But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Luke 2:10
“All the towering materialism which dominates the modern mind rests ultimately upon one assumption; a false assumption. It is supposed that if a thing goes on repeating itself it is probably dead; a piece of clockwork. People feel that if the universe was personal it would vary; if the sun were alive it would dance. This is a fallacy even in relation to known fact. For the variation in human affairs is generally brought into them, not by life, but by death; by the dying down or breaking off of their strength or desire.
A man varies his movements because of some slight element of failure or fatigue. He gets into an omnibus because he is tired of walking; or he walks because he is tired of sitting still. But if his life and joy were so gigantic that he never tired of going to Islington, he might go to Islington as regularly as the Thames goes to Sheerness. The very speed and ecstasy of his life would have the stillness of death. The sun rises every morning. I do not rise every morning; but the variation is due not to my activity, but to my inaction.
Now, to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life. The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.
But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) in Orthodoxy (London: John Lane Company, 1908) 33-34.
Orthodoxy is another one from the list in 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics. Here Chesterton teaches us a valuable lesson that fits well with the Christmas season often filled with materialism: “exult in monotony.”
We get bombarded with messages that “new” or “more” will better satisfy our needs. Chesterton reminds us to not only “exult in monotony” perhaps through the face of a child this Christmas season, and to celebrate repetition in nature as a “theatrical encore” of the Creator.
Yesterday, we observed Christmas as a family. Sure, it was 8 days early. But with schedules and travel going different directions, it was the day we could all get together. We ate food, played games, and exchanged some gifts celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s greatest gift to us.
I loved hearing my granddaughter giggle. Her joy does not link to any material gifts she got. It connected to the bliss of bouncing on my knee. Her squeals said “do it again” though she cannot yet form words. And the delight on her face proclaims the good news of the birth of the Savior.
So, this Christmas, exult in the monotony that our good God has given us another year to live, give, serve, and love. In that light, we serve as God’s encore that can bring a weary world to rejoicing. More is not better. Celebrate the monotony in nature that brings into view the generosity and faithfulness of God.