What do you want for Christmas? I mean, beyond the stuff, what do you really want? If I had to boil it down, truth, beauty and goodness, is the real stuff I want and long to give at Christmas time. While those concepts are undergoing a radical reframe in our day, I reckon they’re still the most compelling reason to give Christianity a second look this Christmas. The storyline of the Bible, the truth that God loves you, the beautiful person of Jesus Christ and the changed lives of his followers ring out with a truth, beauty and goodness that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Here then is a Christmas gift I can’t wait to give my husband this Christmas morning.

There’s something so refreshingly honest in poetry, that bypasses the intellect and goes straight to the heart. Paul Tripp is an American pastor and best-selling author who has walked with Jesus for many years. This is a simple collection of very unpretentious poems. They feel spontaneous and fresh, like being given a glimpse inside Tripp’s personal notebook: 

Here and now,

so visible,

so powerful,

so compelling.

See,

hear,

taste,

touch,

measure,

quantify,

acquire,

possess,

and serve.

I need

values,

perspective,

direction,

purpose,

and deliverance from

the magnetic draw

of here and now.

I need

my soul corrected,

my desires focused,

my purposes sanctified.

I need

to eavesdrop on eternity. (Eavesdrop on Eternity)

 Tripp doesn’t consider himself a poet and I think upfront his gift is honesty rather than poetic cleverness, but it hasn’t stopped him pouring truth, beauty and goodness all over his clean lean stanzas and the result is moving. The book is thoughtfully designed with lots of white space and evocative photography. Moody landscapes and close ups of nature, shot around the world in the half light of dawn and dusk create a visceral setting for his poems. Accompanying the poetry, a Bible verse, a suggestion for further reading and gentle questions are thrown out to make you stop and ponder the topics raised by the poem. The careful placement of the image, the poem and the questions create this contemplative, atmospheric space for quiet time, connecting with those times before the sun rises, and as it sets, when there’s opportunity to be alone, with our thoughts, and with our Creator, enveloped in His creation, who is always with us.

 I love that hip-hop artists Lecrae and TobyMac give glowing blurbs at the front of this book. As TobyMac says, “It doesn’t take much reading of Tripp’s work to recognize that under his skin there is an artist lurking.” And that is the very thing I’m craving in this stay-at-home year where galleries, concerts, Christian conferences, and even at times, getting outside, have all been curtailed. My soul is hungry for art. 

Tripp writes, “I am not a poet; I am a pilgrim...we do not train our eyes to see enough, our hearts to consider enough, and our emotions to celebrate enough the glories of the grace that is showered down on us in a thousand ways every day.” These poems feel like a lovely handmade gift, like honestly fashioned carpentry, the simple short verse is Tripp’s tool to tell it like it is: What life’s really like in this fallen world, what we’re really like, and how disappointing we all can be. But always bubbling to the surface in these moments of cold reality is a heart that cannot keep silent about the good news of the gospel in a way that is surprising and affecting. There’s no sermon here, just a voice in the half light trying to figure out how to live honestly as a fallen and redeemed creature with Christ as his King. It’s truthful, beautiful and full of the good news that God pours fresh grace over us every single day, and his mercies really are new each morning. It’s an encouragement to get up early or stay up late and to slow down and spend some time noticing Him.

I pray that He brings you and your family much joy this Christmas.

Meet Katie Stringer

Katie is delighted to be nearing the end of the year as hot summer sun is perfect for swimming at the beach, lazing somewhere shady with a good book and eating baked goods. Katie is grateful to God and to her family for supporting her as she completed her studies at Moore Theological College this year. In 2021 she's looking forward to teaching SRE at six High Schools in Sydney’s Inner West.