Christmas Living

The scene at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha wasn’t a holiday party or Christmas dinner, but describes what happens in many homes during the holiday season.  In Luke 10: 38-41, we read Martha was busy preparing dinner and fussing in the kitchen. I’m sure she looked at her “To Do” list, checked the bread in the oven, determined what time to cook the vegetables and hoped the roast would be done to everyone’s satisfaction.

The one thing we don’t read about is her joy. Verse 40 tells us, “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” Meanwhile, her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet, hanging on His every word. With irritation in her voice, Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

Ah! Our Christmas schedules. We have much to prepare and often want help or more time in our day. The season to celebrate and be blessed becomes the season to be stressed. We succumb to busyness and distractions and lose our focus. I sat in my sunroom this morning and made a list describing coming days. It included:

•      Christmas shopping
•      Christmas gift wrapping
•      Christmas baking
•      Christmas partying
•      Christmas traveling
•      Christmas cooking
•      Christmas writing and mailing.

Does that describe your activity?

But then there is Mary, Martha’s sister. During a dinner party, Mary wasn’t frazzled but sitting at Jesus’ feet and hanging on His every word.  Jesus responds to Martha’s plea, “You are worried and upset about many things…Mary has chosen what is better. And it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10: 41, 42)

Mary was being present and living in the moment.

Taking Mary’s cue, can we plan smarter and perhaps work less toward perfection? Is there something we can eliminate? Can we focus on Christmas being?

Maybe we can add Christmas evaluating to the list and adjust our focus.

Luke 10: 38-43 isn’t your usual Christmas passage for meditation, but read it through with a Christmas view. Do you Christmas being and Christmas living?

Join the conversation. How do you see Christmas being and Christmas living as you look at your list?