 |
At first, it looked like it was going to be the best of both
worlds.
Except for a little mishap at the departure – when one of
the giant bags overstuffed with gifts burst open as it was checked in – the
journey went without a hitch. And even
the unfortunate bag, hastily refilled with all the gifts so nothing was lost,
then saran-wrapped so it could, if need be, withstand a flight to space and
back, made it safely along with all its contents.
The question still remains unanswered… how does one cram all
the love that’s inside a heart into a giant suitcase?
Then came joyful reunion.
The hugs and the kisses. The celebration on both sides of the globe, and
a huge sigh of relief. The unpacking.
The ooohs and the aaaahs over the exotic cargo, an intoxicating taste of a far off country .
The cross-cultural mission accomplished. Raving success.
On both sides of the vast ocean everyone is busy with their Christmas
preparations. The gifts to buy and make. The decorations and the lights. The
cooking and the baking. The tablecloths and
the stemware.
The distance divides.
The distance unites.
Then, at just the right hour, everyone gathers – separated
and united at the same time by the grainy video feed filled with jubilant
faces. Everyone is cramming together peeking, waving, nodding, calling out. So
much noise you can barely hear yourself.
It’s all good. All
around good.
Until over the din of excitement and the party noise somebody
says,
It’s NOT GOOD!
Hush.
Not good??? What do
you mean it’s not good? Everything is
GREAT!
Everyone else nods.
Yea. It’s all good. All very, very good.
But the one insists that there is something that is not
good.
The rest are finally silenced.
The chairs, the
renegade points, These chairs are EMPTY!
That’s NOT GOOD. We MISS YOU. We miss
you HERE. We miss you bad. I miss you here, sitting in these chairs next to me.
The rest, having been temporarily lost in the jubilation of
successful mission, agree.
 |
It’s just not complete
without you.
And so, as long as there are two worlds, there will always
be some chairs left empty.
Heaven’s
gain, earth’s loss.
Heaven’s loss, earth’s gain.
There are empty chairs in each of our lives,
even as we celebrate the good.
Which makes me think that there was another chair left empty
– that remained empty – in heaven for thirty-some Christmases. A chair next to the Father’s, while angels and saints celebrated… Christmas in, and Christmas out…. and muttered to each
other,
We miss Him here… We
miss Him bad. It’s just not the same here without Him…
For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake
He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
Although He existed
in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being
made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on
a cross. Philippians 2:6-9
No comments:
Post a Comment