Hey... focus on the donkey!

So, I was hoping to take one of those cool shots with the donkey in sharp focus leaving the background fuzzy and distant. But, unfortunately I just have a little point and shoot digital camera. Such images are rare serendipitous moments with this little camera.

But maybe... maybe the image is more appropriate for the season. We focus on what is happening in the background, on Mary and Joseph, on the birth of Jesus, just quickly glancing at the donkey before moving to the main event. But, as we've been talking about, the season is just as much about the journey as the main event. It is about the preparation, the prophecies, the pronouncements, the pregnancies (wow... those would have been great alliterations for a sermon! I'll have to remember them!)

Talking with several friends who, like me, have been on long journeys whether towards employment or vocational clarity, marriage or pregnancy, physical health or emotional recovery, Christmas is either a time to celebrate having reached a destination or a reminder that while the Christmas journey has come to an end, our own journey's continue for another year. They tell us that we should enjoy the journey, learn from the journey, listen to what God might have for us in the midst of waiting. And they are right, for the most part. But everything in our culture is about making the journey as short as possible or avoiding it all together. Be fast and efficient. Take the quick fix. Find the short cut. And we done something similar with Christmas. Squeezed a nine month long pregnancy into a four week advent season.

Perhaps we should extend the journey to Christmas a bit longer... perhaps we should try to remain on this journey. Or at the least, let's celebrate the donkey, our mascot for the journey, the one who carries us through the desert as we wait for God's word to be fulfilled in our lives.