From the Pastor
As I was thinking about the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of a new year, I came across an episode of the All in the Family television series. Edith and Archie are attending Edith’s high school class reunion, something Archie is less than excited about. She encounters an old classmate by the name of Buck who, unlike his high school days, has become very obese. Edith and Buck have a delightful conversation, recalling old times and the things they did together. Throughout the conversation Edith seems to take no notice of how extremely heavy Buck has become. Later, when she and Archie are talking, Edith says, “Archie, ain’t Buck a beautiful person!” Archie looks at her with a disgusted expression and says, “You’re a pip, Edith. You know that? You and I look at the same guy. You see a beautiful person and I see a blimp.” Edith looks at him and then says something unknowingly profound, “Yeah, ain’t it too bad.”
Yes, we have survived yet another busy Christmas season. A new year is beginning and it is time to get life back to normal. I know that I have to start thinking about all those tasks and meetings I said I would get to “after Christmas.” So yes, let’s take down the tree, put away the decorations and lights, return those slippers that play “O Christmas Tree” every time you take a step, and get back into our daily routine…again, back to normal.
But wait just a minute. Hasn’t something happened in our world since we last met? Something, someone, has been born, has come alive in our midst. Indeed, we Christians make the rather startling affirmation that nothing less than God’s very self has come among us, has intruded upon us and our “normal” world in the babe at Bethlehem. And I realize that I am no longer too sure about just what is normal. I realize how accustomed I have grown to poverty, violence, division between people, looking out for me and mine. Then an angel sings, a child is born and a new voice is heard…a voice that speaks of love of neighbor and enemy, of caring for the weak, of sharing what I have, of finding the lost, feeding the hungry, making peace, and, much like Edith Bunker, seeing something beautiful, indeed something of the face of God, in every face I encounter. A moment ago, I was relieved that Christmas was over. Now it occurs to me that the work of Christmas, the new normal, has just begun.
Gene
