Learning to Wait by Susan Barclay

 

I'm at a stage right now where, in addition to the technological distractions that consume many of us, life itself is a distraction from my writing. I hate to harp on it, but between working part-time and caring for my mom full-time, writing is on the back burner. The waaaay far back burner, out of reach at this time. 

I suppose the good news is that God sees, God knows, and God cares. He knows how He's gifted me, why He did so, how and when He plans for it to be used to the full. In the meantime, my role is to accept my circumstances and commit all things to His timing and ways. What's important right now, what's important always, are the people in front of me whom God has given me to serve: my husband, my mother, my young adult children.

I am learning to wait, which is a very necessary skill. The Bible speaks of many who had to wait before the Lord fulfilled His promises to, or purposes for, them. I think of Noah waiting for the rain even as he worked on the ark; of Abraham and Sarah waiting for the birth of their son; David waiting for God to deal with Saul and install him as King of Israel; and more.

Some scriptures encourage me:

Psalms 27:13-14   I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Psalms 37:34  Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Isaiah 30:18   Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

Isaiah 40:31   but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Lamentations 3:25   The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

In addition to reading scripture, there are other things I can do as I wait. I can worship. That is time that is always well spent. I can listen to Lectio 365 morning and evening devotionals to encourage my heart. I can squeeze in moments of reading for learning or pleasure when I'm eating breakfast alone, or on my work break, or waiting for the doctor to call my mother in for her scheduled appointment. Reading is an important activity for writers as we learn from both good and bad writing and get ideas for subjects we might want to explore further through our own work.

All is not lost during this season of distraction and waiting, therefore I will neither moan nor mourn. Instead, I set my face toward the One who made me, who knows me, who planted in me the desire to write, and trust that He is birthing something new. And I believe it's gonna be great - because He is!

___________________________

For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

Words By Vickie Stam

We don't always plan to say the things we say.

Romans 7:15 in the ESV reads, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing I hate."

What if I said, I do not say the things I want to say but I say the things I hate to say. Doesn't that sound frightening? But, if you admit it, you are probably guilty of saying something you wish you had never said.

And then there are those who have a tendency to speak without thinking more often than not. They blurt something out and their impulsive behaviour might be seen as undesirable or as just a part of who they are. 

The average person speaks about 7000 words per day. Imagine what the consequences of our words can look like. Our words can honour or shame, build up or tear down, soothe or annoy, love or hate. Each scenario offers others an insight into our nature.

Are you quiet or do you talk a lot? Are you optimistic or pessimistic? Are you kind hearted or insensitive? The words you use paint a picture of yourself for the world to see.

I'm seen by others as quiet or introverted, something I don't always find flattering and yet I guess my lack of conversation could make some people think that I have nothing to say. I just hope that I choose both the timing and my words carefully. 

On the other hand - I know someone that I will call, "B." B doesn't think before B speaks. I grew up hearing the words - "That's our B." It soon became apparent that it was part of B's character to just come out with it. 

Your words can be silent and still have power. How many words are implied with a look. When I was a child I knew what the look meant - mom's not kidding, do it again and see what happens, if your dad has to stop this car, you're going to wish he didn't" The look offered my mom a solution for a host of unspoken words. 

And yet, a smile could provide a mountain of encouragement, positivity, kindness, and love. Words have power! How someone talks to us will be remembered. How we talk to someone will also be remembered.

God tells us to choose our words wisely. Harsh words stir up anger. Your soul is nourished when you are kind. Gentle words bring life and health. 

The Themes They Are A-Changin' by Lynn Dove

It started during the night as a tightening, then a squeezing pain in my right calf.  I knew right away I had another blood clot, a DVT.  I hobbled down the stairs and broke the news to my husband that he'd better take me to the emergency room. 

He groaned, "Are you sure?"

"Quite sure," I winced while struggling to put on my shoes. 

