Chaos and Calm

I love Christmas! I love the giving and the receiving! I love sharing good surprises with family and friends. I love the chaos and the hustle and bustle. Psalm 131 challenges me.

I also love the calm of Christmas. I love the Silent Night of Christmas Eve. I love the moments when I get to sit in the calm and contemplate the true meaning of Christmas. 

As a coach, I try to help clients get in touch with their chaos and their calm too. Though Psalm 131 is hardly a Christmas “song,” it sums up my feelings around Christmas. This “calmness” is what I hope for!

Each year my adult children ask me for a Christmas gift list. My main request is an hour of table time to just talk with me about life, their lives, their dreams. We really don’t need anything and my wife and I prefer that they don’t spend money they don’t have on things that we really don’t need. Please don’t think me noble or arrogant; this is just me trying to be real, simple, uncluttered!

This Psalm really sums up what is in my heart. I desire simplicity. My soul thirsts for the uncluttered life. I want to be less chaotic and more still, less noisy and more quiet, less frenetic and more focused on the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christmas.

Too many of us need to wean ourselves from the busyness and noise of life. Too many of us need to wean ourselves from the complexities of life. Too many of us need to unclutter our minds and souls and to meet the Babe of Bethlehem again.

So, don’t overindulge this Advent season. Don’t over-decorate, over-eat, over-spend! Seek simplicity, perhaps the best gift under the tree is an hour around the table!