When God seems far away

It's early Christmas morning and I haven't been able to fall asleep, so I've been doing some reading. I was encouraged by the Christmas Edition of the Patriot Post (reposted with permission):

For my family, Christmas is much more than a day, a season or a collection of
memories and rituals. Christmas is a lens through which we endeavor to view all
things -- the universe of our Creator and His purpose for us -- every day.

However, it can be difficult at times to comprehend God's plan for us --
after all, how are we to discern our minuscule role in the enormity of His
creation? In fact, in our home, we can become so distracted by the daily
challenges, demands and routines that we sometimes neglect to seek His purpose
for us.

On top of our efforts to maintain a strong marriage and manage
our home, Ann and I are raising three children, ages 10, 13 and 15, who have
three very distinct personalities, attend three different schools, and are off
in three different directions most of their waking hours. (We have friends who
have more children and greater challenges, and remain in awe of their ability to
manage, and even thrive.)

Recently, my 15-year old son, a faithful and bright young Patriot, came to me with a heavy heart. He told me that sometimes he loses his bearing, feels disconnected from God, and that separation causes him distress.

I acknowledge to him that, similarly, there have been days in my life when I have felt detached from God, and in those times I also struggle with questions about meaning and purpose.

What I have learned (at considerable personal cost) about being disconnected from God is that this division is always the result of my looking to the world for purpose rather than our Creator. Inevitably, after some consternation, I awaken to the reality that our cultural compasses are perpetually disorienting.

Contemporary culture relentlessly encourages us, even seduces us, to irrevocably link our identity to its trappings -- what we do, what we have, who we're with, and the like. But all of these connections are temporal. In the end, if we take our
bearings from the culture around us, we are destined to experience emptiness,
which it then offers to fill with various distractions and forms of sedation.

I told my son that through my life's trials, I have learned we must look
up before we look out -- that we must look to God in order to understand His
purpose for us in the world. Indeed, if we define our purpose in cultural terms,
or worse, if we try to understand Him through the world's lens, we are destined
to remain astray.

(to continue reading, click here)

While not a new concept to me, it is always good to be reminded that it is futile and unfulfilling to look for my purpose anywhere but from God.

Christmas cards

I love the Christmas card tradition...not necessarily the actual card with a pre-written message on it, but the newsletter-with-picture type of Christmas card, where you get to catch up with everyone that you've been meaning to catch up with all year, but for one reason or another it just hasn't happened. However, it seems that we get far fewer cards than my parents ever did...which either means we don't have as many friends, or a smaller percentage of our friends send us cards, or my memory is faulty, or some combination thereof; and the number seems to be dwindling by the year. And it seems like fewer of our friends actually give us both a picture and some sort of update...usually it's just one or the other.

I remember being little and getting like three to seven Christmas cards every day the mail was delivered in the month of December. I viewed it as a worthy reward for helping my mom fold, stuff, seal, stamp, and address well over 100 cards every year. And while regularly send out right at 100 each year, I receive a far lesser degree of reciprocation. The first year we were married, we got our first Christmas card November 30th, and had a total of about 40 cards before the year was over; this year, our first one didn't come until December 12th, I think, and we only have a total of 6 Christmas cards and/or letters right now. Three are letters and three are just pictures (which is certainly better than nothing, although it leaves me somewhat disappointed, since I have no idea what some people have been up to all year). So in case anyone is reading this and was thinking of nixing us from the Christmas card list, please don't! We will be most disappointed. E-mail versions are nice, too; they are a great way to save time and money, which we certainly appreciate.

I have written our letter, and here is our picture, which we will include with the letter, but the next few days will determine whether our picture/newsletter combo will be paper or electronic this year. But we WILL send it. Does anyone else treasure Christmas cards as much as I do?