THANKSGIVING MEDITATION: MOVE ASIDE, SANTA! by Frances K. Van Mil (520 words)
I waited
in breathless anticipation. It was
Christmas! Besides the carefully-wrapped
gifts for each family member, I had
exceeded my budget at the last minute to buy piles of stocking-stuffers for
everyone. The stockings had looked so
bare, my family was so dear to me and had come from so far, and I just wanted
to see smiles of contentment on each face.
How much fun I had had wrapping all the carefully-selected
gifts and placing them in the stockings after everyone was asleep! For my granddaughter, aged nine and highly
creative and artistic, I had purchased something I knew she would love: a whole
scrapbooking kit with books, specialty papers, alphabet letters and themed stickers. I could not wait to see her pleasure at
receiving this gift.
Finally, it was Christmas morning. What fun to see the children open their
stockings. The scrapbooking set was a
success. Joy and merriment abounded.
After all the presents were opened, and scrambled eggs,
coffee and Aunt Judy’s Christmas stollen had been consumed, everyone picked up
their new things and took them to their rooms.
The children brought out their new playthings.
My granddaughter, with a determined look and obvious
enjoyment of her gift said, “I’m going to do my scrapbooking now!” I waited for the usual “Thank you, Grandma!”
and a kiss, but I did not receive any acknowledgement at all. I felt disappointed. Then I remembered that the stocking gifts were
supposed to be from Santa Claus, not any family member. I certainly hadn’t given the gifts with any
thought of getting credit or thanks, but somehow I was let down, and missed
having her know that it was MY love for her that was behind the gift. As I entertained this thought, I seemed to
hear the Lord’s voice within my spirit, saying,
“How do
you think I feel?”
His words seemed to come with great plaintiveness and vehemence,
showing empathy with my feelings, while expressing His own. I felt that Someone understood. My thoughts turned to Him.
I thought
about how God must feel all the time to have created this beautiful world- the
planets, the stars, the woods, waters, animals, flowers and birds; to have
created each one of us uniquely; to have devised a plan to redeem us all to go
to Heaven at the cost of the gruesome death on the cross of His divine Son
Jesus. I thought of His provision of
family, food, water, shelter and jobs; His guidance of our lives into
meaningful occupations and use of our talents;
His desire for intimacy, His lavish giving and His caring about the
smallest detail and desire in our lives.
So often,
God is not given even a cursory thought, much less the credit, obedience and
relationship which He craves. My small
disappointment became overshadowed by His ongoing, much greater one. How I longed for Him to be acknowledged,
thanked and loved by the people He created to be His own. Let us do this in our hearts today.
Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17a, NIV)
