Snowglobes have intrigued the hearts of men and women as far back as I can remember. And why wouldn't they? Not only are they creative, they all seem to take on their own life and lavishness. Just one little shake and you can't help but be hooked.
But I wouldn't bring you over here just to hear a story about a snowglobe would I?
Great reasoning!
So what is this about?
At Christmas time, consumerism abounds promising happy hearts for young and old alike who make this or that special product the gift of Christmas. Heartwarming Christmas movies become the box office attraction for movie goers all over the world. TV takes its annual holiday classics to the masses and advertising moguls flood our eyes and emotions with enchanted commercials that would even melt the heart of Frosty with their warmth. And who can overlook those wonderful Christmas carols that serenade us everywhere we go.
"May all your Christmases be white," one carol states.
It seems the world is alive with the magic and aglow with a spell of enchantment.
I have one word for all this.
SNOWGLOBE!
You ever notice when you shake a snowglobe that you can't help but get lost in its solemnness and elegance. Snow has never looked so pretty and peace on earth seems to be reflected in each flake that falls. Sometimes you just want to crawl inside and lose yourself in its panorama of tranquility.
"If life were only like this snowglobe,"one can't help but reason.
I wonder if this was a little of what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was feeling when he penned the poem that became the song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"? Wrestling with the loss of his wife a couple years prior in a house fire, the crippling wounding of his son in the American Civil War that still raged as he heard the bells that Christmas day so long ago and took up his pen to write,
"I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor does He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men."
If we are not careful, we can become convinced that the message of Christmas is all about making life for us like a snowglobe.
It isn't, you know?
The message of Christmas is really about the chaos we all want to escape, not in the snowglobe enchantment we all seem to chase this time of year. When you think about it, scripture tells us that Jesus had the snowglobe, but He crawled out of it to enter our chaos.
The next time you get swept away in the magic, remember the real message of Christmas. It's about God entering our world in all its chaos, not its enchantment. When you shut out all the noise this time of year and hear the sounds of bleeding, broken and lonely hearts all around you reminding you of this, you are now seeing Christmas as it was meant to be seen.
It was not an enchanting castle where Christ would be wrapped in robes of royalty that He chose for His bed that first Christmas night, it was a stable and a meager manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Doesn't sound much like a snowglobe, does it? But then, neither does our lives.
Stanley J. Leffew is the Author of, "How To Be Wanted For a Lifetime of Nights and Not Just a Night of a Lifetime." Find out why being seduced by an overemphasis on the bedroom and the body has so many living for the moment but missing the lifetime at http://advice-for-lifetime-relationships.com.html
