Sunday, December 27, 2009

Rediscovering the Extraordinary in the Ordinary...



For some of us, Christmas seems to culminate in a sort of anti-climax...The day we anticipated has come and gone, the garland and tinsel are taken down, the feast is over, the day is spent, and stillness displaces the sound of celebration.  The flash-in-the-pan of this festival barely lingers in the air and the extraordinary becomes ordinary once again.

But there is something of Jesus to be seen in even this, perhaps especially in this, perhaps more of Him than could be seen in the sensationalism of the season.  As we shed the acoutrements of Christmas, the accompaniment of Advent, as our homes take on a more humble air, an absence of excess, a picture of Emmanuel emerges.

Jesus came to earth taking on the form of a servant, trading kingly attire for carpenter's clothes.  Eshewing royal embellishments, he chose to be born in a barn.  Casting aside clout, he courted companions of questionable origin and remained in anonymity for all but three years of his life.

His pulpits were rocks and roadsides, rowboats and rivers; He preferred the company of commoners to consorting with the creme de la creme; He rejoiced more over one sinner who was restored than over a hundred who never had need of repentence.

This One Who so easily could've been placed on a pedestal, disallowed such positioning and instead maintained an unpretentious posture, choosing conformity to our condition over the comfort of prestige and power.

Perhaps there is more to be seen of our extraordinary Lord in the ordinary, unremarkable, undecorated details of every day life, and thankfully so, because that is what much of life is, and that is where we tend to need Him most.

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"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not condsider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." -Philipians 2:5-11

7 comments:

Dan said...

Perfect timing, Hindsfeet. Beautiful.

Yes...the carpenter King. Makes me love'em even more.

Linda said...

I LOVE this! Maybe I should have read this first today before writing my thoughts about today ;)

Thanks for commenting on my blog entry and you also reminded me that I hadn't taken the time to watch one Christmas DVD yet... there is always this week for that. :)

Blessings,
Linda

Linda said...

I also have to remark that I watched the Alison Krauss video that you have featured on your profile and was sitting here in tears, smiling. I'm so glad that God brought you my way through the blog - what a blessing you are. When my husband awakes from his little afternoon nap, I'm going to share the video with him as he is also a fan of Alison Krauss and will no doubt be touched by the wonderful message of that song.

By the way, she is from the area that we live - nearby Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. :)

Hindsfeet said...

Oh Linda! No no! I LOVED your post today and it would've been a shame not to write it! I think our two perspectives bring a lovely balanced view of this holiday; And it's funny, I read your post AFTER I wrote mine and thought the same thing you did, ("oh, that's a good point, maybe I should've read this first!" ; ) ) See how we all need eachother? : ) I love the prism of perspective that is afforded to me when I'm humble enough to allow in other points of view! I feel like I end up with the whole picture instead of just my little puzzle piece of the whole picture, however valid that piece may be! : ) (hey! there's a good topic for my next post, me thinks! ; ) )

Thankful that our paths crossed as well, Linda : ) You (and your blog!) are a Delight : )

p.s. glad you loved the video, definitely my favorite Krauss song, and one that resonates so deeply with me : )

Hindsfeet said...

Thanks, Dan : ) (Working my way backwards here ; ) ) And glad it "hit the spot"...

your friend,
"H" : )

Linda said...

Hi my new friend,
In regards to what we wrote of separately about the puzzle piece post and that of my own creed, I want to reaffirm to you that I am in total understanding of what you shared and loved it. Wish I saw it still here as to me, it perfectly sums up our human nature that greatly separates instead of bringing together at times. As I shared in my post about the church, you'll see how I feel about that. To me, scripture shows us a much different picture of the Church, which is simply working together as the Body of Christ. There were no denominations, they originally met only in tents and people's homes and it's apparent from Paul's letters of various warnings that it's only when the organized churches began did the human aspect take over which always causes problems. I'm not writing that God isn't present within the walls of a church (or denomination) but I'll never believe that it was His original intent that we as the body of believers (which is the CHURCH), live so separately. Thank goodness, Heaven will not be that way.

I feel a complete kinship to your thoughts shared. Thanks for so beautifully expressing yourself as it's obvious God writes through you.

Blessings for this Tuesday,
Linda

Hindsfeet said...

Really appreciate you taking the time to give me your two-cents here, Linda...or, really, more than two-cents...and completely hear where you're coming from...

Thanks for the encouragement too, really glad our little paths crossed here : )

Hope you're looking forward to a nice New Year...