Having a family history of DVT's, cancer, and diagnosed with another clotting disorder, the odds were in my favour to get blood clots at some time in my life, and sure enough, I have experienced deep vein thrombosis three times before this one.  As we drove in silence to the hospital, I could feel the anxiety well up in me.  Times had changed in our world.  We were still in the middle of a pandemic, and I wondered what new protocols might be in place to address my current situation and also to keep me safe from contracting the virus.  I wore a mask, as has been my new normal while I've been out and about the last several weeks, but I was given a new one the instant I walked into the emergency department.  The nurses were in full PPE (personal protective equipment), but their eyes seemed friendly enough.  Both my husband and I were told to sanitize our hands, and wait, keeping socially distant from anyone else in the waiting room.  At least the waiting part was very familiar to us.  It was a full day spent at the hospital, waiting on medical tests to confirm what I already knew, I had a DVT in my right leg.  I was sent home with my prescription for blood thinner pills and a new referral to the Thrombosis Clinic. 

All last year, I had documented my battle with endometrial cancer on my blog, Journey Thoughts.  I certainly had not intended at the start of 2019, that the theme of my writing for most of that year, would be focused on my personal journey with cancer, but life events have a way of determining what I write about.  When my kids were teenagers, I wrote about bullying, based on what they were experiencing at school.  When I was teaching, I wrote about my classroom experiences.  As a grandmother now, I write about my growing family.  My personal walk of faith with God has always been a part of my writing, interwoven throughout like a reoccurring colourful thread.  As life has its ebb and flow, or in my case giant U-turns, my writing gives account to all the highs and lows of daily living and walking with God through it all.

It is no wonder that the last several months, my writing has documented some of the challenges I've faced living through a global pandemic.  Three months ago I never used the terms, social distancing, cohort family, or global pandemic.  I never wore a mask, nor imagined a time when people would be forced to stand two metres apart, or unable to hug loved ones, or discover no toilet paper on grocery store shelves.  I thought I faced a "new normal" after my battle with cancer?  I'm still trying to figure out how to follow arrows in supermarkets to ensure we can pick up milk in a safe and orderly manner!

In the last two weeks, I have seen demonstrations held world-wide, to bring awareness to the systemic racism that pervades our society.  It has sensitized me on how I can write in such a way that shows my empathy without offending anyone.  It hasn't been easy.  I want to stay relevant in my writing, but admittedly, there are just some themes and topics I am uncomfortable in tackling.  So I pray instead, and hope my Saviour groans and intercedes on my behalf, hearing my heart when words fail me.

I've spent the past week with my leg elevated, waiting for the blood thinners to cut in.  Only today have I been able to sit at length in front of my computer to blog.  As I reflect on all the events that have occurred world wide, as well as process my own personal experiences over these past few years, I know my writing is in perpetual metamorphosis.  What I write about today, will not be what I write about a year from now,... maybe not even a week from now.  I'm okay with that.  I do pray I will be writing less and less about my ongoing medical issues, because it's a pain.  Literally.  All I can say with great certainty going forward is, "The Themes They are A-Changin'".

  
Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com   

The Schoolroom of Life by Susan Barclay

This month’s prompt reminds me of the phrase “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” How apt when September is back to school month! 

The Schoolroom of Life

As I sit at my desk in God’s classroom

It feels like the first day again

I’m nervous and excited

About what I might learn this year

The Teacher is good, all the time

He knows the gaps in my education

What methods work best

I prepare myself for what He has in store

The Teacher holds the future

He knows just what I need

My hands are open, ready to receive

From the Author and perfecter of my faith

I’ll avail my student's heart and mind

To the One who made me

The One who knows all about me

Behold, He is doing a new thing

Because His love never fails

And His ways are higher than mine

I will trust Jehovah-jireh

As I sit at my desk in God’s classroom

© Susan Barclay, 2017

 ___________________________
 Susan maintains a website at www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

Life and Writing: Striking the Right Balance by Nina Faye Morey

Finding time in our busy lives to fit in our writing is a challenge. However, I’ve discovered that “finding” is the wrong word. “Making” time is actually more “fitting.” How can I “balance life on and off the page?” This puzzle led me to read about time management and building good work habits. Knowing this conundrum faces most writers, my life and writing became predictably intertwined. The result was my “Mastering Good Writing Habits” workshop to share the knowledge and strategies I’d gained with other writers at the 2016 InScribe Fall Conference.

