December 2018 – Hope and Be.Longing

Sweet December

December 7, 2018

Much to my surprise, I find myself wishing I could spend a Christmas in Burma.

I would need to arrive on November 30 for Sweet December. I would want to be well rested from the long flight (because sleep is scarce on Sweet December), carrying bags of candy and small gifts (to be distributed widely), and geared up for feasting on water buffalo meat. My vocal cords would need to be warmed up for hours of carol-singing (in either the Chin or Karen languages) and my bag packed with camping gear. But most importantly, my heart, soul, mind, and strength would need to be ready to fully worship and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ my Savior. For hours and hours. With entire congregations and their neighbors.

It would be nothing like my normal routine as November tips into December—that of gift shopping and tree-chopping, party hosting and mail posting.

Broken Nativity

December 10, 2018

I’m sitting at the kitchen table with a one-eared camel. He is guarded by three wisemen, two whom were once beheaded and have been re-glued. The shepherd has lost his feet and the angel looks battle-weary. The donkey and cow’s chipped edges have been filled in with marker. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are in the center, and only they remain whole.

It is the first week of Advent and my heart is vulnerable. We said good-bye to our precious dog a few days back—the dog who helped raised our little boys to be tender-hearted and responsible young men. I’m reflecting back on a year of aches, both heart and body, our own and those of others.

And I’m identifying with the fragile nativity before me.