The Naughty List

One of the pleasant things I do in my spare time out here in the outback of Texas is to read the Gatesville Messenger, conveniently delivered to my mailbox twice weekly.  During the Christmas holidays, however, there was so much activity and travel that I did not get to read the December 24th GM edition until just today.  This particular issue of the GM featured "letters to Santa" that I suppose were collected from the school kids there. One letter that caught my eye was this one, short and to the point.

Dear Santa,
I wish you would not put me on your Naughty list.
Liam

This little boy did not ask for presents.  He did not say that he had been a good boy.  He did not even "bribe" Santa by assuring him that there would be a glass of milk and a plate of cookies waiting near the fireplace.  Just one simple request.  Don't put me on your Naughty list.

In the current circumstances in which I find myself, the simple letter written by this little boy expressed something profound that is on my mind.  Like that little boy, I do not want to be added to anyone's Naughty list.  Now, I do not know if Liam had been naughty or nice, but I have a feeling he had a few naughty moments.  I believe this because Liam, is a little boy...he is human.  And like Liam, I myself am human and suffer from those moments in which I do something...well, naughty.

In my childhood days, my something "naughty" was rarely more serious than sneaking a cookie or not doing my homework.  These days, something "naughty" is serious, maybe even heartbreaking, and with far-reaching consequences.  I did something "naughty" and like Liam, I do not want to be included on the Naughty list.  Not Santa's list, but a list kept for future reference by the Good Shepherd.  I do not want to be on that list.  And like Liam, all I have to do is ask.  Not for lots of presents, not for all my "blessings," but simply that I not be included on that list.  The Good Shepherd says that all I have to do is ask.  But he never grants that request.   No, instead, not only am I not added to the naughty list, but I receive blessings that I did not ask for, and that I in no way deserve, just because He loves me.

There are hidden gems all around us that "accidentally" lead to bigger truths, to profound observations.  Liam's letter to Santa, only one simple sentence penned by a small child, turned my heart to a bigger truth. Even though we often err as humans, which is only normal, our mistakes do not have to become part of some "permanent record," the kind we were all threatened with as school kids.  Instead, all we have to do as ask, and the Good Shepherd removes that little item from the "Naughty" list.  Not only do we never have to worry about that mistake again, we receive blessings tenfold, for which we may never even ask for at all.