A Religious Travesty

     Yesterday I was on my way to choir rehearsal at the Presbyterian church where I work.  I nearly drove off the road when I spotted one of those inflatable Christmas decorations out on a lawn.  The local Baptist church had this gracing their front yard:

Six feet tall, folks!  Come to our church as we celebrate the birth of our cartoon, nylon baby Jesus.  I can just imagine people standing around it with candles singing "What Child is This?"  The holy king of the universe boorishly represented as such.  I am constantly taken aback by American Christians' tendency to take the God of the universe and represent Him in trite ways.  Jesus mints?  And socks?  And anything with a verse on it therefore makes it holy (even if it's a terrible painting by a man with no technique who is mass-marketing his work just to make money?!?)?  And presidential hopefuls who endorse only two social issues and are then considered moral?

     I am by no means a perfect Christian (I think that's an oxymoron, anyway).  And I also have been sucked into the catchy Christian T-shirt machine and have played cheesy arrangements of hymns at church.  But, since I've been out of Christian-land and interacting with people who have devasting problems in their lives (not that it didn't happen in Christian-land, I personally see it more now), it is somehow easier to view God as holy and worthy of reverence.  I laughed at the idea at first, but Kevin wants to go to some monastery or something in the British Isles.  But really, to go there and be quiet for like, a month, and just meditate on God?  How amazing would that be?  I have so much trouble finding 10 minutes to sit down and read my Bible everyday.  Even with break coming up I'm making a list of what I would like to get accomplished in the short four weeks I have off from school.  To that list I think I will add a whole lot of time with my Maker.  It is amazing we can approach Him as Father, Friend, even Husband (yes Husband!), and for Him to still be God.

     I wish you a merry Christmas season that is filled with reverence over this magnum mysterium.  Sing the carols with fresh understanding and holy love.