Time to Write

Our dream of becoming a writer is often suppressed by other demands on our time. Those close to us might not understand our need to write. They may discourage, or even disparage, the devotion we display towards our “gift.” But if we see our writing as a gift from God, we feel a responsibility to use it to His glory. Regardless of whether we’re writing in obedience to God’s call or simply dedicating our writing to Him, we must trust the Lord to give us everything we need to fulfill our writing ministry:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you,

that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,

may have an abundance for every good work.

—2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)

But in the end, the only one who can make you a successful writer is you! It’s up to you to make that happen. You can continue to just dream about it and talk about it, or you can act on it. In order to do that, you’ll need to develop good work habits and learn how to be well organized and manage your time effectively and efficiently. In her bestseller, The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp said, “Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits. That’s it in a nutshell.”

Mastering good work habits helps free up your mind to think more creatively because you’ll have established a regular writing routine. The words will flow onto the page with less effort because you’ll feel more energized, engaged, and focused on the writing process. There’s no longer any need to waste time and energy on psyching yourself up, making decisions, or struggling with self-control. There’s nothing to distract you from the task at hand, and you’ll finish your day with a real sense of accomplishment.

The bestselling Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami, has won numerous awards for his novels and short stories. He said this about the importance of developing a daily writing routine in a Summer 2004 interview with John Wray in the Paris Review:

When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours…. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.

Schedule Time to Write

One of the best ways to fire up your time management skills is to identify your goals. You’re dreaming about writing that 100,000 word Christian suspense novel? If you aim for just 275 words a day, you’ll finish it in one year. You have 168 hours every week. Allowing forty hours for work and fifty-six for sleep leaves you seventy-two hours—plenty of time―right? Right! (Was that you being cynical?) In order to manage those left-over hours better, you’ll need to analyze how you’re spending them now. Then make your writing a top priority—schedule time for it and avoid distractions. Learn to say “no” without giving a reason or feeling guilty. Only have a few minutes today? Keep a notebook handy, and jot down a couple of ideas or observations. Taking just these few simple steps will start you on the right path to fulfilling your dream!

Photos: Nina Faye Morey

Quote Credits:

http://www.azquotes.com/author/8629-Fran_Lebowitz

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/james-baldwin

https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2/haruki-murakami-the-art-of-fiction-no-182-haruki-murakami

Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, Simon and Schuster, 2006.

A New Road - Marnie Pohlmann

I walk down this road of life.

I trip and fall into a dark hole.

I get up and continue walking.

Again, I trip and fall into a dark hole.

I climb out and continue walking.

Once again, I trip and fall into another dark hole.

Deeper this time, it is difficult to climb out.

But I pull myself up and walk on.

And again, I fall into a deep hole.

But I decide to stay awhile.

Eventually, I climb up the wall and back onto the path.

I fall into a hole.

I realize how dark, dreary, and lonely it is.

I decide to decorate, to make it cozier.

I hang a picture of me as a child, and I write in my journal.

I scream pain onto the page in silent words.

No one hears, so I stay in the hole.

Time goes by.

Though I believe I am secure and comfortable in my hole,

I begin to notice light up above.

I continue to write in my journal.

Then I hear a voice, calling to me.

He says he will help me get out of my hole,

He says, if I choose, he will walk with me on my path.

I think about it, but am frightened.

I know my hole.

I don't know outside, or down the road.

I am not sure I can trust the voice.

Yet he continues to call.

His words appear in my journal.

Finally, I agree to meet him.

He reaches down and helps me out of my hole.

I bring my journals.

He walks with me.

Just when I am about to trip into a deep hole,

He catches me.

We continue walking.

I sometimes almost fall into other dark holes,

But as I trip, he holds me.

I still skin my knees sometimes and he lets me cry,

but he comforts me.

We walk on.

And now He guides me down a different road.

