Are you ready? Ready for Christmas? These are the questions I am greeted with on a regular basis. Of course I am not ready and yes I am ready! I have not done all the things I thought I might do … some garlands and decorations remain slumped in the basement. Recipes poured over remain unmade. Notes to be written remain sentence fragments in my mind. But my soul is ready, ready for the message of the angels and the birthing of Emmanuel.
A friend sent a text despairing that she was nowhere near ready for Christmas. A family medical crisis has put her behind any scheduling as she tended to the needs of an aging parent and so gifts need yet to be purchased and cards remain unwritten. But as I thought how best to reply to her message I was caught up with the notion that in fact she is as ready as the Christmas family in that first story. Not ready. Not ready for an arduous journey. Not ready for the delivery of an unplanned pregnancy. Not ready for unexpected guests. Not ready to have to pack up and flee as refugees. They were just not ready and yet God was birthed through them regardless of their readiness.
We put so much pressure on ourselves at this time of year to be ready for one day. The culture and media and hype build up such a frenzy and yet the morning will dawn just like any other day on the calendar and families will gather and squabbles will happen and forgiveness will arise and lovers will kiss and make-up and babies will be born and old people will die and the sun will set at the end of the day and Emmanuel will be the gift whether we are ready or not.
Thanks for your Ramblings about being ready for Christmas- and the best gift of all that comes to all of us.