I suspect that the Christmas holiday season can sometimes be the hardest time to write God's love letter. If we're exhausted, overworked, or ill, our letters can end up sounding as if they've been written by Scrooge or the Grinch before they reformed! The last few days I've been suffering with a very sore back and left foot, caused by my overdoing it while Christmas decorating. What's come out of my mouth? Scrooge and the Grinch! I've been grumpy and pitying myself, and my ATTITUDE about my current situation has been a BAD-ITUDE: "There is simply too much for a woman to do at this time of year for me to limp around!" So I've exploded at others because my life hasn't been what I wanted it to be.
What helps us to be loving pencils in the hand of God when we are so exhausted, preoccupied and busy does not involve doing everything we want, or taking more time to do good things, or doing "more important" things. To write God's love letter with our lives simply requires showing up for the lives we have! There is a beautiful painting by Vermeer, "Young Woman With a Water Pitcher," which portrays a young woman apparently doing nothing particularly important, just finishing her morning washing-up. But the painter lovingly explores her quiet face, absorbed in what she's doing, and her patient, deliberate, gestures.
In an article on the painting for "America" magazine, Jerome A. Miller comments "This young woman is not taking her time. She is giving herself to time. She is allowing the present to be instead of trying to move it along so she can get to what's coming after it. There is a generosity in her patience. She is not withholding herself from the passing moment as she would if she were expecting or waiting for something more important....The present in which she abides radiates into mystery. It is a kind of portal - a kind of window - opening upon what is beyond it."
If we believe in the significance of everything we do, if we believe that our present moment is a portal to the Mystery of God beyond it - we can begin to be pencils writing God's love letter to the world. Even if we momentarily have BAD-ITUDES, and our lives are momentarily nasty, meaningless scribbles, we can place ourselves back into God's hands so He can write messages of peace, hope, and love with our lives. Just imagine this happening:
- We stop on our way to the store parking lot to smile at the Salvation Army person patiently ringing a bell, wish her a "Merry Christmas," and drop some coins inside her bucket.
- We take time to kiss and cuddle our kids (the most precious presents we have) at bedtime instead of impatiently rushing them into their beds so we can wrap their presents.
- We breathe - just breathe - and calm down so we don't get into an argument with our spouse over who's cleaning what and who's decorating what.
- We pause to thank God for the Christmas songs on the radio, the brightly decorated Christmas trees, the Nativity scene at Church, the present joy in our lives, even though inwardly we may be itching to get more done or we're grieving.
- We practice gratitude for the funds we have to buy gifts instead of envying those who have more money to spend.
- We actually look at the salesclerk in front of us, see that she's exhausted and overworked, and talk to her kindly instead of yelling at her to hurry up.
- We consciously slow down when we want to speed up so we are aware of the people around us, the glory of the season, the peace, hope, joy, and love awaiting us in every moment that we can savor and share.
When we love God so much that we can become glad and obedient little pencils in His hands, we have more BEATITUDE attitudes than BAD-itudes in our daily lives. Christmas shines in our hearts, and the light which is the Light of Christ spills out of us to flood the world with the true meaning of Christmas!