Peter Rabbit - The Reason For The Season?

The other evening was surprisingly balmy for Melbourne, so Mel, Ayanthi and I made our way into the city to see the Christmas lights and displays, including those in the famous Myer windows in the downtown CBD. This year it is Peter Rabbit themed and we joined the large crowds that were still out at 10pm, lining up with small children in order to make our way past the multiple display windows, exclaiming at the cute way mechanical mice ran in and out of fake vegetable plots while Peter Rabbit peered over upturned buckets and an angry farmer brandished spades and pitchforks.

It must have taken a lot of time and attention to detail to make such a display and we all appreciated it with oohs and aahs, even though it all seemed rather “anti-agriculture” to me. As a farm girl, my sympathies lay with the struggling farmer battling with rabbit and mice infestations! But I particularly enjoyed looking around at little children - and Ayanthi! – with their eyes and mouths open wide in wonder and awe.

Then we stepped on from Peter Rabbit to the next window. This one had no crowds in front of it. It contained the still stone figures of a donkey, a woman and a man, all silently gazing at a Baby lying in a feeding trough. The scene was largely ignored amidst all the lights and action of the other windows, but it was still there, gentle and self-contained, a subtle reminder that whether we pay attention to Him or not, the Word of God came into this world for us.

Those two window displays made me think. It was impossible for me not to compare the disproportionate amount of attention given to Peter Rabbit over Jesus Christ. So much more sympathy and affection was given to the rascal than the Redeemer, to the scamp than the Saviour, to the pest than the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith.  And unlike people getting distracted by Santa Claus and gifts, there is literally nothing Christmas-related about Peter Rabbit to have him take up so much of our attention!

So I began to reflect, and I offer you these points to take to prayer as well: how easily am I distracted by the irrelevant things in life from what is truly important? What in particular is distracting me from Jesus? What am I gazing at in wonder and awe? When I turn my attention to Jesus, what do I then feel and experience?

And why on earth are rabbits so hard to eradicate?

Rosie Drum