I based this story on a poem I read many years ago. That poem did not have the journals or God calling to me, but it did end with learning to walk a new road. I have not been able to find the original author's name or even the original words. Over the years I have seen this idea of repeatedly falling into the hole, decorating the hole, and eventually choosing a new road, become a picture of my life.

I have a love-hate relationship with the journals I have kept on my journey. On one hand, they contain pain, struggles, and rebellion; times I do not wish to relive. On the other hand, they contain answers from God to my pleas, and they show how He has been at work in my life all these years.

My goal a while ago was to read through those journals to see what I could use in my writing. I was nervous about this project so decided this would be an exercise in research, not a reliving of the past. An emotional detachment was the key, or so I thought. I knew God was with me, holding my hand and ready to point out the gems of what He wanted me to share through writing.

And then I found myself again in a dark hole. Not because of my journals, but because of life circumstances which I found overwhelming. I returned to childhood coping methods I know do not work and once again believed the old messages of shame and worthlessness. Then I began to decorate my hole with pictures of everything wrong with me and my present life. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder once again settled into the corners of the darkness, bringing alive all the negative emotions of childhood, the work I do, and cancer.

I was depressed, yes, but I was not afraid - I am not afraid. In the dark times, God is present. When I am struggling, God is at work. He will not ever leave me, Scripture says, and He never has, so I know He won't this time. He calls to me and reaches down to help me out of the hole again.

Emotion is part of the past as much as it is part of today. If I am to read and write from my life journals, I must do it acknowledging and including all the feelings and emotions, not as a dry research paper. Memories in my journals may be dark, but I believe I will also see where the Sonshine drew me out of the holes. Rather than being nervous about this project, I am now excited to discover and re-discover God's presence in my life and how He so gently leads me to walk with Him on a new road.

I have been sporadic in my journaling lately. Writing ideas are strewn about in various pretty journals, church bulletins, Bible Study notebooks, and even in my phone. Personal woes and joys are dated with months between the entries. I have found I miss having (making) the time to journal.

This month's posts have been inspirational, showing me how journals are a gift. I now realize that organizing the thoughts, lessons, and ideas in those journals is also a gift. 

I think I'll start (another) new journal.

Photos courtesy of CCO License: hole - pexels.com;  girl, journal - pixabay.com

Marnie struggles and journals in northern BC. Visit her blog, Phosphorescent, to read her adventures in absorbing and reflecting God's light in dark times.

Branching Out by Karma Pratt

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:5

As I look to this new year, and listen to what God is calling me to do as a writer and as a Christ follower, I am reminded to pray, listen, then act (no deviating from that order!) Without guidance from God first, I will get bogged down in trivial tasks. I already know I am easily distracted by the "oooh, shiny" things of life. I need not let my writing become mired in distraction and lack of focus too.

Knowing my limitations, I look to God to help me understand what my next step will be as a writer. God is always planting seeds in my mind and heart that lead me to the next project. In this season, I feel he is calling me to step out on a limb, and begin using blogging as a tool to consistently share my words and thoughts.

Some of the seeds God planted in me years ago are just now taking root. Little green shoots are beginning to poke through the soil. I feel more like a winter bulb experiencing an early thaw. Bring on the new life of springtime! I'm ready!

Most recently, these seeds have taken the form of a blogging series called The Passionate. Persistent. Vibrant. Life. Project. It's a brand new adventure that has been working within me for a long time, and is now beginning to surface.

It takes a leap of faith to begin something that requires vulnerability and honesty in the public domain. Vulnerability, by the way, is another way of saying "courage". Courage takes shape when we finally step forward, moving through our fear (or, perhaps, in spite of it) toward victory.

I'm excited to see how this blogging project helps shape my writing, and my life. As a non-fiction writer, I feel it's critical to experience life fully if I am ever to be able to write about life convincingly.

Some Practical Advice: 

I know I will be stretched in the days, weeks and months to come. To that end, God has set me up with some amazing teachers and tools that will help me hone the skills I need to follow through on this exciting adventure.

