Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas. I wish you sunshine along with the rain. I wish you peace, and I wish you joy.

Reflection

The majority of what you see in the photograph is a reflection. Nothing seen on the surface of the water is really there except for a few floating leaves. Yet there is beauty in the water because of the combination of circumstances that led up to the day and time of this photograph. I had nothing to do with any of the circumstances other than being in a particular location at a particular time - with a camera.

The creek channel was formed by floods over many years. One tree at the edge of the channel has grown in this location for decades, and others for only a short time. I have walked along this creek for over fifty years and yet it is different this year.

Beavers have returned to these streams. They have cut trees and moved mud, causing the water level to be higher than it has ever been in my memory. The water was calm and still, allowing the surface to reflect a true picture of the scene above. Winter has arrived and the leaves are no longer on most of the trees, clearing the view of the blue sky above. The position of the sun played a part in capturing this image. I was in this same location four days earlier at an earlier time of day and the image in the water did not begin to show the vivid blue of the sky. Had I forgotten to bring my camera it is likely that I would not have focused my attention on the beauty of the reflection.

Circumstances of life shape the image we reflect to others. The storms of live can wash us away in despair or can deepen the channel of our soul. The busy beavers that come to live near us can be viewed as a nuisance or as an agent of change. The winters that come can be viewed as drab or as time of rest and revitalization. I can, should and do question the timing of events that take place and may never understand them. Rather than be in turmoil, I can find peace and quietness of soul by reflecting the love that can be seen in the life of Jesus Christ, God's only Son whose birth we celebrate tomorrow.

The water in the picture only reflects its surroundings. May our surroundings be such that what we reflect is the image of the Savior we worship. The beginning words of the song Here I am to Worship say we see what is lovely only because of Him.

Light of the world,

You stepped down into darkness.

Opened my eyes, let me see.

Beauty that made this heart adore you

Hope of a life spent with you

And here I am to worship,

here I am to bow down,

here I am to say that you're my God

You're altogether lovely,

altogether worthy,

altogether wonderful to me."

Here's a link to the complete song if you wish to hear it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zUXTynJtn1M

Turf or Truth

Following the death of Lazarus, Jesus performed a miracle, restoring the physical life of his friend. What ensued after the miracle is a sad testimony to the desire of mankind to protect the familiar, comfortable turf we feel belongs to us.

John 11:45-48 (New English Translation) “Then many of the people, who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, ‘What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary and our nation.’”

The physical temple in Jerusalem and the nation (organization) to which the Jewish leaders belonged were priority turf to certain members of the Jewish leadership. The words and miraculous deeds of Jesus were viewed as a threat rather than as the ultimate truth.

For the Jews of Jesus day, their spiritual scotoma (blind or dark spot in the visual field) related to religious practices. Failure to follow truth led to spiritual loss and within a few years the loss of their temple and their nation – the loss of both turf and truth.

What turf am I trying to protect? How can my blinders be removed? Could it be that proper placement of priorities on pursuit of God’s will instead of my own is the answer?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:25, 31-34: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? … So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.”