Eleven months out of the year, our nativity set sits on the top of the bookshelf in the back bedroom. It is a constant reminder that the hope of the Messiah was fulfilled. A constant reminder that Christmas is for more than just one day each year. On this second day of Advent, in my hometown, it does not feel like Christmas. Snow does not cover the ground as it does in Christmas cards. In fact, when I took my granddaughter to the park, we threw off our jackets immediately. I google'd the weather in Bethlehem and it is the exact same temperature as where I live! There is one difference -- it is 10 hours later. My 65 degrees came at noon, and their temperature was still that high at 10 in the evening. They are even warmer -- no snow for them. More than likely (as in 100% likely), Jesus' birth did not look like my nativity set nor my Christmas cards. Reading the biblical accounts we realize Jesus was probably born in a month like September, not December. The kings did not come to the stable, and the stable in those days was a cave. Still, this precious nativity, chosen for how much wear and tear it could endure when handled by children, can re-focus my vision on those days when I am running around mindlessly.
On March 23, 1930, Frank Laubach wrote: "You and you and you and I do experience fine fresh contact with God sometimes, and do carry out His will sometimes. One question now to be put to the test is this: Can we have that contact with God all the time? All the time awake, fall asleep in His arms, and awaken in his presence, can we attain that?....Or are there periods when business, and pleasures, and crowding companions must necessarily push God out of our thoughts?"
No, Frank was not out Christmas shopping when he wrote this. :D
He writes the usual answer to this question: "If one thinks of God all the time, he will never get anything else done." But, he follows with what he learned: "So I thought too, until now, but I am changing my view. We can keep two things in mind at once. Indeed we cannot keep one thing in mind more than half a second. Mind is a flowing something. It oscillates. Concentration is merely the continuous return to the same problem from a million angles. We do not think of one thing. We always think of the relationship of at least two things, and more often of three or more things simultaneously."
"If our religious premises are correct at all, then this oneness with God is the most normal condition one can have. It is what made Christ, Christ. It is what St. Augustine meant when he said, 'Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.'"
Frank Laubach called this continual attempt to rest in God, to come back to God minute by minute, an experiment. What better time to start an experiment such as this -- continually looking for Jesus -- than during the Christmas season?
"Can a laboring man successfully attain this continuous surrender to God?"
"Can a merchant do business, can an accountant keep books, ceaselessly surrendered to God? Can a mother wash dishes, care for the babies, continuously talking to God?Can little children be taught to talk and listen to God inwardly all day long, and what is the effect upon them?"
"Can a politician keep in a state of continuous contact with God, and not lose the following of the crowds?" Yes, Laubach wrote that in 1930. Well, this is the week of Advent where we remember hope. Hope in Jesus. I hope in vain that my Christmas celebrations will always look like a Christmas card. I hope in vain that anything or anyone other than Jesus will fill me with joy. But, my flesh rests in hope when I set the Lord always before me.
"I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope....
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is the fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" Psalm 16:7-9,11.
4 comments:
OH Debbi...I loved Frank's Phrase..."All the time awake, fall asleep in His arms, and awaken in his presence, can we attain that?...." Something to indeed keep in our minds. IT reminds me of Matt 11:28-30 in the message version. Thanks for sharing this!
Oh Debbi! Thanks for sharing this! I loves the quote, "All the time awake, fall asleep in His arms, and awaken in his presence, can we attain that?...." Certainly a good picture of what it means to rest in Him one minute and live in Him the next. THanks!
Thank you, Michelle. Sometimes I find it difficult to NOT write Frank Laubach's WHOLE letter. Each one is quotable!
Hi Debbi...This morning before Beks left for school she said she was trying to remember God and talk to him more all the time and that she did not think she was quite "evolved" (video game term that means matured and developed)to really hear back from him all the time. Her words reminded me of your latest post so I read it to her. When she took off for school it was so nice to have shared in an "advent" moment with her that could be enriched by your blog post - thank you!
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