Immanuel Spelled Out

 

 

All through the Christmas season, we were reminded that Jesus is our Immanuel, which means God with us. We witnessed God With Us in our decorations, the liturgies in our worship, and surrounded by what seemed as an endless soundtrack.

But now in early January, the Christmas decorations have been stowed in our attic, now colder than a freezer.  I sat down to maneuver my way through a tottering stack of work, largely orphaned during the holidays, calling my name. It looked ominous.

But glancing a little further back on my desk, I saw a nativity of painted wooden figures that I had neglected to put away. And somehow I realized that this little scene was not just a forgotten decoration (there always seems to be a few), but a reminder how to approach and navigate this new year with all of its big rocks, surprises and challenges.

These four little figures were not just a faded refrain of God With Us, but a call to move on to the next verse that God whispers to us, "Be with Me,"  acknowledging His promises and abiding in His presence. He is with me in this new year as well. He is with me in this new day too. Past, present and future tense.

How do we get through our looming dilemmas, those dark and stormy forecasts as on a weather app?  Our hard stuff appears far beyond our skill sets or endurance.

What do we do? How do we respond? As Samir replied in Daniel Nayeri's short novel The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams, "God will think of something."

And indeed, He already has, already leading, already providing His Presence.

The quagmire we are walking through may not be caused by our fumbling mistakes, but God trying to get our attention.  Not saying "you failed," but "be with Me." God is not a harsh schoolmaster trying to "teach me a lesson," but a gracious God who is forming something new in me. Sometimes we have to be struggling before we see our need to realize exactly that.  Not "be the best" or even "do your best," but "be with Me."  It is not a matter of dignifying the winning place, but treasuring a long faithful walk with Him.

What does that require in this day before me?  Trying something new. Doing something that might be hard. Playing it, perhaps, in a different key.

How then should we live? What needs to be changed? Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth underlined those profound adjustments in our hearts, in the title of their 2024 book Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much. 

Everything matters.  God is not just with us.  He is not there with us, way off on the horizon. He is here with us.  On the journey, not just the other side of this.  What makes the significant difference in living that way is "a long term, unhurried togetherness with Jesus," writes John Starke in his book The Secret Place of Thunder, not a quick nod to the holy, but a daily abiding.

We can go forth into these new days with plans and agendas already set in stone.  But God always calls us to something deeper and something more.  "Allow yourself to be led," advises Martin Schleske, luthier and author of The Sound of Life's Unspeakable Beauty.  Schleske works with wood found in the forest. And makes it sing.

God does the same in us.

Write that on an index card and post it on the kitchen cabinet in plain view for this new year with all of its struggles and brokenness, awesome views and unexpected joys.

In these grey wintry months, in the days that appear just so ordinary, God spells out the Immanuel for us, word for word.  Right here with you. Be with Me.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

                     Isaiah 41. 10

The Crowd On My Bookshelf in 2024

In the middle of our granddaughter's soccer game last weekend, my son-in-law inquired about my favorite book in 2024.  I had no idea.  Even after perusing my list later that day, I still didn't have a definitive answer.  I loved the story in this one.  The characters were incredible in that tale.  I never knew the backstory behind that historic event. This narrative really made me think. And those other books, oh, I will definitely read again. (And some of them I already have).  I read history, theology, some great novels, and lots of children's books.  And the Bible, which holds us all together, more than we can know.

Here is my list for 2024.  Hope you enjoyed some of these as well.  Of making many books there is no end... Ecclesiastes 12.12.

Alongside my list of titles, for years I have archived notes or quotations from most of the books I read.  I have included just a few nuggets from this year at the end of my booklist.

1.     The Sound of Life’s Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske (2020)
2.     Shadows on the Rock  by Willa Cather (1931)
3.     Waymaker:  Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of   by Ann Voskamp         (2022)
4.    The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (2023)
5.    The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis (1953)
6.    The Eyes & The Impossible by Dave Eggers (2023)
7.    Lifting the Veil:  Imagination and the Kingdom of God by Malcolm Guite (2021)
8.    Life After Power:  Seven Presidents and their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House by Jared Cohen (2024)
9.     The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others’ Eyes by C. S. Lewis (2019)
10.    My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer by Christian Wiman (2013)
11.    The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA by Liza Mundy (2023)
12.    If You Want to Write  by Brenda Ueland (1938)
13.    I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger (2024)
14.    Walking on Water:  Reflections on Faith and Art  by Madeleine L’Engle (1980)
15.    Outlive:  The Science and Art of Longevity  by Peter Attia, MD (2023)
16.    The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftis (2023)
17.    The Writing Life by Annie Dillard (1989)
18.    Rules for a Knight: The Last Letter of Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke by Ethan Hawke (2010)
19.    Blue Ice and Other Stories from the Rink by Frank Ewert (2009)
20.    Practicing the Way:  Be with Jesus, Become like Him, Do as He did by John Mark Comer (2024)
21.    The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024)
22.    Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (2014)
23.    The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez (2024)
24.    Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013-2023 by Wendell Berry (2024)
25.    The Elephant of Belfast by S. Kirk Walsh (2021)
26.    Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou (2023)
27.    The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo (2024)
28.    A Long Road on a Short Day by Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney (2020)
29.    Blessed Are The Peacemakers: Christ’s Teachings about Love, Compassion and Forgiveness by Wendell Berry (2005)
30.    On Wings of Love:  Stories From Mission Aviation Fellowship by Lee Roddy (1981)
31.    The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History by Sharon McMahon (2024)
32.    Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating A Life Of Holy Attention by Sarah Clarkson (2024)
33.    Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (1952)
34.    The Bible

 

The Sound of Life's Unspeakable Beauty by Martin Schleske (2020) Allow yourself to be led. Turn your troubles into prayer requests and let them come to rest before God.

Practicing the Way:  Be with Jesus, Become like Him, Do as He did by John Mark Comer (2024) Don’t fight against your season;  work with it.

Everyone is preaching a "gospel." The question is not "Are you preaching the gospel?" It's "What gospel are you preaching?"

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez (2024)  It’s a cemetery for stories, the woman replies.  Con su permiso, how does one bury a story?  If a story is never told, where does it go?

My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman (2013)  All too often the task to which we are called is simply to show a kindness to the irritating person in the cubicle next to us.  

There is nothing more difficult to outgrow than anxieties that have become useful to us.

The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (2023)   The lesson is that prayer is not for the moon to stop for us.  It is for us to stop and consider the work of heaven.

I ask Samir what we will do.  He says, "God will think of something."

The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo (2024)  “There are days,” said the countess as she put on a hat that featured a yellow bird, “when the soul can be rescued from despair by the right hat.  Although some days, of course the soul seems beyond rescue, and then there is nothing to do except to be patient and wait for the light to return, with or without a hat upon your head.”
     This, thought Marta, is one of those days.

Life After Power:  Seven Presidents and their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House by Jared Cohen (2024)  [John Quincy Adams]  …in a much lower office found a much higher calling.

And he’s shown that defeat is not the end of the road – it can be the beginning of a new path.

[Jimmy Carter]  “My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.”

[George W. Bush]   The next morning [after getting back to their ranch after 13 years as governor and president] Bush woke up early, as usual, and he asked Laura who was going to make the coffee.  “You are,” she told him.