Mary's Ponderous Pondering

This weekend I found my box of Christmas manger figures, unpacked them and set them under my skinny, artificial Christmas tree. As I carefully placed Mary, mother of Jesus, in her spot, I remembered the words of Mary after the visit by the shepherds, "... Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart"(Luke 2:19, KJV).

I wrote a sermon on the text and added "ponder" to my active vocabulary. Ponder is a cool word. It is much more than "to think about". The etymology of the word goes back centuries and has the sense of something heavy, as in "weighty." Mary's message from the angels and shepherds was indeed, "weighty" - we might say that it was a ponderous revelation that she was weighing in prayer and meditation.

The other day I printed out a new years goal sheet I found last year - after the fact. In the next week I am going to ponder, weigh, the heavy (and not so heavy, also) goals for the new year and my life. I'll lose 15 pounds... that will take off what I've gained since moving to Pittsburgh (10) and then 5 more to get me to my goal weight of 165. That's weighty pondering on pondorous pounds.

I want the rest of my career to be about giving back. The church has given me a lot. From a snotty, immature kid, the church community has helped me form into a less snotty, reasonably mature adult. I'm grateful. This is a weighty theme. I intend to work until I'm 70 or 75 (thus the weight issue above).

Here are a few reflection questions I will use for 2008 -
1. What did I learn this year?
2. How am I different now than at the start of the year?
3. What obstacles have I overcome?
4. What accomplishment last year am I most proud of?
5. How did I contribute to others, to the world?

Looking ahead, a few questions I will "ponder"
1. How will I best use my skills?
2. How will I do more excellent work?
3. What are my five most important goals this year?
4. What's my plan for reaching those goals?
5. What kind of person do I want to become this year?
6. How will I contribute to making the world a better place?
7. How is God forming me for the future?

Those are some pondorous ponderings for my Christmas - Ephiphany season... I hope you do some soul searching as well!

Bob