I spent the afternoon helping the kids trim their tree. With the Christmas music playing, there was serious imput on the placement of each and every ornament. With these many personalities, this task differed from person to person but the flow was undeniable.
When someone couldn't reach the perfect spot for their current ornament, help was asked for. There were a couple of runs at the tree without benefit of help but you know how that ended. Not very successful but thank goodness, no one was hurt in the decorating of the tree. As always. some of the ornaments didn't make it thru the process and their fate will have to be decided before it is time to put the decorations away for another year. Soon, our task complete, everyone went their own direction, on to the next thing.
We will decorate my tree this Friday during our sleepover. Practice for the Christmas program is early Saturday morning so after a big breakfast of pancakes and sausages, we will all head for the church and practice in their respective classrooms. Even Miss M has practice - Do two year-olds really practice? Could be a very long two hours.
I started reading, This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley on Friday while waiting in the snow storm for an oil change. He is talking about the Kingdom of God and how Jesus explained it was for the here and now - not some future time. I am familiar with the Kingdom of CNN. It is the one of bad news and horrific acts. It seems so real and it is but the Kingdom of God seems like something for a different time, a different place. His point is if you don't seek it, you won't find it. In the mess of everyday life, we can live in the beautiful presence of the kingdom.
When I have days like today, the kingdom seems so close. When I look into these little people eyes, little people whose blood is the same as mine - it is easy to see but most days are not filled with tree trimming and Pizza Hut. Those days where someone kills 8 people in a shopping mall for no apparent reason or the plight of the homeless is made real to you, those are tougher days and the kingdom seems so far away.
The kingdom isn't shifting, dodging from us as we go about our day. The shifting is us and we need to put some effort into finding and holding onto what is available to us. The thing is we are going to live in a kingdom, the question is "Whose?"
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he...sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:44
After my oil change, I headed for Sonic and took my, Skating Waitress in A Snow Storm. It gave me a glimpse of what I am looking for. At least I know I am on the right path...
