12-14-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 14, 2024
Recently, I have been thinking about the time I spend determining what streaming services I should purchase as compared to the time I spent adjusting the rabbit ears on top of the tv 45 years ago. And along with the rabbit ears, I often spent time trying to find the needle-nose pliers that we used to change the channel after the nob broke off. How things have changed! When I was young, we would complain when CBS wouldn’t come in well because a storm was brewing to the west of town. Today, we complain about how there is nothing good on tv, yet we have access to options far beyond anything we could have imagined 40 or 50 years ago. 

It’s intriguing to me that people have more choices in almost every aspect of life today, yet they feel more stuck and restricted than ever before. It’s almost as if the sheer number of options has immobilized us. Christmas is a tension between these two realities.  From online stores to advertisements trying to entice us into the brick-and-mortar stores, the options of where to buy and what to buy make our brains hurt. At the same time, the Christmas story invites us to pause and ponder what we truly value, often inviting us to step away from the commercialization and into experiences that cannot be monetized. 

​If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the Christmas holiday, how might you step away from some of the multitude of commercialized options and make more space for an experience of hope and peace? Funny thing, as I am typing this, I glanced over at my phone because I had received a text. It was from an online retailer asking if I knew about the 50% sale right now. Maybe I need to begin this work by sending STOP to a few of those retailers who seem intent on redirecting my attention to their definition of Christmas instead of the story of the one who truly defines Christmas. 

Merciful God, as you provide opportunities for me to pause and see beyond the veil of rampant consumerism, I pray for the capacity and tenacity to actually do so. There are so many things seeking to distract me, yet I will try to make space for you instead of being ensnared by the allure of flashy advertisements that vie for my attention. Amen.