I am done.
Today I had the pleasure of crossing off the last item on my Christmas shopping list. Looking over this year's list, I imagine I have the same thing down near the bottom as most of you: "Nothing". A whole lot of Nothing, actually. No, not for my friends or family - I managed to find something for most of them. The Nothing is for my enemies, people outside my circle, acquaintances, people who annoy me, distant family members, and I am sure, a whole host of others. For the whistling co-worker on the other side of the office, I picked out a venti, no-whip, no-foam, non-fat, zero-pump, milkless, coffee-free latte, hold the cup.
Now, I realize it is absurd to think that one can get everyone some kind of Christmas gift, and I will be the first to agree that materialistic gift exchange rituals are an imperfect medium to express God's miraculous gift of Christ, but I find it no coincidence that we tend to give gifts more to the people we like, and less to those we don't - that our love flows most freely and abundantly to those we already love, and usually not at all to those we find unlovable.
I entered the seventh grade with hair cut short on the left and grown long on the right. It wrapped around my over sized, smudgy plastic frames - "you'll grow into them" - slid down my face, and stuck somewhere below my chin. The asymmetric 'do, my crippling shyness, and my Sally-sold-sea-shells lisp still leaves me questioning my guidance counselor's selection of Improv Drama as my elective course. Needless to say, the first weeks did not go well. After a little while, one of the cool boys felt sorry for the awkward new kid and decided to switch groups to act in a scene with an unlovable dweeb (me). Tim and I have been friends ever since.
You and I are the unlovable. We have done so much to distance ourselves from God, yet in spite of this, He loved us enough to send us his Son. Love that reaches beyond itself is powerful and life-changing. I hope we can find a way this season to love the unlovable people in our lives.
today's meditation was written by Ryan Roser.
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