Today’s Readings: Psalm 80, 2 Samuel 7:18-22, Galations 4:1-7
 
Last night my youngest brother asked if he could come over and hang out.  I of course said yes!  How lucky am I that my youngest brother wants to come hang out mulitple times this week.  Anyway, I told him to come on over sometime in the evening and we will go grab a bit to eat and then decide what to do from there.  I also let him know I would be sermon writing until then.  So he came on over around 5:30ish and I was on a roll.  I asked if he could just chill while I finished my thought.  I finally stopped typing and looked up to see him watching me intently. 

“What’s up?”

“What’s it like to write a paper every week?  And then just put it aside to write another one for the next week?”

What a great question for a pastor! I guess it is like writing a paper and a script each week.  I thought about it for a moment and said, “You know, when I started pastor stuff I thought that would be the part I wouldn’t like….but now I realize I am totally in love with it.”  I went on to tell him about my own flows and the process of the week.  As it turns out, I actually really love being a writer.  I can finally claim that a) I must be a writer and b) I love the process and the duties of being a writer.  I love when the conditions are just right to write.  I love how it flows from my fingertips.  I love playing with words and looking for new inventive ways to write.  I love having the lens of a writer on the world….everything is a sermon moment, everything could be of God in my daily or weekly writing.

I love reading just to enrich my life and writing.  As many of you know, I am an avid reader as well.  I post what I am reading on Goodreads.com.  Recently I read a great novel called The Magicians.  I try to read a novel and a church book at the same time.  Anyway, I had just posted this on Goodreads.com without a review and a dear friend called me out.  She said, “Don’t you know there are people like me who hang on every word?” She wanted more! She wanted to know if this was a story for her!

All of these points combine in the Christmas story for me.  For the writer in me, I appreciate the stories that lay out the birth of a new Messiah.  Samuel sets us up with David’s line to prepare us for Jesus.  The Psalms call out for restoration. The poetry is just lovely.  I can imagine that later on the Gospel writers fall in love with the imagery and this wonderful story of a baby born.  For the reader in me, I hang on every word.  I want more of the story! I want to get to the manger and hear what happens! I want to know how Mary reacts and Joseph follows through.  Through it all, I am reminded that the story will unfold in just enough time.

God, allow us to have the patience to hear your grand story this season.  Keep us ferociously reading and actively listening for your word.  As writers, keep our minds and eyes open to see you in our day to day story. Amen. 

Peace,

C