Candle lighter
Christmas is supposed to be a time to proclaim peace on earth. When we stop to think about it, peace on earth seems so abstract and completely out of our reach. Peace, where everyone lives in harmony and the world is united. During advent, we remember that peace for believers is not a vague expression of well-wishes, but an expression of a reality revealed in Jesus life here on earth, to be fully realized when He returns.
The counselor
No wonder I’m so jaded. I’ve been a counselor for 20 years, and humanity hasn’t changed. I see the same issues day in and day out.
It amazes me that people don’t see that what they say and what they do are completely fractured. I see men who tell their wives they love them then turn around and beat them within an inch of their lives. The holidays are the worst! I don’t have enough time in the day to see all the people whose lives seem to fall apart this time of year! One of the few times a year families try to get together. Most families are so splintered they can’t function when they are around one another.
People just think their actions don’t have to match their words as long as they say the right things. Like really believing they are, I dunno, apple trees, but all they ever produce are rotten tomatoes. They believe in their hearts they are really good people and they can’t understand why others can’t get along with them. I get tired of working with people who never see the disconnect. They curse others for their hypocrisy, but excuse their own. If it’s ridiculous to think that a grape vine could grow figs, then why are we not appalled that what people say and what people do don’t match up? Are we just that broken?
The worst part about it all is that I am probably just a broken mirror, reflecting back to my clients a broken image. I have this nagging sense that I’m the same, you know? That I think both salt water and fresh water can come out of me and I can be ok with that. How can I ever help anyone? I can’t even help myself. Maybe I’m better off because I see the disconnect in me most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I know what to do to change.
This holiday, Christmas, is supposed to bring the world together. All it seems to do is show just how shattered we are. Is there any reconciliation?
Candle lighter
Paul reminds us that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” He came to reconcile ALL things, to make peace by His blood, even in broken souls and fractured relationships. Lord, we are so fractured. Unite our hearts to fear Your name.
