. Because of God's gift to a broken, needy people, a man responded and gave to other broken, needy people.  Of course, he didn't give them a way to reunite with the Creator of the universe, but he did what he could with what he had. What a legacy!

And how do we celebrate these legacies?

Well, for Saint Nick, we shove him into a tacky faux-fur and make him the poster child for obesity. We give him a few mythical flying caribou and demand that he bring our every wish, whether we’ve been good or not.

And what of the baby? The perfect sacrifice that re-connected us with our Maker? He is contained nicely in Christmas carols or lays serenely in the front-yard nativity scenes as his blue-eyed plastic self with his very Caucasian parents glowing eerily over him.

I personally want to echo their example, but most of my loved ones don't really need anything. Therefore, I spend a good portion of the year trying to find a “need” in their lives. Never mind that the need ends up being a candle or probably something that they didn’t even want.

I did say that remembering the point of what's going on seems to be pretty important.  No wonder our Christmas holidays seem so harried. It is necessary to keeping the point in mind in order to focus the direction of our very own Christmas story. Getting to the point could even save us a lot of the holiday hassle. Perhaps getting to the point of Christmas would get us interested in an even greater story- that God loved this broken, needy world so much that He gave His one and only Son Jesus. And if only we would believe that He did what He says He did, we will not die but have eternal life with our loving Creator (John 3:16).


Lord Jesus,

I praise You for not giving up on us when we made that first mistake to chose a way other than Yours. Thank You for seeking us time and time again when there is no way that we deserved a love like the one You offer. Thank You that this is the meaning of Christmas.

Please transform me so that I might use this season as a time to be as Nicholas was, to give to those who are truly needy. Open my eyes to the needs that I can fulfill. And please, let me use this season as a time to rejoice that You have fulfilled my deepest need- to be connected with the One Who created me and loves me more than earthly possible.

I am thankful for Your great love for me.

Catherine

Merry Christmas

Christ’s birth and kingdom are foretold by Isaiah 

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

 ² The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
   a light has dawned.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

The Gospel brings peace to the whole creation

Isaiah 11:6-9

 ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
   the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
   and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
   their young will lie down together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
   the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
   as the waters cover the sea.

Mary is told of her chosen role

Luke 1:26-37

 ²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 

 ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

 ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 

 ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

Luke tells of the birth of Jesus

Luke 2:8-16

 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

The star leads the wise men to Bethlehem 

Matthew 2:1-11

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 

 ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 

 ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 

 ⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 

 ⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

John unfolds the mystery of the incarnation

John 1:1-14

 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

 ⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 

 ⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 

 ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

words

I love words.

Here are some of the words that surround me as I sit at my desk:

Words of motivation...

I got this card in the mail this week from my brother Daniel :)

Words of inspiration...

Words of identification...

Words of thanks...

"Thank You God" in Inupiaq

Words of challenge...

Words of detailed description...

Words of togetherness...

Words of encouragement...

Words.  I love 'em.


One of the Greek words for word is logos.  It could be said that this means, "the embodiment of a conception or an idea."  What a beautiful way to describe such a precious gem!

A few synonyms for logos are "saying," "communication," or "account." In many places in the New Testament, it seems that the term is used to give emphasis to a colloquialism or something that a speaker is attempting to get across to an individual or group of people.

This is very interesting when we see how this logos is used in the introduction of the book of John: 

John 1:1-5 "In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was God. He was with God in the beginning."

and then again in John 1:14:

"The logos became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

What is this word of which John speaks?  It is clearly a logos of God.  What conception or idea is God attempting to embody?  To whom is He conveying it?

According to the passage, it is a word straight from God, in fact it even is God.  It is a descriptor of the glory of His perfect only Son.  As such, this logos is ancient, from the very beginning.  It is the description of all the grace that we give each other, and all of the grace that we too often withhold.  This is the logos of which John speaks.  In a world of deception and lies, this logos was filled to the brim with truth.

What kind of a word could possibly be this wonderful?  It sounds like a word only fit for heaven.

But no, John tells us that this word was wrapped in flesh and dwelt among us.  Now we have defined the "to whom."  It is a logos to the world.


What is this word?  And if it is a word that is defined by human likeness, who could possibly be described by this definition?


This Christmas, may we share words of encouragement, of inspiration, of thanks, and togetherness, but most importantly, may we seek to define that wonderful word, the logos.  I challenge you to try to figure out just what idea God wanted to share with us through His logos, which He spoke into the world on that first Christmas night.

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel- which means, 'God with us.'"   Isaiah 7:14

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped;
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."                          Philippians 2:5-11

 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth"        John 1:1-15