epiphany

Christmas Ain’t Over

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For years, I’d always get a little sad around this time, knowing that Christmas Day was drawing to a close and with it Christmas for another year. I’d always have a bit of a letdown, although New Year’s Eve helped a bit.

This year, I’m celebrating for as long as I can. I refuse to let go of Christmas even after all the decorations are taken down and put back into boxes destined for the attic until next November. Even when all the stores go back to business as usual and all the radio stations revert back to their regular rotation of music, I still hold on to Christmas.

I’m siding with the ancients who took 12 whole days to encapture fully all that Jesus our Emmanuel born on this day means. If you want to truly understand this concept, read the book Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton. It will change your thinking about Christmas for sure.

The 12 days of Christmas last from December 25 until January 6, the Epiphany which celebrates the circumcision of Jesus, the visit of the Wise Men, and the wedding at Cana, according to my internet sources. So that means that there are 11 more days to party.

But for me, Christmas isn’t a date on a calendar but a state of mind. I want to carry that mindset with me beyond January 6 into the new year and all the way up until it’s socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas again in 2025.

I will take down my tree and put away my decorations, but I won’t stop the spirit of Christmas. I might even listen to Christmas records and watch Christmas movies past January. The audacity! And as always, I will definitely be on the lookout for After Christmas Day Bargains for decorations for next Christmas.

But as one man said, Jesus doesn’t just live in our hearts one day out of the year but all the days of the year, and all the years of all our lives. So why should Christmas stop on December 25 or even January 6?

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Epiphany

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“There’s no present like the time” (a great line from The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

My life hasn’t gone the way I planned. In fact, for most of my life there really hasn’t been a plan. My first job when I moved to the Nashville area fell into my lap in a stroke of providence and blessing.

I can say that while I haven’t always gotten what I wanted, I find I always got what I needed just when I needed it.

Tonight, I saw the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the sequel to . . . you can probably figure out the title to the first movie. It was just as good and clever as the first.

I remember when I heard the line that I quoted, my brain wanted to reverse it and have it say, “There’s no time like the present.” That’s how I’ve always heard it and that’s what I hear when people are wanting you to act NOW and buy NOW and decide NOW.

But truly, there is no better present than the time you’re given. There’s no better present than the present. You only get one today and never a do-over on yesterday (unless you happen to live inside the movie Groundhog Day).

So take it all in. Be sure to pay attention. For me, it means noticing the beautiful cloud formations in the sky on the way to work and actually paying attention to the scenery on the drive. It means stopping for a moment to breathe a prayer along the lines of “Thank You, God, for this life, and forgive me if I don’t love it enough.”

I’m still learning never to take anything (or anyone) for granted. I hope I wake up tomorrow, but I can’t guarantee that I will because it’s not promised. The same goes for all my family and friends. Even my cat Lucy.

Savor your life while you live it. Don’t waste your time during the week pining away after the weekends and holidays and summer vacations. Each day is a gift that is good for only 24 hours and has a no-return policy. Open it.

 

Mosaic

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christ-mosaic

I had an epiphany of sorts today. It started at Kairos when Mike Glenn spoke about how the Church has been at times on the wrong side of race relations and how 11 am on Sunday is still the most segregated hour in this country.

I thought of a mosaic. Or you can substitute a stained glass window if you want.

How boring would it be if every single piece was the same color? The same shape?

What if every single person were exactly like me? Just a lot of carbon copies of Greg running amuck? That’s a scary thought.

Like Mike Glenn said, you’re not wrong, just different. You’re you, unlike anybody else who has ever lived. And that’s a good thing.

I’m personally glad that not everybody looks or talks or thinks like me. Even if some of those people do and say things that I don’t agree with.

I believe it’s wrong to look down on someone because he or she is different. That means different race, different body shape, different upbringing, etc.

It’s easy for me to criticize someone who sins differently than I do. It’s easy for me to crusade against those vices I don’t struggle with.

