7 Steps to Savoring the Season. Wizard of Oz Style.

O.K. ready?  Let’s just get down to it….

1.  Stop.  Holidays can act like the whirlwind that picked up Dorothy and transported her to another land. A land where people become smaller, witches become real, and houses start to fly around. And around.  And around.

Dorothy always scared me.  As a dreamer, the thought of being carried to where there were trails leading through spooky trees, sleeping meadows….and of course, those flying monkeys.  Horrifying.  After watching that epic classic….I never wanted to sleep again.

Yes, there is no need to be caught sleeping just a few feet short of your destination.  Just stop.  And be sure the whirlwind doesn’t take you into some strange land called Oz. 

2.  Slow down.  If you can’t tell already, I am nothing like Dorothy. If I were her, I wouldn’t have been contemplating dead witches, dancing down trails, or stopping to talk to every scarecrow, tin man, or lion I came across.

In this modern day pace, I would more likely be speeding down the yellow brick road in a race car. And if my three featured friends wanted to join me…they would have to hurry and jump through the open door as I fly by.  It’s hard for me to slow down.

But, the first Christmas, was slow. It was still.  Calm.  Restful.  It was pure.  Peace-filled.  And holy.  And I doubt my Mario Andretti life (especially through these holidays) represents Christ well.

3.  Soak up all that’s around you.  Dorothy’s journey to Oz had a message.  It’s not about the destination….(Unless you like little short men that pose as great wizards).  It’s all about the journey.  What are you missing along your journey through the holidays?  Is there someone that needs a listening ear?  Are there friends that needs direction?  Or oil?  Or encouragement? Someone that needs you to lead them to courage?

4. Sit with family and friends.  One thing that seemed, well, just a little unrealistic about, “The Wizard of Oz”  (As if flying houses, and singing multitudes of little people are not enough) is that Dorothy never ate. I read Wiki to be sure, before I wrote this, and sure enough is concluded…“Food does not figure direction in the plot of the Wizard of Oz.  Eating lunch would slow down the pace.”

Food is a great unionizer. It’s in the fellowship with our friends and family where we grow stronger to journey down our yellow bricks roads of purpose.  I mean, come on, even Jesus. The Son of God had fellowship. And ate.  Try it! 

5. Shower yourself with grace.  You don’t have to do it all.  So often we talk about grace.  How God gives us grace. How we should give grace to other people.  But, what about us?  What about giving grace to ourselves?  Remember Dorothy’s three companions.  They were hard on themselves. Pessimistic.  Doubtful on so many levels.  But, the part they didn’t get….is that they had what they needed all along!  Isn’t it time we give ourselves grace?  If our house is not Martha Stewardish, or our lives are not fit for, “Good Housekeeping” magazine.  Oh, well!?

I am sure Mary could have looked at Jesus and questioned, “But, this is not how all the other Kings are born!”  But, she didn’t.  She received grace. Had faith. And  trusted the grace giver.  Completely.  Even when things didn’t look perfect!

6. Sip the tea of the Lord’s delight.   O.k. I am just going to say it. I am actually not entirely against, “Wizard of Oz”, but there is one thing that bothers me.  Did you ever notice, the movie has no hero?  I mean come on. The “Great and mighty Oz” turns out to be a phony.  And even Dorothy gets to the end of her journey and wants to turn around and bail out. Where is the happy endings?  The mighty hero that sweeps in and saves the day?  Where is the “real” King that rules the kingdom when Dorothy leaves?

And to be honest, in our day, I think we too often hear the answer to our every query, is sadly, and increasingly becoming, “We are enough.  It’s all about what we have in us”.  But, what happened to, “I can’t do it alone?”  

I guess that’s why again, I can’t relate to Dorothy.  I have no power.  No strength. And definitely no ability….to make it down my yellow brick road of life.  Just to get through the day….I need to sip on the Lord’s delight.  Especially through these holidays.  What about you?

7. Savor what Christ did on the cross.  This is where I redeem every bad thing I said about that scary movie.

See Christmas, is about so much more than a baby.  Jesus didn’t just come to be born. He came to die on the cross, preach the Kingdom of God, and redeem a world that was broken and lost, because of sin coming into the world.

There is a full circle.  Jesus birth.  Jesus death. Jesus resurrection.

And I guess that is one area that Dorothy and The Son of God have in common.  She started out in Kansas.  Came.  Fulfilled her purpose. And went home.  And when she entered Oz….she changed those she came in contact with.  She left everything different.  Redeemed. Set free from the evil that bound her friends and made little men hide behind curtains of fear.  She came and made Oz new.  And when she left.  She did a full circle. Went home.  Having changed everything….

Just like Jesus,  Did.  And shouldn’t we too?  Leave our world looking different?  

Yes, we live Sojourners through this season.  Here. For one reason.  Stopping.  Slowing. Soaking. Sitting.  Showering.  Sipping.  And Savoring what Jesus did.

With our eyes forever fixed on where we truly belong.  Home. Where castles sit. And the real King reigns. 

For Jesus is the King….defeating everything the evil one already did.  And because of this….

We don’t have to be perfect.  We can give ourselves grace and enjoy the season….enjoy Him.  Instead of being caught of in a whirlwind to Oz….

Where the witch is alive. And flying monkeys try ever so sly, to derail us from our God given purpose.

Will you Savor the Season this year?

(Linking Women In The Word, Imperfect Prose, Proverbs 31)