Christmas lights...

Christmas lights can be glaring sometimes...

There's all the bustle in the stores
The excitement and busyness of all the preparations...

And sometimes that merriment can be inviting.
Sometimes it is something to be gloried in, looked forward to...

But then there are times when the light is glaring

Times when you just want to shield your eyes

It's too much,
too soon

And you're just not ready to see all the light

Families get together for the holiday season...
There is the consistency of families getting together
the same traditions that have been followed for a very long time...

Sometimes there is security in the celebration
At other times it's a reminder of the changes that have gone by...

Chairs that are empty
or replaced by someone new
what was once brand-new now fading
or replaced by something else altogether...
always changing.

And maybe that's the point of Christmas.
All of this is fading away
So Christ came to bring something new and unfading...
something eternal that cannot be lost.

And in light of all of that, the light is inviting.

Other things are fading, but the light is not lost.
People come and go, but their lives are not lost...

There is a teacher I worked with several years ago who I learned this week is dying of cancer.
He was sent home from the hospital several days ago with the verdict of two more weeks.

Two more weeks.

That is one week shying of seeing one more Christmas.

I have found myself thinking this week of what might be going through his head during this time:

Seeing other people hustling and bustling to prepare the presents.
The music in the stores, the lights on the houses,
all of the general excitement of Christmas

and he is putting his affairs in order and preparing for his final journey home.

Perhaps looking back on the life he has lived.
Two weeks is not enough time to go back and resolve all loose ends, though he could certainly try
And certainly all those years of life cannot be re-lived
So it might be a matter of reflection
What went well, what did not...
And then reaching a point where all he can say is, "God, it is what it is..."

This teacher wasn't a really close friend, but I worked with him for two years
I know the general story of his life
I sat next to him on our way to conference
For three hours of conversation

And I know bits and pieces of what his life has been since then

I only know enough to know it's been rough around the edges...

And now I can't shake the thought of one man this Christmas season preparing to go home.

Sobering.

And as I thought on it this morning, I realized I need to lean on mercy more than judgment
In those situations where I can choose anger or understanding
Perhaps it would be better to choose to understand
To respond out of love instead of clinging to my rights
Knowing that, in the long run, all will be right...
That is the choice I will have wanted to make
When the day comes where I find myself getting ready
as he is now.

I don't think I will regret showing mercy, even if that mercy is disregarded at the time.

On a different note, we are down to our last week of school before break.  The elementary students had their Christmas program last week, and the secondary students are preparing for finals.  We have our staff Christmas party this weekend.  And everybody is scrambling to do what we need to do to finish up the semester and then (for most of us) prepare to go home for a little reprieve.