Friday, December 26, 2003
Friday, December 26, 2003
"She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins."
(Matthew 1.21
NRSV)
Leo Buscalgia learned about that kind of disappointment as a teenager. He writes, "I remember the sudden appearance under my family's Christmas tree of the largest present I had ever hoped to see. It stood at least a foot taller than I and was twice as heavy; and wonder of wonders, it had my name on it. For two whole weeks before Christmas, this present towered above all others and it defied any conventional attempts to learn of its contents before its time."
During the weeks leading up to Christmas he could think of nothing else but his present under the tree. He imagined all sorts of terrific presents. On Christmas Day his family gathered together. "The main attraction was to be the opening of my present." Buscalgia remembered. "How many times in the past two weeks I had anticipated this moment. Even as I was opening it, I remember experiencing a vague sense of disappointment--the Great Mystery was about to end and I would no longer be able to engage in my soaring dreams."
His present turned out to be a beautiful handmade desk his uncle had built. "By this time nothing of this world could have satisfied my expectations. I can't imagine what I had expected. Still, in that disappointment was a lesson which would last a lifetime."
Lord Jesus, one this day after Christmas, life certainly has its disappointments, but you cover all of them. Amen.
