Manga! Manga!

These words are Italian. They mean Eat! Eat! Growing up with a lot of Italians in the Philly area, it would not be uncommon to hear them say this if you were invited to dinner. My German Mom said a similar thing when the food was put out, ”Fress!”

This time of year, unfortunately you don’t have to be coerced into having to eat. All kinds of goodies abound. We even leave cookies out for Santa. According to the new movie, “Red One” the jolly old elf will expend some 4 million calories on his big night. Unfortunately, you and I aren’t so lucky. From what I’ve read, you can gain one to seven holiday pounds if you are not careful.

My problem food would be eggnog. I could probably polish of a quart of it one sitting.

I will never forget the story of a fellow I knew when I lived in White Haven. He had been a prisoner of war during the Battle of the Bulge, and a burly fellow. When they liberated the camp, he was down to 120 pounds. Vats of eggnog were put out by the medics. He was encouraged to drink as much as he could stand. Back in the eighties when I knew him, he still could not stand even the smell of eggnog, he had drunk that much. What was meant to make him healthy, now nauseated him.

Sadly while I love to sing, “It’ the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” I know that it can be anything but. Like my fellow with his eggnog, we can be a little off kilter this time of year. Did we get enough presents? Is there time to get a good tree? What will I get for my secret Santa gift? Comedic musician Tom Lehrer used to say people could be as nervous as a Christian Scientist with appendicitis.

I had “Hello, Dummy” moment about 20 years back. I never had put it together that the manger which first bedded down our Savior was the same language root as “Manga!”. It had to do with eating. It would have been a place for the stable animals to eat. I can imagine the confused look from the ox and donkey seeing a baby in there feeding pen. “Odd menu today,” one of them might have thought. Yet it is appropriate for a manger, when you think about it, to hold “The Bread of Life.” (John 6:35).

Perhaps our Advent Alka Seltzer or Nativity Nyquil needs are indicative of our mad dash to make everything perfect and everybody happy. Being a hard worker and wanting tranquillity are all noble aims. But we can take things a little to far. Indeed, track the hospital admissions and heart attack rates during the holidays. They all go up. Feeling a little hard pressed yourself? I can remember one of those weeks when Christmas was on a Monday. I had had six services in a little more than 24 hours. They took a picture of me opening gifts afterwards. I looked like a zombie.

“Manga! Manga!” Says our manger laid Messiah. In gifting others, don’t forget to give the Bread of Life to yourselves during the holiday season. Take time to share your frustrations with God, take time to rest. An old chestnut reminds mothers on airplanes, when the oxygen masks drop, to put them on themselves first. You’re no good to little honey boo boo, if you’re unconscious. I had a retail job after I retired and you would hear Christmas carols 24/7. After a while I wanted to give Rudolph a nose job. My advice is to uses the devotional carols you may hear as a chance to pause.

Likewise, given the pace of the days, find time to pause in prayer and spend time with scripture and meditation. During the Second World War, with London under the Blitz, dodging German V weapons, a church in London put up a sign. It said, “When your knees knock, kneel on them” Some time ago I developed a practice for centering. If anything can knock you off center, the “Christmas Crazies” can. Knowing that Jesus, the Messiah of the manger and Bread of Life assures us of our forgiveness in him and hopefully, this fosters a feeling of forgiveness to others.

Taking a pad, and pencil I will write three phrases five times each. The first is “I am forgiven child of God.” The second is,” I am a forgiving child of God.” The third is “I am a forgiven and forgiving child of God.”

Just taking a second to pause and realize who you are and what your purpose is in life is can be most helpful, especially during the Christmas crazies. It also can affect your witness as children of God. A spin on a famous poem goes, “If you can keep your head while everyone else is losing theirs’, you obviously don’t have a complete grasp of the situation.” When everyone else is crying “The ski is falling,” can you show the world your trust in the one who made the skies and seas?

This Christmastide, remember to pause and be fed. Be the manger in which the Christ is laid and let the peace of knowing that Christ propel you to whatever person, project or program you can be a part of. Use the meditative technique above for a time to pause and be fed that you feed others. Be the manger in which the Christ is laid and from there feed those who hunger for love and compassion. Feast upon the Lord’s many blessings and then be a blessing to others. Manga!

Manger messiah, look upon those who are world wearied and worried. Give us your peace, knowing in you we are forgiven and fortified, saved and sanctified for service. “Oh, Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray, cast our sin and enter in, be born in is us today.” Hear us, hold us, heal us, help us, that we may help others to be held, healed and helped in your Name. Amen