Sunday Afternoon Tea - Sparkle

I will be back in person in a couple of days.  I had unexpected (but delightful) company this Sunday when my sister and her husband visited all the way from Georgia.  So please bear with me as I give you another rerun of an "oldie but goody". 

These words were originally posted a few years ago...

I've heard it before... said by people whom I respect but must "agree to disagree" about the Christmas season.  Friends who have chosen not to celebrate Christmas, or decorate, or do anything special because after all... it is most likely not the date of His birth, trees and lights and "insert object" are pagan symbols, etc... and one must be spiritual about these things, you know.

Really?

To me and mine, there is no better way in the universe to glorify our Lord than to sparkle. 

When the Christmas tree (which by the way, we do not hold hands, surround the tree, and worship) is decorated... and all nicely lit in these darkest days of the year... we are reminded of the Light of His coming... and we worship Him.

When candles are lit, glowing softly while cooking, or cleaning, or reading, or enjoying a cup of tea at the end of a long and dark day... we worship Him.

When we hear His name glorified in music all around us as we go about our day wrapping gifts, and baking, and shopping, and driving, and living our life... we worship Him.

We knead the bread dough, mix cookies, melt chocolate, bake pies, roast turkeys or ham or geese, assemble the side dishes served only at Christmas, call Mom to ask again how she makes gravy, contact Grandma for a forgotten recipe, and set the table with the finest of china... we worship Him.

We search all year for special gifts that tell another we know their hearts, and their desires, and the bent in which God has made them, and show heartfelt excitement as we open the children's gifts made with paper and glue, and ... we worship Him.

And even in homes and nations and places where He is not honored as Lord and coming King, they know this Day is different... as across the world all of His people are thinking of that manger in Bethlehem... and we worship Him.

For all there are those who want to silence the reason for the Day, we think of Him as the music and the traditions and the movies and stories and the radio and the television and the stores and Main Street all come together to tell us there is something special about this time of year... and whether they know it or not... it is Him.

It seems at times that the forest outside my house... with trees standing tall as dark sculptures in the night... that very forest in its' silence, and the moonlight on the snow, and the animals slumbering where they cannot be seen... silently worship Him and await that time He makes all things new again.

The creche which is outlawed in the public square sits beside our doors, or on our mantels, or on a table where it can be seen and felt and... if made of the proper materials... touched by little hands... and we worship Him.

Because of His first Advent, we anticipate His second...
We wait in the darkness of a fallen world... This one that C. S. Lewis called The Shadowlands.  And... 

We Sparkle