I have this book that Joel and I read together our second advent season. It was so wonderful, that I still love it and bring it out read snippets of it and wish that it didn't have things that were so real that I want to protect my daughter from them for just a little while longer. The book is Tracks in the Straw
by Ted Loder
Here's a snippet that I feel in love with the other day:
That night I learned what power really is: It is choosing to come close, to break through the fences that separate us, to share yourself whatever the cost, to be vulnerable. A simple, complicated choice. That's all...and that's everything. Honestly sharing yourself is being willing to let yourself be a jackass...or a child, or a friend, or a lover. That is what love does.
One of the interesting things about this Advent reading is that it is not told from the normal perspectives. It's not the third person clean and tidy account that we get in scripture and Christmas plays, it's about the real grittiness that occurred and that we rarely think of. This particular passage is taken from the story of a donkey that was present at the birth of Jesus. I think in fact it was Mary and Joseph's stealth donkey (stealth because there is no donkey in the scripture accounts).
This week just so happens to be the week of Love with our Advent celebration at church. It is wonderful to be reminded in unexpected ways that love is not just a word that we say to one another but a chance that we take with every decision we make.
I personally do have problems with allowing myself to be a jackass for the sake of love. It is difficult to love when you have been damaged by the world. But it helps me to settle into times like this one leading up to Christmas and to remember that Love is exactly what was born on Christmas Morn.
This video from Jars of Clay is a little silly, but its message is one that I can't deny.
by Ted LoderHere's a snippet that I feel in love with the other day:
That night I learned what power really is: It is choosing to come close, to break through the fences that separate us, to share yourself whatever the cost, to be vulnerable. A simple, complicated choice. That's all...and that's everything. Honestly sharing yourself is being willing to let yourself be a jackass...or a child, or a friend, or a lover. That is what love does.
One of the interesting things about this Advent reading is that it is not told from the normal perspectives. It's not the third person clean and tidy account that we get in scripture and Christmas plays, it's about the real grittiness that occurred and that we rarely think of. This particular passage is taken from the story of a donkey that was present at the birth of Jesus. I think in fact it was Mary and Joseph's stealth donkey (stealth because there is no donkey in the scripture accounts).
This week just so happens to be the week of Love with our Advent celebration at church. It is wonderful to be reminded in unexpected ways that love is not just a word that we say to one another but a chance that we take with every decision we make.
I personally do have problems with allowing myself to be a jackass for the sake of love. It is difficult to love when you have been damaged by the world. But it helps me to settle into times like this one leading up to Christmas and to remember that Love is exactly what was born on Christmas Morn.
This video from Jars of Clay is a little silly, but its message is one that I can't deny.
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