From Griswald To Hope

Romans 15: 12-13

        This is the week I light up the house.  Stockings will be hung with “some” care. The palm tree will be adorned with bright decor.  Candy canes will aligned in formation around the sidewalk with an inflatable Polar Bear at its charge.  It is a balmy winter wonderland in Florida.  But something always causes me pause. The fake tree.

        Several years ago we went with a fake tree. It was a difficult decision.  I loved the smell of the pine needles and the tradition. My dad would always get a live tree and curse while he tried to balance it, burn his hands on those fire hazard sting of Christmas bulbs only found in the 60’s! But, the amount of time spent putting up my tree was taking away from something else. So, we went plastic.  It was put up with ease. The lights went on without a hitch. I did not shock myself with a broken bulb and I did not have to twist and turn the tree until it appeared straight as done in years past.

        That same year the same uneventful turn of events happened while putting up the outside lights.  I used a new tool that did not involve staples or a ladder.  I pulled not one muscle and I did not cut myself.  Nor did I face near death by twisting and turning atop a broken ladder in order to staple one more section of lights without moving said ladder over.  Yes, I’ve been called Clark Griswald more than once in my life.

        But what’s not right about all of this?  Everything went smooth.  No accidents. No incidents.  Why am I frustrated that I was able to put up my tree inside the house and light the outside of my house in about 5 hours faster time than before?  I don’t miss the ladder. I don’t miss the prickly pine needles. I don’t miss having to water the tree. I don’t miss telling the dogs and cats not to drink the water. I don’t miss the aching back.  It’s weird, but honestly, what I missed was the disfunction of the set up. I missed the accidents. I missed the squirrel that tried to attack me the year before. The chaos became enticing to a point where health seemed unreal and unnatural.

        I see this happen in people’s lives all the time. We want to get healthy. We want to do things rights. The reality, however, is that health is scary. The crisis becomes a drug. We forget how to function in health and therefore sabotage ourselves anytime we start to live “right”. We generally take the initial step to make our goals, but we rarely use the tools necessary to get us there.

        Hope is one of the themes of Advent. Within that theme is the desire to move from Hope to Joy. There is a difference between the beginning and the end. Hope sets our sights on the thing we seek. Joy is the celebration in its fruition. What do you hope for? What do you hope in? Does what or who you hope in matter enough to change how you live?

        I wanted to spend less time setting up and taking down these decorations. The only way to achieve that was to act differently. Once I got over the trap of tradition and pratfalls, I really enjoyed what we accomplished and how everything looked. One other thing happened. A strand of lights went out. If I had set up the old way it would have been a decorating disaster to fix. Living out of a new approach enabled me to fix the strand with ease as well as add to the overall design. In our lives, living out of hope does not mean life will not diverge into the frustrating, but it can offer you a way to make that frustration work for you and not against you. If you want Joy in your life, start with Hope and allow that hope to change how you live.

Peace and Blessings,

Pastor Cory Britt