Tis' The Season

I've been a little slack lately in the area of blogposts but tis' the season of xmas parties, banquets, and in my case marking papers and by the end of this week marking exams. I challenged our student body to examine their personal character over the next few weeks. I asked them if who they feel called to be lines up with who they are currently? Tough question but a good one to ask.

Christmas as a holiday obviously has its roots in Christianity and ultimately celebrates the gift of Christ's birth and life. Who was Jesus and how did he lead His life? How did he manage his life? How did he influence those around Him? There are many aspects of Jesus' character that we can learn from whether we are Christians or not. Are we living lives of integrity? Do we live a life of balance or one of extremes? Do we bring hope to others? Are we reaching out to those in need or are we consumed by our own lives?

If one takes a look at the Gospel's account of Jesus' three-year ministry - you can divide it into three focuses. A third of Jesus' time was spent reaching out to the crowds, the community, those he came into contact. Another third was spend with his disciples, family & friends. The final third, it appears, he spent alone in reflection with God away from it all.

When I reflect, I view my life through a paradigm or lens which I call the four C's: they refer to Character - who I am and who I seek to be; Community - my relationships with family, with friends, with acquaintenances; Communion - my time of spiritual reflection (means to commune with God), & Commission - how am I reaching out to others (perhaps within my community or globally)?

Hopefully, Christmas will be a time in which we get to celebrate the gift of life as a country, in our communities, in our churches. My guess is that most of us will celebrate socially as friends and family. My challenge is for us to actually spend some time quietly reflecting on who we are as people - are we living a life that reflects what we are called to do, a life that is intentional?

G