No Room for "Perfunctory"

The weather outside is supposed to be -2c but “feels like” -7c, that is according to uk. weather.com. But no matter, I survived the short evening walk with a friend going to church for the carol service tonight. There was for me a feeling of “settled comfort” in celebrating Christmas the traditional way—that is, singing traditional carols and hearing angel monologues and reading the Good Book and again reflect on the fact that what is being celebrated and remembered is an event so awesome it impacted history and humankind more powerfully than any other thing under heaven.

Yet after the whole thing, we stayed behind and over warm cups of tea or coffee, biting delicately on mince pies, chit-chatted about where everyone was going for Christmas, how the weather was getting really chilly, how some still have to wrap up work and all that. How ironically perfunctory life can settle back to be after a carol service.

An hour’s reflection on Jesus---or maybe a season, and lives move on--until the next season. I feel a bit of sadness that I could actually be so perfunctory about Christmas. It means more than minced pies, or the funny Christmas decoration of a stuffed Santa climbing into a window in the house beside the church, or hot tea with milk or a box of chocolates, or the number of Christmas cards I’ve received and arranged nicely in my room.

It’s a good thing that God is never perfunctory—that word may not even be in His dictionary…oh well, I simply breathe a little prayer, that my heart may be eased with this fact because I know that my love even at its best, can never even begin to match up to a whisper of His.

I pray that He will amaze you (and me!) with His love this Christmas.