Lynne Baab • Thursday December 19 2019
When I was a young adult, I read a book that changed my life: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald Sider. I learned about the great disparities in patterns of poverty and affluence around the world, and for the first time I saw the gap between my affluence and the poverty in developing nations. I learned that 25,000 children each day die from the effects of hunger. That’s more than 1,000 per hour, more than 150 per minute. That figure haunted me.
My husband Dave read the book too, and it influenced our prayers, financial giving, and lifestyle habits for our entire adult lives. We rejoice that over the four decades since we read the book, the number of children who die each day from the effects of hunger has reduced to 16,000, still far too many. But progress has been made. I am so thankful. I still grieve.
I wonder if there’s a statistic that haunts you. Perhaps the number of gun deaths, or homeless people, or the recent figures about the unexpectedly steep rise in the effects of climate change.
The earth produces enough food for everyone. Economic and political forces keep that food from getting to a large number of people. We know how to dramatically reduce gun deaths, homelessness, and climate change, but economic and political forces push the other way.
The people of the earth are broken, flawed human beings. That’s why Jesus had to come to earth.
The Book of Common Prayer, in Communion Liturgy C, summarizes our situation clearly:
From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.
Have mercy, Lord, for we are sinners in your sight.
Again and again, you called us to return. Through the prophets and sages you revealed your righteous Law. And in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, born of a woman, to fulfill your Law, to open for us the way to freedom and peace.
By his blood, he reconciled us.
By his wounds, we are healed.
The central message of Christmas is rooted in grief and thankfulness: grief that the world is so broken that God had to send his Son, and thankfulness that he did.
Perhaps for you this Christmas, thankfulness and grief are more local. Maybe you’re thankful for the people you’ll see, the gifts you’ll be giving, or the time off work. Maybe you’re grieving a gift you’d like to give but can’t afford, a relative or friend you’d like to see but who lives far away or who has died, or a relationship so challenging that Christmas will an effort rather than a joy.
As I approach Christmas, I feel thankfulness and grief within my own body, soul and spirit. I’m so thankful for the ways I’ve grown as a person over my lifespan, for the intellectual, emotional and spiritual skills I’ve learned and gifts I’ve been given in those areas from God. But, oh my, how I grieve the self-absorption, anger, vindictiveness, jealousy, bitterness, gossip, and many other deep rooted behaviors that sweep across my heart and mind, day after day, and which manifest themselves in my actions far too often. My own sins are part of the immense brokenness that made it necessary for Jesus to come to earth and die on the cross.
I’ve been so blessed by this journey of trying to hold grief in one hand and thankfulness in the other. I always felt it should be one or the other. Most often I felt thankfulness was much better than grief. Affirming both has given me a new lens to look at so many things, including Christmas this year.
I'm praying for a blessed Christmas for all my readers. May you grieve honestly, while giving thanks to the God who came to us in Jesus. May God feel near.
Next week (to be posted between Christmas and New Year’s Day): Grief AND thankfulness in the new year and new decade. Illustration by Dave Baab. Sign up below if you’d like to receive an email when I post on this blog.
My book on this topic – Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life, now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle.
Two past posts about what I learned about Christmas from living in the Southern Hemisphere for a decade, where Christmas has beautiful long days and lots of sunshine:
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Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »
Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her two 2024 books, both of them illustrated with her talented husband Dave's watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed books, and in the kindle versions, if read on a phone, the watercolors glow. Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide guides the reader into new ways to pray about the topics in the title. Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional guides the reader to a psalm for each day of Lent and offers insightful reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in groups.
Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life, available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her most popular book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.
You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.
Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills.
Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.
"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader
"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping
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