Some practical things I've learned recently include:

• 3 focused hours can do much more for you than 8 scattered ones. I have started planning my "focused" time in 20 minute blocks. I've seen an incredible upswing in productivity in the last week alone! I've also recognized where my personal inefficiencies lie, and will be able to fine-tune them out of my writing process. Three cheers for focus!
• While we're on the topic... Focus on one draft at a time. I have a terrible tendency to want to write a first draft, while simultaneously editing it, and preparing to publish immediately. Breaking down my schedule into smaller, focused time segments has forced me to do only one aspect of writing at a time.
  

I hope these tips will help you become more focused in your writing efforts this year as well. They have definitely helped me! 

I look forward to learning and growing alongside all the InScribe members throughout 2016.

Be blessed,
Karma

_________

Karma Pratt is a faith-driven mom of twins, a communicator, a writer, and an encourager from way back. She loves words, art, creativity, God, and people, although not necessarily in that order. 

You can find Karma online at redraincoatcreations.com or connect on Twitter, Facebook, & LinkedIn.
Check out the Passionate. Persistent. Vibrant. Life. Project and become a member of the PPVL Thrive Tribe! 

Handling Blocks by Connie Inglis

I've always liked blocks. When I was young it was the vintage wooden blocks with colorful letters. It was always a balancing act, trying to stack them as high as possible. Soon after my son was born, that turned to Lego blocks. He and I would spend hours building out of our imaginations, inventing games with castle walls and catapults. Beautiful memories.

So when the question, "Why do blocks happen for you?" was posed this month, my eyes rested on the word "blocks" and that got me slightly side-tracked to ponder the question: Are blocks really a bad thing?

I feel that in this past month, a gigantic set of Lego blocks has been placed before me, before our family. You know the kind with 3000+ pieces--my month has been a jumble of that many pieces. With Lego I've never actually built anything that elaborate but the challenge intrigues me because I know it is possible. And that encourages me as I try to piece past events together--building from the inside out taking one block and putting it on another block, adding another block and so on and so forth until the project is complete, until some sense is made out of it all.

Writing involves the same kind of undertaking--building one thought upon another thought, one character trait upon another character trait, one relationship upon another relationship until the project is complete. Building blocks. 

The distractions of this past month have kept me from meeting my writing goals. But that doesn't mean I haven't written daily--a thought here, a thought there, an inspiration here, an inspiration there. Ideas, or blocks, for the future--God-given ideas. And even though these thoughts have been disjointed at times, it doesn't mean God can't take these blocks and use them to create something beautiful. That again gets me excited about playing with blocks, blocks of another kind.

And I am reminded of the lake that we camped at recently. I enjoyed sitting on the water's edge on a tranquil evening after a full day, the lake's surface a perfect mirror reflecting a kaleidoscope of colors on the west's horizon.  A time to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). A time to meditate and be thankful.

Yet the beautiful thing about a seemingly still lake is that underneath the surface, life is happening: Fish, crustaceans, frogs, insects, pondweed, grasses--all these life forms are moving under that surface. So even though it appears that the water is static, life below proves otherwise.

I have to believe that it is the same with my writing. That even though my pen has been relatively silent this past month, life is still stirring and creative juices are still flowing. And just as the lake's surface will not remain calm, so I know my pen cannot sit unused. To be a writer, I must write. God has taught me that the past month's experiences are not wasted. He will stir in me and the words will flow--He will turn my experiences into useful building blocks.

I don't have any astute words of wisdom to cure writer's block. If you look you can find a number of blog posts that deal with the issue.  But I have learned that sometimes it is okay to just sit by the quiet waters and let God fill you up. His filling will inspire because He is a good God and He loves to give good gifts to His children. Rather than beating yourself up over a feeling of ineptness, bask in His love and seek to know His love more and more. (Eph 3:14-21). That is truly what He desires for each of us. And I believe then the writing will come.

God is the Master builder. Ultimately, He is the one building masterpieces in and through our lives. And as Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) says, we are God's masterpiece. Ultimately, He is the one building us into something beautiful. He is the one using us to create works that speak His goodness and love into the world, thus glorifying His name. I rest in that knowledge.

