THE CHRIST OF EVERY WAY

I get so immersed in the holidays that when they're over it's a shock to my system. This little piece came out of that experience this year.

THE CHRIST OF EVERY WAY
When Christmas was all put away …

When the decorations were returned once again to their place in the attic and the Christmas cookies had all been eaten, when the tree was sitting out at the curb waiting for the trash man, leaving a trail of tinsel down the driveway, when the presents were no longer sitting on the living room coffee table but had found homes in dressers, closets and shelves, when the Christmas Carol CD’s were back in their cases and returned to their places next to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart, when January 2 dawned cold and rainy and the family all had to go back to school and work …

That’s when I heard Jesus say
“I am the Christ for every day,
I am the Christ of every way.”

Not just for times and seasons gay …

Not just for the special days and seasons when we sense the wonder of His incarnation, the impact of His crucifixion, and the power of His resurrection; not just for the times that come already marked on our calendars, not just for occasions at church deserving choirs and cantatas and costumed plays, not just for those recurring occasions that stir our memories of childhood and times past …

If we listen we can hear Him say
“I am the Christ for every day,
I am the Christ of every way.”

He is there for those very ordinary days …

For those days for which nothing is written on our calendars, for those days when we wake up with a headache and get through our routines by sheer force of will, for those days that are as bland as dry toast and flat as pancakes, for those days of rushing to the emergency room with our heart in our throat, for those days when failure and frustration hang over our heads like a black cloud …


That’s when we can hear Him say
“I am the Christ for every day,
I am the Christ of every way.”

Not just for Bethlehem but for Nazareth as well.

Not just for the Mount of Transfiguration, but for the valley of the shadow.

Not just for the empty tomb, but for the empty heart …

He is the Christ for every day,
He is the Christ of every way.