It is Christmas 2020 my grandson is 4 years old.
“And what would you like for Christmas?” Santa asks.
At what age do you inform your child that Santa is fictional? My grandson is still a believer. How does the mind of a 4-year-olds work out the intricacies of Christmas gift giving and buying? Do they know the value of a dollar? Do they understand reindeer don’t fly? or that Santa’s can’t get down a house with no chimney. Do they understand the role parents play in the gifting experience?
And then an answer. “A washing machine and dryer,” he said.
A washing machine and dryer? What 4-year-old boy asks for a washing machine and dryer for Christmas. My daughter takes it in stride. An odd answer she thinks, my son must want a toy washing machine and dryer perhaps to go along with his toy kitchen.
But this is no ordinary Santa. “Poor child,” he concludes. This family has some real needs. Wheels within wheels, Santa has an idea, he will see if his local church can raise money to buy at least a washing machine for this needy family. It is now two weeks before Christmas and somehow obtaining the phone number of my daughter, Santa calls and would like to know where he can deliver a newly purchased washing machine. A wonderful gesture indeed, if only my daughter needed a new washing machine. Slightly embarrassed she confesses, “We have a perfectly good functioning washing machine.” “I have no idea why my son asked for a washing machine,” she added.
But she is a foster care worker and asked can we find a foster care family or an adopted child family that could benefit from a new washing machine? And so it was in Christmas 2020 a family received an unexpecting washing machine on their doorstep. Was this an answer to prayer for an unexpecting family? Who knows? And if it was, could God have not taken a more direct approach? Perhaps, but this is a God who delights in wonderment, who even delights in using on occasion 4-year old’s to do his bidding.
The late Jewish philosopher Abraham Heschel in his book God in Search of Man writes, “Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin.” And I think he is right. In fact, I think we could add such indifference is the pathway to a joyless life. Joyless people need an answer for every question, and they need to master every dilemma. There is little room for mystery or delight in the simple gift of living.
Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin. Abraham Heschel
Joy is the theme of the third week of Advent. Joy is not self-centered, it is not altruistic. It is found in giving not receiving. It is infectious. It can lift the spirits of everyone that it meets. It is the twinkle in the eye that delights in life, in mystery, and wonder. “What we lack,” reiterates Heschel, “is not a will to believe, but a will to wonder.” To wonder how a simple 4-year-old could spark a chain of events that provided a needy family with an unexpected washing machine.
Joy to the World, the Lord is come…
And heaven and nature sing
Wonder, is this not God’s admonition to Job who is searching for answers?
Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
Do you know how God lays his command upon them,
And causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
The wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,..
When the earth is still because of the south wind…
Out of the north comes golden splendor;
around God is awesome majesty;..
(Job 37:14-23.)
Christmas is too often stressful. We fill it with obligations, not wanting to leave anyone out. And it can leave people with the best of intentions exhausted. But if we keep at least one eye open to see to the sublime delight of God, what joyous wonders await.
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