Lego Taj Mahal

The Value of Taking a Break by Susan Barclay

At times it’s been a hot summer, but when you have air conditioning, you can never really use the excuse that it’s “too hot to write.” Still, as MarniePohlmann expressed a few days ago, there’s a season for everything, and sometimes it’s appropriate to take a break – even from something as important as writing. 

In fact, this has been a somewhat challenging year for me. As I contemplate the prospect of writing the annual Christmas letter, I toy with the terms ‘annus horribilis” and “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I won’t get into the details, but apart from a few personal experience pieces and their submission, I have not succeeded in accomplishing the writing projects I had in mind. In the eyes of someone like Stephen King, who believes in writing every day regardless, perhaps I’m a bad writer or no kind of writer at all. I choose to believe something different, though: I am a writer taking a break from writing to live a very real life, one that gets a little messy, one that requires my attention.

I’m reminded of a quote from Tom Hodgkinson that says, “Being lazy does not mean that you do not create. In fact, lying around doing nothing is an important, nay crucial, part of the creative process. It is meaningless bustle that actually gets in the way of productivity.” While I wouldn’t say I’m “being lazy” or “lying around doing nothing,” I do believe that what I am going through is, or will be, part of my creative process and future literary fertility. But if I were relaxing or otherwise unoccupied, I would remember that there is value in being “bored.” Recent studies show that boredom leads to more creativity and encourages the pursuit of new goals. Hurray for science, right?

And like Gretchen Rubin, who “always had the uncomfortable feeling that if [she] wasn't sitting in front of a computer typing, [she] was wasting [her] time,” take “a wider view of what [is]"productive." Time spent with … family and friends [is] never wasted.” At the end of the day, we’re not going to wish we’d spent more of our time working; investing in people is what lasts and has eternal value. So, go ahead, take that break. I’ll know I’m in good company with you.

__________________________

For more of my writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.ca or www.susanbarclay.wordpress.com

THE LIGHT HAS COME, by Bryan Norford

I hate candles. Our home has hosted two small fires thanks to candles. If I had the authority, I’d ban them from the planet—at least until the next power outage. But a current TV advertisement shows the power of one candle: in pitch blackness its light is visible beyond the length of several football fields.

 

Isaiah 60:1–2 promises: “[Israel’s] light has come” to dispel the intense darkness that covers the earth.John identifies Jesus as the source of life, “and that life is the light of men.” But although that “light shines in the darkness,” the darkness “has not understood it,” John 1:4–5.

Also translated “Has not overcome it,” the last phrase still carries the idea of a concept that darkness cannot grasp. God’s thoughts are not only higher than ours; His ways are sufficiently different to be mostly opposite to ours.

Our fallen condition has reversed God’s vision of the world. The lie that holds the world in darkness is that power is the final authority; when, in reality, God created our world for love to be the ultimate ruler.

The reverence accorded to Nelson Mandela briefly reminds us, from somewhere beneath our distorted thinking, that forgiveness and reconciliation, established at the cross, is the bedrock of human existence. That light will flicker for a while, until buried anew under human reasoning that cannot understand it.

John expands the content of Jesus’ light, describing Him “full of grace and truth.” John adds further, it is “from the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another,” John 1:14 and 16.

The greatest characteristic of grace is humility. Jesus’ entry into the world was not in a blaze of supernatural power, but as a dependent child, born in a cattle shed and placed in a feeding trough. The darkness, hungry for power, cannot grasp this form of authority.

But humility is measured by the power it withholds. God measures his grace to us by Messiah’s humility. His humility is boundless because His omnipotence is ultimate. The wonder of Christmas is not just God’s amazing gift to us, but the humility of God it portrayed. 

[Jesus], being in very nature God, 

Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

But made Himself nothing, 

Taking the very nature of a servant, 

Being made in human likeness.'

And being found in appearance as a man, 

He humbled himself

And became obedient to death—even death on a cross! 

Phil 2:6-8

Darkness cannot understand this light; it is foolishness to it. I’m not sure I can fully absorb this light either; utterly aware of how short I fall from its example. But I will rejoice that this unfathomable and unexpected plan of God is already dispelling our darkness—towards its day of complete erasure.