Pay attention to your relationship with God

The Rev. Maria Campbell, pastor, Central United Methodist Church, 1501 Mass.:

The word holiday stems from two words – holy and day. It originally referred to a special religious event or day. As such, there was time set apart to honor the sacred. After religious observances, family and friends often gathered to celebrate.

Over time, holy days became less holy and more focused on cultural rituals. Christmas is a holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. It has become a holiday that focuses on gift exchanges and home decorations. There is nothing wrong with buying presents and decorating our homes with trees and garland. It becomes something other than a holy day when we become more focused on the gifts than the reason it is a holiday.

The first thing we can do to keep our holiday season spiritually focused is pay attention to our relationship with God. As Christians, this is the time of year when we are reminded of God’s greatest gift, Jesus.

Prayer and meditation can guide you joyfully through a season that for many has become a time of stress and fatigue. Reading the sacred writings of your religious tradition will reaffirm your connection to the one who is holy and center your thoughts upon values that nourish and restore your spirit.

Spending time with family and friends can be a time to share the love that has been poured into you by a creator who desires for the created to flourish and rejoice. Cooking and baking with children can bring laughter to holiday preparation while providing time to tell the stories of your faith tradition.

– Send e-mail to Maria Campbell at cumcpastor@sunflower.com.

God’s presence seen in the little things

Shawn Norris, director, Lutheran Campus Ministry at Kansas University:

The holiday stories we tell, stories of the baby Jesus born in a dirty manger, of a lamp that burns miraculously, of Charlie Brown in search of a good Christmas tree, are earthy and generous ones.

These are stories of a God who would rather sleep in a stable than a mansion, of a God who looks out for the Tiny Tims of the world, of a God touching our lives in very real and human ways. Jesus needed to be fed, burped and have his diaper changed. So, during the holidays, I look for God’s presence in the basics.

As I search for the perfect toy, these stories remind me that the gifts of a blanket to a homeless woman and of a utility payment to light a home are much more in keeping with the spirit of the season. I try to remember, usually not so successfully, that if God could come live in a stable, he could also be standing in a crowded mall or meet me in a line at the post office. And every year I have to relearn the same lesson.

As much as I want everything to go perfectly, as much as I want the perfect food, the perfect presents, the perfect family, the perfect tree, it’s when things go wrong that there are opportunities for love and grace.

For all the holiday turkeys I have eaten over the years, the one I remember most is the one the dog ate half of (and lived to tell about). That Christmas dinner, which went so horribly wrong for everyone but the dog, became a chance for laughter and celebration.

As we celebrate this season, may we find God’s presence in the earthy things of life: dirty diapers, shopping malls, frustrated shoppers, broken toys and blankets given to warm another.

– Send e-mail to Shawn Norris at lutheran@ku.edu.