Another holiday season has come and gone. Like “Thing One” and “Thing Two” in Dr. Seuss’s “Cat in the Hat,” the holidays burst through our doors and stirred things up. So, what do we have to show for our month of mayhem? More than a few extra pounds and some hefty credit card bills, I pray.
When you’re a kid, Christmas is like a safari – all about bagging the “big game” on your wish list. I remember going back to school each January and hearing one question dominate nearly every conversation: “What did ya get?”
One of my favorite holiday movies is “A Christmas Story,” the story of a little boy named Ralphie who has focused all his Christmas mojo into procuring what he calls the “holy grail of Christmas presents”: a Red Ryder BB gun.
I can so easily relate to Ralphie’s angst over whether he would get the gun of his dreams. Some of the gifts I relentlessly campaigned for included a Winchester toy rifle and “Fanner 50” cap gun; a “Mighty Mo” cannon that shot plastic balls; all kinds of sports equipment; and a “Creepy Crawlers” gizmo that baked edible gummy bugs.
My extremely tomboyish Christmas lists might have prompted most parents to drag me off to a child psychologist, but thankfully, my folks didn’t overreact to my bizarre requests, somehow believing that I would eventually come out adequately in touch with my femininity.
I enjoyed giving gifts to my family and friends, but ultimately, each Christmas was declared a boom or bust based on one thing: Did I get what I wanted? The whole thing felt like a roulette game as I held my breath and wondered if I’d experience the bliss of desire fulfilled or the heartache of disappointment.
I was thinking recently about what an awful way that is to live – not just at Christmas, but anytime. Whenever we focus on getting what we want, we’re hopping aboard an emotional roller coaster that is one scary ride.
The Bible compares this selfish way of living to “digging empty wells.” (Jeremiah 2:13) We dig here, there and everywhere, desperately trying to hit water — “stuff” that will satisfy the deepest cravings of our hearts. When we’re kids, it might be toys; when we’re adults, it might be new houses, jobs, or even spouses.
Some of those “wells” might offer a trickle of water, but they can go bone dry in a hurry.
Know why? To paraphrase St. Augustine, it’s because God made us for Himself and our souls are perpetually restless until they find their rest in Him alone. The writer of Ecclesiastes went on an unbridled mission to plumb every “well” and to drink every drop of pleasure available on this earth. He found it hugely disappointing, concluding that pursuing happiness outside of God is like “chasing after the wind.”
Know what happened when Ralphie got his BB gun? He didn’t shoot his eye out, as predicted by all the adults in his life, but the gun’s recoil did knock him to the ground and blow his glasses off.
Seems the things we desperately chase in this life never quite meet our expectations, except for one: God Himself.
When we find Him, we realize He’s what we’ve really wanted all along.
“… whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – Jesus Christ (John 4:14)