Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Thanks for your friendship

Sunday, January 7, 2001

Matthew 2:10-11
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

The song that continues to capture the heart of Christmas for me, year after year, is a little known jewel, "An Evening in December." Cheryle Taylor sang that song at 11 pm, December 24, 1988, during the candlelight communion service at Waynesville Christian Church. I'll never forget it.

Every year I listen to this song again, in the evening, on Christmas Eve if possible, driving through the darkness coming home from my parents' farm. Over the river and through the woods... We moved away from the small town of Waynesville, and the church, in 1989. But there is so much that we don't forget.

I realized that while looking through old pictures, making a Christmas photocollage for Margaret. When we got to the Waynesville years, suddenly we remembered the names of everyone in every picture. Our memories seemed very very close, like yesterday. What was going on?

Life in Waynesville was those people, we realized. Some of them we saw almost every day. We depended on each other for meals, support, friendship, grieving. We worshipped together often. We prayed together. We were drawn together by the need to eat, to sing, to celebrate, to baptize, to marry, to bury.

Who are the precious people in your life? Did you spend time with them this Christmas? If you did, then you probably feel like you had a good holiday. If you didn't, maybe you don't feel so good about Christmas this year. A lot of the trappings can fall away unnoticed, and the sweet, simple companionship of the ones I love is really what counts for me.

In writing these meditations (...this is the last one for awhile...), I have often felt like I was talking with you, sharing thoughts that mattered to me...with you. Thanks for listening, sometimes responding with your own thoughts. You have been a precious part of Christmas for me.

Elizabeth Anne-Stewart points out that the star which led the magi gave them joy and direction...until they found the baby. Stars, after all, are distant, cold, speechless. They may point the way, but they are hardly a match for the affection, love and understanding of another person. And in the same way, a person's gentle touch may guide us to Him, but yet is hardly a match for the unerring, unending, generous acceptance and love that is Jesus. In the end we reach out for his hand together.

Take us home, Lord, over the river, through the woods, to the warm, open hearth of heaven. We thank you for everything and everyone that shines before us, lighting the way to the lap of God.

Devotions Archive

Thanks for your friendship

Sunday, January 7, 2001