"It's Just Pretend"

"It's just pretend." is what my grandson, Caleb said as he power sawed, with toy power saw, a piece of wood in my living room yesterday. He happily continued power sawing for quite a while even though he knew it was "pretend". He was determined, focused, intense, and somewhat unavailable as he wore his gray suede work gloves, orange goggles and sawed with a motorized child's power saw Micah received for his fifth birthday.

It was hilarious and quite the photo shoot since he was so focused and almost still. The saw was making all sorts of whirring sounds, the plastic chain was going around and around. However, the saw was having no impact on cutting the wood. At one point, I suggested he might actually start a fire due to all the friction. He kept right on sawing.

It struck me today that we can be just like Caleb; we can be really intense and focused on something that is pretend. Caleb's pretending is preparation for big guys sawing real wood with real saws. It's just plain fun to watch him. It's great practice for a good and wholesome activity.

Think about some pretense as adults; some of it is destructive. Pretending you have a perfect family with no problems when you don't. (Now who in the world does?) I think of sex traffickers and the horror of their pretense. They're pretending women and children are objects, denying the truth about the worth and value of those caught in this abuse. Porn watching is a form of dishonesty and even infidelity; trading a lovingly transparent, honest relationship for interaction with strangers over the internet or other venue. It's easier to be a kid, they say, and pretend, even as adults.

We each have moments of pretending. Yep, we're all human. Maybe it's pretending you are working, when you are not. Or that you have money when you don't. Or that you're not very much overweight or depressed. Drinking to pretend the pain away. Maybe you are pretending you are god. We can really be intense and focused about our pretending, too. Especially pretending we are god.

Jesus came, to lovingly and decisively expose and vanquish all our destructive pretending. Some people don't want to hear about Jesus. Come on. I'm not that bad, we pretend. Plow ahead. Keep sawing just like Caleb. Our grace-filled Jesus, humbly coming as a baby, doesn't go away. Every year we get to celebrate His arrival as families and communities. Let's stop pretending this Christmas, and admit we need a savior for our pretenses, wrongs in our own hearts. He loves you and me and He's not pretending.

I'll post my Christmas card in an hour or so.....still working. I will stop for tonight. I want to add more detail, but I am determined to mail it off to Visaprints tomorrow.