Christmas Clarity Christmas is clearly coming. The anticipation and preparation are palpable.

We ramp-up our agendas to fit everything in we feel we need to accomplish for this once-a-year event, and end up over-excited and overlooking the real point. Our busyness serves only to exhaust us, and to distract us from the real gift God has given the simple, eternal truth of the love that waits for us to accept it. Lukes passage resonates then, as it does now. The call is to prepare the way, to make the paths straight to eliminate the distractions and the barriers that cause us to lose our focus and struggle to reach the end-goal. The distraction may be the sensory overload of the 24/7 commercialism and consumerism that surround us; or the distraction may be the serial stream of social get-togethers that provide the quick hit of sensorial pleasure. The barriers may be the very real emotions of grief, anger, ecstasy even, that engulf us; or the pain of emptiness and loss, or the pang of doubt. But Lukes passage also says the the crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. The hope provided in this passage is this: once we determine to push through the distractions, and to release ourselves from the burdens of our heart, we open ourselves to seeing and following the path towards the Love that awaits. We dont have to do this alone. In fact, we cant. To profess we believe, and then to live the way we want is counter-intuitive and counter-productive. Similarly, to live a moral life without entering into a personal relationship with our Creator is to miss out on his eternal, loving acceptance. Either way, we live a half-life and miss out on the fullness that comes only from him. When we invite him in, God will be with us every step; his is the light that will show us the way. And like the refiners fire (see footnote) that purifies and clarifies precious metals from impurities, Gods way is one of hope and the possibility of forgiveness of acceptance for who we are, with the hope of becoming who we were meant to be. As we walk with him, his way becomes our way; his love becomes our love; his light becomes reflected in us; and we live purposeful, fulfilling lives. Let the Christmas message of light and love pierce through with startling clarity. The greatest gift we can receive has already been given that of Gods incredible love for us, embodied in the human form of the Christmas child, Jesus.

Footnote: In the process of refining metals, the raw metal is heated with fire until it melts. The impurities separate from it and rise to the surface. They are skimmed off, leaving the pure metal. Without this heating and melting, there could be no purifying. As the impurities are skimmed off the top, the reflection of the worker appears in the smooth, pure surface. As we are purified by God, his reflection in our lives will become more and more clear to those around us. (from the notes for Malachi 3:2-3 from the Life Application Study Bible, NIV, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)