Up the Sunbeam to the Sun

Yesterday at Grandma's funeral, I was thinking:

I am so blessed. This is true. So blessed to be surrounded by believing family, joining together in song, scripture and worship -- the tie that binds us being Christ, not just Grandma. So blessed to know where Grandma is, and that Grandpa is well taken care of (by his family, and His heavenly Father). So blessed to talk with fascinating people who are related to me: even though I hardly know them, I can love them easily. *

And that is just one moment -- one day. Heap upon that days and days of blessing, provision, good gifts, kind words, precious people, plentiful food, friends, fun. We are so blessed. A warm cup of tea and a good book ought to be enough to keep you singing all day long, and that just a tiny drop of water in the ocean.

How do I respond to all these blessings? Consider this from C.S. Lewis:

“Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility….I have tried…to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different…Gratitude exclaims, very properly, ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration says, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!’ One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun….If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.” (as quoted in, When I Don’t Desire God, by John Piper).

Chew on that this Christmas season. More than just gratitude. And while you're chewing, check out these outstanding and practical suggestions for focusing on Christ at Christmas.


*In light of "rediscovering" some of my family members, I decided to do a series of posts in which I'll focus on or interview a member of the large, wide-spread Benzing family.