PATHWAY TO HIS PRESENCE
B.J. FUNK
Tonight I watched the 1954 movie “White Christmas,” with Bing Crosby. The costumes were bright, the scenery was inviting, and there was not even a hint of immorality the whole way through. Refreshing! I don’t remember Bing’s voice being this rich and mellow, and I don’t remember Vera Ellen at all. Her waistline would make Scarlett O’Hara jealous! I sat glued to the screen, welcoming a more innocent time in Hollywood movies.
Living in South Georgia, we don’t have snow much at all, and certainly not at Christmas. I remember one day of snow in Valdosta. I was in high school, and we ran outside, getting the snow on our clothes and hair, breathing in the cold air, and taking pictures to capture the moment. It was much more exciting than what my mama talked about as excitement when she was a little girl growing up in Manor. Well, actually there were two events that brought excitement. One was when the ice man came to bring the family a cool block of ice for their ice box. The other was when the train came through town, and all of the children stood by the tracks, waiting anxiously because this was the best thing that happened in their town … ever!
So, living in this climate, I never dreamed of a White Christmas. Did you? More often than not, Christmas Day was humid and warm, and we dressed in long cotton pants that stopped right after the knee.
If the color white represents purity, well then, I can dream about that kind of Christmas. On that day, I can live inside of what was the purest moment in history. Jesus was born, and you and I are invited to stand by the stable and listen to the first cries of the Christ Child. He didn’t have a white Christmas, either, but lying in that manger was the purest form of life, the whitest form that we would ever know, a divine combination of humanity and God.
Next time when you sing, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” or when you watch the movie, think about the child born on Christmas Day. Walk inside the stable, kneel and worship Him, and bring Him your gifts. Those of us from South Georgia can, after all, dream of a White Christmas. Christ is born. Live inside of your White Christmas every day. Take Him with you everywhere you go. Represent to the world the White Christmas Jesus represents. Pure. Light. Kindness. He is your White Christmas.
The Rev. B.J. Funk is associate pastor of Central UMC in Fitzgerald. Email her at bjfunk@bellsouth.net.