Dear Trekker,
Are you dreaming of a white Christmas? I must confess I dream of a white Christmas every year. Oh no, not in the literal sense, but figuratively, symbolically… that the marvel and mystery and magnificence of God coming near that first Christmas might capture me anew! Oh the adventure… oh the surprise… oh the originality of that first Christmas! With God, there are no upgrades! That moment of His presence is a divine original event never to be repeated, never to be matched.
As I write, we are mid-way through Advent. Now you know trekker, advent and adventure are cousin words… adventure is simply advent with “u -r – engaged” tacked on. So much of the Christmas spirit is simply involvement, being engaged with what God is doing today. The Spirit of God is reconciling an alienated world, each generation, back to the Father. The Christmas spirit is “caught” when we “go home”, back to the manger, and take others with us!
In this context, the reality of dreams (yes, those wild escapades while we slumber) recently has caught my attention. Dreams come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Most of mine I can’t remember, and some I remember I toss out the window immediately. But with some…God clearly guides me! If you question the value of dreams, be careful. Without them, Jesus, the Babe in a manger, wouldn’t have showed up! No baby, no Christmas! Trekker, five different dreams played a major, directive role in the birth and life of the baby boy! Check it out… read Matthew 1:18 – 2:1-23. Amazing how God uses anything and everything to unfurl His redemptive triumph. He is the God who is there in our sleep as well as in our waking. He slumbers not, nor sleeps.
A book I recently read speaks of God’s “dream” this way: “… he (the main character) is hoping for a new revolution… that revolves around Jesus and what he did for us all and what he continues to do in anyone who has a hunger for reconciliation and a place to call home.” The writer goes on to say, “It, the revolution, will be the quiet daily process of dying and serving and loving and laughing, of simple tenderness and warm kindness, because if anything matters, then everything matters.”
A second book speaks of Christmas in this fashion…“the greatest gift was given to all of us by a loving Father in Heaven. It is the only true gift ever given to all and yet opened or appreciated by so few. It is the gift of redemption and atonement, and it sits on the top shelf, largely untouched, in the center of our soul.” The author adds, “Sometimes we miss the real meaning of the season. It is what that infant, boy, and then perfect man did at the end of His ministry that made the birth so special. Without His death, the birth is meaningless.” The author concludes, “Pick up your redemption. Cherish it, wear it, share it. It has the power to transform lives. It has transformed mine.”
Dear trekker friend, I recommend these two books quoted above as my Christmas “gift” to you this year. Significantly, dreams play the major role in the unfolding, fictional plot of each book. Both works deal with life and eternal issues, our journeys back to God. Both are therapeutic, not “doctrinal”, but imaginatively tell a story faithful to relational and objective Truth concerning God and man found in the Scriptures. Both are on the New York Times “best seller” lists, surreptitiously invading a postmodern world with the Christian message of hope, joy, redemption and reconciliation.
Sadly, both books are too “way-out” for certain “religious” folks. They need not be. The first book quoted, “The Shack”, written by a solid man of faith with a vivid imagination, has turned some off because in a dream God the Father appears as an African American woman called “Papa”. For those folks, I suggest that perhaps their God is too small. Some initially wrote off C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series fifty years ago as well, because he too had a vivid imagination. Go out and buy Wm. Paul Young’s “The Shack” and rejoice in the impact it is having on our world, in the coffee shops and workplace this past year. You will be challenged and blessed; you won’t be disappointed.
The second book quoted is “The Christmas Sweater”, by Glenn Beck, recovering alcoholic, controversial talk-show host, and a member of the Mormon faith. Ostensibly, for these reasons, some “good Christians” resist it. Bah, humbug trekker! Go out and buy this book, too. The storyline is compelling. The message is powerful, as is the medium… once again a dream. An actual, similar dream turned Beck’s life around years ago.
The awe of Christmas is yearning for home, returning to our roots, back to the God who made us for Himself… and always responding to His initiative, which may be a dream, or two. If the theology of a work of fiction is not to your liking, don’t miss The Message as you dance through the daisies. Hey, God forgives all of us our theology! Both these gripping, personal accounts have a powerful message on forgiveness and how we must practice it. Practicing forgiveness is where the rubber meets the road in true faith and in life.
Trekker, don’t wrap God in your Christmas gift box again this year. He likes to burst out, as He did that first Christmas, and as He does in these two insightful books. Enjoy your end of the year reading! It will be a great way to start the New Year.
Dreaming of a “White Christmas”,
Jim Meredith