"Come as you are. Follow your heart." Choir voices rise majestic upon orchestra's strings. With adoration we come. Joy... humility... awe... this is Christmas. Grace for every failing... this is Christmas. A no-matter-what kind of love... a heart laid open, willing to sacrifice everything in exchange for that which endures... this is Christmas.
Oh, to live out the love that is Christmas!
"Who here among us has not been broken? Who is without guilt or pain?" Strongest voice resounds with violins and hearts alike. Who, but Him? A perfect King born as an infant in a stable to walk, to live, to love among us, the undeserving... the broken.
Worthy. Unworthy. These very words have week-long tugged upon my heart, raised my defenses, and tenderly became a whispered prayer. Words I have stumbled and fumbled over, though I longed to carry them fast with grace... now they rest upon freshest laid cornerstones of my heart. Nothing of worth is built without greatest effort.
"Come, ye unworthy." Did He wait? Did He wait until I was worthy to come? I would surely perish. He came precisely because of my brokenness... bearing love and grace flowing over every fault.
Do we wait? To love and be loved upon an earth that is fragmented by our own failings... do we wait? Or do we come to the side of one another breathing grace and love... as if life itself... into hearts brought before us as gifts from a Father who knows? How blessed is this simple girl, with those who do not wait for the perfection I'll never attain... for me to be worthy to receive the gift of another... but love me wholly in this moment... as I am. What greater gift can we give and receive than this Christmas love? A come-as-you-are kind of love? Unfailing. Unending.
Come as you are... to love first born in a manger... now the light of hope and joy to us all. May we love one another with a Christmas love... perfect, even in our imperfection, through grace.
Lord, may I love with a Christmas love.
Suz