On Embodiment & the One Who Will Put All Things Right

We had a good Christmastide in the Smith home. As always, the highlights were at church and at home. We all genuinely love going to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We Smiths, as fouled up as we so often are in our hearts and minds, really need it.

Our youngest daughter observed how the holy-day services kindly center our focus on Christ, at a time when we most need it—when there are so many other things to see and enjoy. Like presents.

Note, I didn’t call the gift-giving part of Christmas celebrations a distraction on purpose. Because it doesn’t need to be.
 
I love that very Christian practice of considering others and investing in loving them in a material way. Yes, we aren’t gnostics! We are living in a material world, and I am a material boy. We’re not only material (physical bodies), but we are certainly not merely spirits trapped in bodies. The oft-attributed C. S. Lewis quotation that, “You do not have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body,” is not only not from Lewis, but it’s also not true.

Christmas, on the contrary, is all about embodiment.
 
So, hooray and hurrah and *yee-haw for the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus! And for the invitation to enter into his story and celebrate. I know that many folks experience a lot of grief at Christmas, and that’s part of the story, for sure, but it’s also a time to see that the one who will put all things right, and make all things new, has come to be with us and will be with us forever someday. Immanuel has come and is coming again. So, if you can, be happy. Be as happy as you can.

I am happy to have you in my life, and our last few months were busy and fulfilling as many of you guys bought presents from our store. Thank you! My sincere prayer is that your families, and your precious kids in particular, are blessed and built up by engaging these imaginative adventures. (And I hope you enjoyed the free surprise book that was sent out with orders from our store around Christmas time! See, I love presents.)

I’m honored to be your ally in this work.

I’m on your side! 
Sam
 
*God Rest Yee-haw Merry Gentlemen?