But God loves all these people. Even the people I have the hardest time loving. Even those who have the hardest time loving me.

I think everybody discriminates against something. It’s the old sin nature in all of us, the part that was broken by the fall. But Jesus’ love is powerful enough to make the brokenness whole again and to make us new creations who can learn to love all those He loves the way He loves.

Parable of the Good Person

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Once upon a time there was a good person. Or at least he thought so.

He determined in his own mind to set out on a quest to find inner peace and began the arduous journey toward his goal.

He chanted, he fasted, he burned incense, he meditated, and he prayed. He went on pilgrimages. He gave up red meat and gluten. Later, he became a vegan, even though he loved him some steak and potatoes.

He helped old ladies across the street and rescued kittens from trees and paid his taxes like a good citizen. He even volunteered at the library.

But no matter how much he did, it never felt like enough. He never could seem to fund that elusive peace he was so desperately seeking.

Then he had an epiphany. He realized he was not a good person. He understood that he was fundamentally flawed and broken person whose good intentions never hit their marks.

He discovered that there is only One who is good, One who once came down to live among people just like him. One who did everything right and lived the perfect life that this good person could not.

He grasped that this One, Jesus, had died for him not when he was a good person, but when he was at his worst, when he was against everything Jesus stood for.

He called out to this Jesus and asked Him to save him and do for him what he could never do for himself. He confessed that he was really and truly a not-good person.

Now he has peace. He still has bad days and even bad weeks. He still has good intentions that fall short. He can even be grumpy at times. But he also has Jesus.

And that is enough.

The Best Blog Ever

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I had an idea for the best blog ever that would totally revolutionize the blogging universe and bring me instant fame and fortune. But I was in the car when the epiphany hit and had no way of writing it down so alas, it was lost.

I do have ideas from time to time that I miss. I think at the time, “I should probably write that one down.” But then I think, “Naaah, I will remember THIS one, unlike the fifty or so others that slipped my mind. This time will be different.”

Somewhere in the back of me ol’ noggin is a storehouse full of forgotten ideas and concepts for great books and lyrics to songs. I think it’s the same place where the missing socks go to die.

Maybe one day I will get completely organized and learn to take some kind of notebook or recording device to capture all of these ingenious ideas. Then again, half of them won’t seem so very ingenious after 24 hours. Oh well.

In my opinion, the best blog ever is the one that’s good enough that gets written down, rather the one that is 100% perfect that stays in my head. If you wait until everything is perfect to do anything, you will get nothing done. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

God didn’t call you and me to be perfect, but faithful. He can take “good enough” and use it to bless people. He can take imperfect people to pour His perfect love through to those who need it most.

 

 

The Best Exotic Marigold Epiphany

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“Everything will be all right in the end… if it’s not all right then it’s not the end” (from the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

I never thought I’d actually enjoy a movie about a group of retirees who move to a hotel in India to save money. But I did. It helps that the cast was stellar and the setting was fantastic and beautiful.

But there were a couple of lines that spoke to me more than if they’d come out of a devotional. The above quote and one other small exchange of dialogue:

Evelyn: “Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected.”

Muriel: “Most things don’t. But sometimes what happens instead is the good stuff.”

It does work out alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end. If my life doesn’t make sense, there’s more to come. If I feel defeated and discouraged, there’s another chapter set to begin.

The Bible puts it another way: “God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

Maybe you’re in a low point in your story. Maybe you love someone who doesn’t love you back. Maybe you aren’t where you thought you’d be financially. Maybe you are like me and just got let go from your job. Maybe you feel like the story will never get better.

The best part of any story is the unexpected twist that always comes at the lowest point. And God is the best and coming through at the exact moment you need Him to. He delights in changing your story from a tragedy to a triumph.

You may not get what you expected, but sometimes that can be a good thing. A very good thing.

And believe me, the ending to God’s story for you is the best you’ll ever read. I promise.