I am a chronic keeper of things. If I were to invite you to my house, you would see three whole shelves built by my dad for the books I love, the candle holders and figurines I have thrifted, the art students have made for me, and the few pictures I have printed. Things you would expect on shelves in a living room. And then there are some less expected items. Placed in a plump frosted glass vase is a grape stem left secretly by some girls in my D-Group at least 4 years ago now. On the bottom shelf sitting upright is a wooden-carved train whistle left at my house by an old roommate. Every once in a while I give it a nice loud whistle to impress my guests. On the middle shelf sits an all-glass, functioning oil lamp that my roommate added. What can I say, I love a trinket. I love the flashes of memory they bring when they catch my eye. I love the people they remind me of. I love the beauty of random objects that work together in color and texture to simultaneously create one cohesive piece of art and an intriguing game of “I Spy”.
I have lived in my house for five years now and I have never cleared the shelves completely. I have occasionally replaced dying flowers or edited the layout, but for the most part, I have only added to the menagerie of memories.
As we approached Christmas this year, I decided it was time to clear the shelves; to rearrange and maybe even theme the trinkets and decor for the holiday season. As I took each piece from the shelves I got to share the funny stories and important people who were attached to the objects with my roommate.
With each object removed, the space on the shelf grew larger and now there was room for my grandma’s nativity scene and an array of red and green books we collected from around the house. The shelves began to take a new shape and there was no doubt they were Christmas themed.
But the words of that old Christmas hymn kept bubbling up, “prepare him room”.
As I placed things like a red and gold Advent devotional and three wooden triangles that made up a nativity scene on the shelf, I was hopeful for the physical reminders these items would provide me in this season. And of course, on that first Christmas there was a very real and physical need for “room”. Room in the womb, room in the Inn, room in the stable, room in the family of Joseph and Mary. Room even in the country he was born into.
But more than that, as the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14) the heavens were calling for every person and every family and every city street to prepare him room. To remove that which had taken up space on the shelves of their hearts and prepare for Christ to be placed in his proper place. Not in a manger, but on the throne of your heart and of mine.
I’m not sure if your shelves feel full as you ponder the birth of our Lord this Christmas season, but I am sure that even as we take down the trees, as we pack the boxes back into the attic, as we rearrange the furnishings of our home to reflect a new season approaching, the call of all of heaven remains the same. Prepare him room, in your disheveled living rooms and in your aching hearts. Prepare him room, in your busy schedules and in your distracted mind. Prepare him room, at your hurried meals and in your hungry soul. Prepare him room. Give Christ his proper place because he has arrived in glory and grace and he stands at the door and knocks. Will you welcome him in?
Contact Emilee
