Chaplain's Corner

Well, it is unavoidable; the Christmas season is upon us. But this year you may have some difficulty finding joy, for this Christmas, someone is missing from your family circle. If you gather this year with family for the holidays and you have no one missing, stop and thank the Lord and pray for those who will find a deepening sadness as the holidays approach.

It seems strange, but our personal influence goes well beyond the community in which we live or work. This year as the holidays approach I am sobered by the fact that in the past year my ministry touched a family in Texas who will find this Christmas a challenge as well as many people in this region who have members missing from their family circles as death visited their families this past year.

Many times what touches people about our lives isn’t something we know about. Many times it is an observation, a passing word, a comment written and long forgotten. When the act is lived out or the word spoken or written there is little or no thought about what impact it may have. I’ll be honest; I don’t spend a lot of time pondering the impact of my life. This isn’t to say that I am careless about the way I live. As a Christian man I am conscious on a daily basis of a desire I have deep in my heart to please my Father in heaven.

As I go about my day, I often think about this desire and pray that God will help me touch the lives of those I work with and serve in a manner that will be gracious, kind and that will point them towards God. There’s a little song that we used to sing in a church I once pastored that I have kind of adopted as the desire of my heart. It goes, “Make me a servant, humble and meek. Lord let me lift of those who are weak, and may the song of my heart always be: Make me a servant, make me a servant, make me a servant today.”

Christmas is about servanthood; about Jesus coming to serve us and lay down his life for our sake. If we are going to reflect the spirit of the season we will do that by choosing to use this season as a season of service. Of course the opportunities to serve others abound all year round. The “Pay It Forward” movie that was released back in 2000 has occasionally sparked small outbreaks of spontaneous good will; most of the time small, almost insignificant gestures of kindness that most would never notice.

But isn’t that the point? Serving others is not about big, grandiose gestures that draw media attention. Serving others is very grassroots, it is very under the radar, it is not about recognition, it is simply about seeing a need and responding in the way you are able. Many hold back, not wanting to get involved. Sometimes because they don’t believe they have anything o offer and other times because they are too selfish to go out of their way to serve another.

But let’s not be one of the many!  Let’s be one of the few who see needs and respond in simple, quiet ways. I would especially encourage you to think about people who have experienced loss this past year. You probably know a few. Why not reach out and serve someone you know who may be feeling the loss of a family member. Extend an invitation to go out for coffee, drop off a plate of cookies with a card acknowledging their loss and extend your hope that God will meet their need this Christmas. Such acts of service will bless those who have experienced loss, because it will help them know that their loss has not been forgotten.