Meditations During Advent: The Best Gift

“The Empire Strikes Back”, the second of the Star War series was released in June 1980. My son was 7 years old. That year for Christmas all he wanted was a Millennium Falcon, the Han Solo spaceship. That was it. He asked for one thing and one thing only. Of course, the Millennium Falcon was the most requested Christmas gift that year. Remember, this was before computers and Cyber Monday deals. I drove all over North Carolina from Greensboro to Charlotte and every toy store from there to the far west of NC.  Finally, I found one! I admit I spent too much money for it, but there was no way we were going to disappoint our sweet boy. 

Many years later in 2002, my three-year-old granddaughter asked for one thing and one thing only.  Though there had been no advertisements for such a thing, all she wanted was a Snoopy umbrella. This time her mother had the advantage of the internet and finally located the requested gift on eBay. The owner lived in England. After a phone call, she agreed to ship the umbrella by the quickest way possible and it did in fact arrive before Christmas. My daughter never told me how much that umbrella cost! The umbrella was a limited edition from 1964. 

 

As human parents we do whatever we can to give our children their hearts’ desires. I have a friend who fosters fragile babies. It is a difficult, precious, and rewarding gift that she gives these babies who struggle to live. She spends many nights in hospitals and others walking a baby who is going through detox. She literally gives these babies a second chance at life.  Many parents in these inflationary days are unable to give their children even the simplest gift. We help those families annually by participating in the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry Adopt a Stocking program.

 

In less than a week we will celebrate the best Christmas gift, the gift of an incarnate God in the form of a baby, born into a mean world, the son of working-class parents displaced from home by a cruel leader. It is a story of the divine becoming a breathing human on earth, experiencing all the feelings of humanity. The gospels tell us beautiful stories about his birth; stories of angels singing and a bright star and awestruck shepherds and a caravan of sages from far away bringing exotic gifts. But the stories also tell us about this child taking his first breath in a stable, probably a cave with a stone manger for his bed and the breath of animals to keep him warm. This baby and his parents spent over two years in exile as political asylum seekers in a strange land. The family was finally able to return to their hometown of Nazareth where this baby boy was nurtured in a faithful Jewish family. 

 

In Genesis 2:7 we read, “then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” When we take our first breath after leaving our mother’s body it is cause for great celebration. God breathes the breath of life into each one of us. Jesus, the incarnate God breathed the breath of life into his disciples, “When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22) This gift of breath, of being able to take air into our lungs where it passes into our blood stream and circulates throughout our bodies allowing each of our cells to function, is the ultimate gift, the best gift. It is the gift of life. No wonder so many times in the Bible God is described as giving breath. 

 

Deep breathing can calm our anxieties, slow our heart rates, and give us peace. This last week of Advent, give thanks for your breath. Pay attention to your breathing. The quiet days of Advent are a good time to begin practicing the intentional long slow breathing that leads us into a place of meditation and an openness of heart. We can hear the divine within us. 

 

Breathe and listen
God is here