The banging and clanging hammered unabated for forty minutes. I was cocooned in a tight, bright tube, admonished to not scratch or twitch. This experience is known to some of you. It is called an MRI.

Where does the mind and spirit venture when the body is held captive? To that last sermon heard? (If only I could remember it.) No. I memory walked on Iona, a tiny island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland; a windswept, ocean-lashed place where God met me while on pilgrimage. This inward remembrance of an outward journey rescued my sanity in that MRI straitjacket.

Early in my Christian journey I would have reasoned that mediation on scripture mostly meant memorizing a verse and considering what it meant for me to put righteous action into my life. This isn’t wrong, and definitely had a place in my early formation, but it stopped short of encountering something truly joyful in my relationship with the Lord.

As we walked toward one another, I could see her eyes twinkle with excitement, and she grinned from ear to ear. She let out a little squeal and wriggled like she was being tickled.  “Oh my gosh, it is so good to see you!” said a friend of mine as we hugged tightly at the airport.

That is joy. Where the feeling is embodied and oozes everywhere. God feels this when he is with us. He is happy to be with you and me.

In Ezekiel 37 we are given incredible imagery. Ezekiel finds himself standing in a valley filled with dry bones. These bones were not those of lives lived in the comfort of home, but bodies who died in exile, far from the life that they knew. While standing in this valley, God asks Ezekiel “Can these bones live?” Looking around, there are absolutely no signs of life. What were once human lives have become just dry bones. What had been a community has become some type of archeological dig.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience –among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Eph 2:1-3 ESV

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ John 19:28

CONFESSION: I have a hard time asking for help and an even harder time receiving it. It is probably one of the things that frustrates my wife the most. I know I am surrounded by individuals who love and care for me. People who would give their all to me if needed so that I can be better, and do better. Nevertheless, I don’t ask.

What is it that you are longing for? If Jesus were to stand before you and ask you what you really needed right now, what would you ask him for?

Waiting is a common occurrence that happens in each of our lives. For me I have been waiting for over 7 years for doctors to correctly diagnose a problem that I have with keeping food down. After seven years of waiting for answers the waiting can strip us of comfort and can even bring on anxiety, truthfully sometimes it just doesn’t feel good, does it?  What is it in the waiting that causes us to hold on so tightly to what we are waiting for?

There are seasons in our soul that we cry out like blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10… “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” There are unexpected tsunamis in our lives like a turn in a relationship that was good and all of a sudden there’s tension. A job that was secure that is now in jeopardy. A friend or family member suddenly getting sick. Or even just an argument with someone we love that leaves us feeling overwhelmed and fearful.

And the Spirit immediately drove [Jesus] out into the wilderness.

He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was

with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. —Mark 1.12-13

Undoubtedly each of us reading this has been tempted away from good at more points in our lives than we would like to admit. That is certainly true for me.

If were going to beat the storm, we better drive thru the night to get to your Mom’s for Christmas, I said to Christy knowing I had no desire for this 53 year old body to be driving well into the early hours of the am. I am ready for bed by 930 these days. We literally drove thru 2 storm systems one to the east and one to the west of us. We were hoping we would beat the storm but didn’t know what we would encounter. And even though we made it without incident, there was another anxious wondering about what we would encounter when we got home for Christmas.

Every year, Merry Christmas seems to be the new hello for the month of December. Who doesn’t want a merry one? I do. If our commercials are any indication of how merry it should be, then my wife needs to up her game in the gift department this year. One commercial in particular recently caught my attention. Pretty girl and GQ guy walking through the snow. He whistles and a cute dog comes rushing over the snowy hill into her arms. She whistles and a GMC truck comes roaring over the hill. If only our Christmas could feel that merry. Yet, how merry do you feel right now?

By nature, I’m not a spontaneously joyful person. I’m a musician - an artist, and melancholy used to rule my demeanor. I desired that my surroundings be in harmony, so space, color, and objects influenced my disposition.

However, over the years as wife, mother, missionary, and preacher in the world, God has taught me that melancholy does not serve me well. What does serve me well is solitude and silence in Christ’s presence, humbly submitting to His will. Joy follows quickly.

Our songs at Christmas are filled with talking about peace. Verse one of Silent night talks about “sleep in heavenly peace.” Hark the Herald Angels sing has the line that promises “peace on earth, and good will towards men.” Yet, I think it’s safe to say that peace does not describe our world right now.

What are you waiting for? We are all waiting for something. I am waiting excitedly to become a grandma. I’m waiting for a few hard relationships to get easier. I’m waiting for a new dream to unfold.