X Marks the Spot

My brother, who lives near my folks, where we are headed with our thin Southern blood on Wednesday, deep in the arctic north of upstate NY, wrote to say that 2 feet of frozen global warming got dumped in his yard along with 30 mph winds and frigid temperatures.

I bought Asherel wool sweaters and a new down coat, and then practiced walking in the 40 degree day with my long wool coat. I was a little chilled. And it will be at least 20 degrees colder. The wool coat could still be returned. It was a fantastic sale and I have no nice coats so it seemed the wise time to buy one.... but would it be warm enough for a land that was formed only a few short millenium ago by glaciers? I think not.

And then, returning the wool sweater that of course Asherel didn't like because she is a teenager and well....need I say more..... I saw a down coat 30% off and guaranteed to keep me warm up to 25 degrees below zero. In the era of melting polar ice caps, surely this would be warm enough. So I got it, but I have to return one coat. Down....or wool? Which will not only keep me warm in Boston but will be useful in NC? The wool coat is lovely, elegant, refined....really everything I am not but at my age, should be.  The down coat is toasty warm and more likely to reflect the lifestyle of someone with no taste but who loves the outdoors.  They cost exactly the same, both dirt cheap but great quality. And all this in the midst of our sermon on spending less and loving more at Christmas. I had gone on a whirlwind spree of cleaning out the coat closet and had given to charity many lovely gently used coats that we had outgrown or just never used. But I knew I had to make a choice.... down or wool?

While researching down or wool, inexplicably I came across a website "Christmas or Xmas?"
I have purposely avoided using the term Xmas, because I felt it was a smack in the face to Christ- a direct removal of His name from the holiday. However, I paused to read the article and realized I have been wrong all these years! Xmas is not a pejorative term, nor a mocking of our Lord. It is actually a term the early Christians used! Xristos is the word for Christ in Greek!  During the 16th century, Europeans began using the X alone as a shorthand for Christ, and thus Xmas is just Greek shorthand. No disrespect was ever intended! I have added hours of work to my Xmas cards writing out Christmas and I never needed to! Both are acceptable and both should warm our hearts with the hope and promise of our Savior's birth.....

And maybe both down and wool are needed!  I got both coats for the price of one.... could it be maybe having one nice coat and one warm play coat is not a sin?  And if I wore both coats simultaneously in Boston, I might even survive. (For you youngsters in the readership, note this is a classic example of rationalization- learn at the hands of a master......)  But as I was busy trying to justify keeping both coats, I was reminded of a book we are reading about John Wesley, the great Methodist preacher. A woman in the crowd listening to him asked him, "If I become a Christian, will I have to give up my cards?"
"Are you afraid you love your cards too much to give them up if you feel God is telling you to?" he asked her.
"Yes," she answered.
"Then don't give them up," he counseled, "Let your cards save your soul. They are your God."

It is so easy, whether we use Xmas or Christmas, down or wool, to love everything more than the One we should love most. We let things or activities warm our hearts but we will never remain warm. Only the flame of the Holy Spirit within us can really do that.

So, down or wool....or down AND wool...... What would Xristos say?

Isaiah 44:15-17

¹⁵ It is used as fuel for burning;
   some of it he takes and warms himself,
   he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
   he makes an idol and bows down to it.
¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
   over it he prepares his meal,
   he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
   “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
   he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
   “Save me! You are my god!”