Christmas Reflection

During last weekend’s Christmas events I had wonderful opportunities to spend time with friends and family. They were very full few days and I felt blessed. Driving home in the wee hours of Christmas morning I found myself contemplating what really happened that night some 2,000 years ago. After spending an evening singing about warm fires, good cheer, and “tidings of comfort and joy,” I looked over to see a lit manger scene in front of a house and realized that while there was some joy that night, there was little comfort. In fact, there was probably much fear: shepherds frightened by angels, an inn with no room, a newborn child laid in scratchy straw, a young girl turned mother with no women around to help and support her, a husband beholding a child that was not his own. No, there was little comfort that night.

The word for glory in Hebrew is “kabōd.” It carries in its meaning the idea of weight something very heavy. It’s a new way to consider God’s glory. It is not all happiness and light—it is a weighty matter. God’s glory is too much for us to bear. This is why God only allowed Moses to see his back (Ex. 33:21-23). It also explains the seriousness the Israelites had when they beheld just a tidbit of God’s glory. They knew it was enough to crush them.

Just like when a heavy brick breaks through a pane of glass, God’s glory breaks into our lives. It leaves nothing unchanged, no stone unturned. It is an uncomfortable feeling. The world looks completely different. You have to reorient yourself.

On that first Christmas night, God’s glory came to earth in the tiny babe named Jesus. From that moment on, nothing was the same: a virgin gave birth, Jewish shepherds and Gentile kings were equally welcomed, a carpenter’s son became a man of great renown, a guiltless man was crucified, and all of humanity was offered the gift of forgiveness.

© Michelle Scott 2005

Food Amnesia

So, I bet you’ve heard of a food coma. Today I determined that I must have food amnesia, meaning I forget why I no longer eat stuff.

I recently met a milestone in the battle of the bulge and decided this morning that I would give in to my craving by eating a bacon egg and cheese bagel for breakfast. Well, that bagel sandwich made me like a stuffed turkey till about three this afternoon.

After work I went to the grocery this evening to shop for my annual cookie extravaganza which will commence this weekend. Problem was, I was soooo hungry from not eating lunch I kinda forgot what I had for breakfast and thought I could use some serious comfort food. I picked up my favorite frozen meatloaf dinner with about a zillion calories and a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies to take home. Misery again. (No, I didn’t eat the WHOLE bag . . . ) I did this to myself twice in one day – how stupid can you get??

All this is stuff I used to eat with pleasure – and some lingering pain . . . . I should have known better. This isn’t the first time I paid the price for eating this stuff. Am I doomed to a life of healthy eating? Oh, to just be able to enjoy something really, really bad once in a while.

© Michelle Scott 2005