from thonline.com by Lyn Jerde
The week before Christmas is a busy time at the small but scrappy daily newspaper where I've been a reporter for almost three years.
It's the same at almost any newspaper. There are year-end retrospective stories to write, photos to take in frigid weather that is unkind to photographers and cameras and "evergreen" stories to produce. "Evergreen" stories are not about farm-grown firs; they're the kind of stories that an editor can collect before Christmas, to fill the paper during the end-of-December days when half the staff is out of the office.
So, what does my editor assign me to do? Attend a half-day professional development seminar.
"Oh, nuts," I thought. "When I've got all this work to do, how can I take time away to spend a morning focusing on how to do my job better?
"Besides, I've been a journalist for 30 years. I'm working at my sixth newspaper. I have a wall full of awards. Since I already know how to be a journalist, wouldn't it be better use of my employer's never-quite-sufficient time to let me actually be one?"
Sound familiar? This doesn't just apply to journalists, does it?
We're near the end of Advent, and Christmas is almost here. I'm like almost everybody (or at least every woman) I know -- setting aside days for baking, wrapping gifts, scouring grocery aisles for the perfect "roast beast" to serve for Christmas dinner.
Besides, I'm a lifelong Christian. Not only have I heard the Nativity story more than 50 times; as a child, I used to act it out with my brothers and cousins every Christmas Eve, before we opened presents.
So, why should I take time now to reflect on the story of Christ's birth, and what "God With Us" means in my life today?
Well, I went to the half-day journalism seminar, and I'm grateful that my editor sent me.
Even after three decades as a reporter, I found that there were, indeed, new techniques to learn -- how to combine a notebook and a tape recorder in newsgathering, how to turn reams of notes into a story that reads like a screenplay.
But even if I hadn't gotten any practical "takeaway" from this seminar, I still would have experienced it as a time of renewal. I spent a morning with others who also have vocations as journalists, reflecting not just on how we do the job, but why.
This is the insight that came to me: Even a theology professor needs to go to a revival meeting now and then.
Every Martha needs to be a Mary from time to time, to put aside the chores and intentionally sit at Jesus' feet.
Every Christian, at this time of year, needs to gather by the manger. Even if we can quote chapter and verse from the Nativity stories in Matthew and Luke -- and even if we spent our formative years portraying shepherds in old bathrobes and angels with wire-hanger halos -- our souls crave the renewal that comes from this old, old story.
That's what I wish for all of you this Christmas -- a happy holiday, of course, but also a joyful and reinvigorating Holy Day.
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