Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Lost Ones

Imagine coming across a small village where children are at play.  Sounds of laughter, of joy and the scattering of footsteps are felt and heard; the look of the parents as they stop their busy day to watch as their little ones run about. 

Now imagine a world in which you visit a site eerily vacant and silent.  It is like walking into a ghost town.  The smells of dust, wanting and nothingness seem to fill the air.  You wander the area seeking some proof of life only to find no existence.  This is the place left by broken hearts and minds.  These are the moments that cause you to reflect on your own mortality and the truer meaning of life. 

Over 2000 years ago, this was the place and the time for emptiness brought on by bigotry and ignorance.  A king found it necessary to kill off the infant population and, in essence, ridding the world of a savior.  Little did he know that it was the manifest destiny of God to produce a son and that nothing, not even a man’s blind act, would keep this from happening.  Born in a little town, in the midst of chaos and confusion, was our redemption and a warning.  To all who try and seek justice at the hands of innocents, look about, someone is now watching you.  He is there, in the quiet of the night, in the hands of a mother, in the hearts of many, to protect them.  Theirs is the new kingdom, the inheritance Jesus brought to our world and in the redemption for those little lost souls roaming and searching for heaven and the lamb. 

Children say that there is a light that shines in all of us, a beacon that they use to follow Jesus home.  What a wonderful lesson we can learn from them.  Especially at this time of year, we rush around, spending our time shopping, rushing here and there, trying to get that one gift that would make their Christmas complete.  What they really want is to just be with their family and the love that comes with the season.

We adults tend to go through life thinking that busy is better and keep our minds so pre-occupied that we forget its true meaning.  The fear of stopping, of self-reflection and finding out who we truly are, overrides our passions and makes us smaller in the eyes of God.  Therefore, strive to be like a child, think like a child, act like a child, love like a child.  Look with wonder at all of the innocence of being born.  Don’t worry about the things you must accomplish before the day ends and learn, as they do, to just live in the moment.  Remember that your love is the brightest light of all.

For all the snowy nights, the shiny lights, the whimsical sights, and the glorious rights, let us hope that those now with us and for those children, who never got a chance to exist, who struggled relentlessly for their mother to give them life, are given the same chance to experience the wonders of this season.  We celebrate their lives, however short, and of the countless lives of all children around the world today.  They are known as our little ones, our quiet ones, our blessed ones, and our lost ones.  Keep in heavenly peace my children, keep in heavenly peace.
 
May you have a wonderful holiday.  And remember, He knows when you are naughty or nice, so hope for less coal and more presents in all your stockings.  Merry Christmas, may God continue to bless us all and may His peace be with you, always.