Take Time

Look at the faces this time of year.
Whether you are shopping or in traffic, the faces look the same.
The faces are serious.
The faces have a frantic look about them.

People blame it on the holidays.
I have so much to do, they say.
I am so far behind, they admit.
Who is writing the list? Behind what?

I am sure everyone has their own suggestions about how to remain calm in the busyness.
Is remaining calm the goal?
Is checking everything off the list our end game?
Will getting ahead in this self imposed race make us feel better?

My youngest daughter spoke to me about this the other morning.
Mom, I love this time of year but people’s attitudes are very difficult.
Everyone is in a rush; no one wants to wait, she continued.
I watched her face as she spoke.

Imagine, I said to her, those same attitudes you see are attitudes they bring home with them.
She thought about that.
I actually saw her wrinkle her nose in a grimace as she imagined it.
It is not just a waiting in line kind of behavior; it carries over into everything.

We will get very frustrated if we think there will not be lines this time of year.
We will get quite annoyed if we expect to find everything we are looking for in one trip.
We will get discouraged if we center everything on buying and wrapping.
It is our heart that has to change, not the time of year.

I walked into my dining room and noticed a sign that I forget about most of the time.
It is a sign that is only placed on the chair rail ledge this time of year.
It is a reminder.
It always makes me think.

It is a primitive sign that simply says: Take time to catch the snowflakes.
I remember when I bought the sign at a little country store.
It made me smile then.
It still makes me smile.

I thought about how things would be much different if we heeded that advice.
What does, take time to catch the snowflakes, mean?
Is it really about snowflakes, for many people never see snow.
Is it about something more?

The loving admonition is in the first two words.
Take time.
Two words that are loaded with meaning.
Two words that are filled with significance.

How good are we doing at taking time?
How good are we doing at being still?
How good are we doing at saying, no?
How good are we at being intentional not to over commit?

What does it mean when we say we have to DO Christmas?
We all have our lists.
However, Christmas has already been done.
God the Father made sure of that.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.  The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14)

We can take time because the work has all been done.
Jesus, the Word, became flesh.
Jesus dwelt among us.
Jesus, fully God and fully man, always had time.

Most of Jesus’ earthly ministry consisted of detours.
So many people stopped Him as he was on His way to another place.
They stopped Him because they needed healing.
They stopped Him to listen to all He had to say.

Jesus was never rushed.
Jesus always had time for them.
If the Lord of the universe, our Savior had time, shouldn’t we?
Is anything we have to do more important than stillness?

We are a people who cannot rest.
We are a distracted people.
We are burning the candle at both ends and we know it.
There is time to take time.

Take time to catch the snowflakes.
Take time to…
Take time.
Be still.