Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday, the end of the liturgical year for many churches. We finish up ordinary time, before we head into the season of Advent, by being reminded of the Lordship of Christ. It's not an easy concept in our democratic society. We vote for our leaders; we want a say in who rules us. And we like to complain about our rulers who don't line up with our ideals.

We don't grasp the concept of vowing servitude to a liege. Most of us don't know how to serve a lord. We our taught to be our own boss.

When it comes to living with Christ as my King, I echo the words a dear friend of our shared at church last night: I fail miserably. I fail daily, hourly, each minute of the day. I try to take control, rather than letting Christ rule in my life (after all, He knows what's best for me). And either I become too prideful, thinking I'm better than others, or, more likely, I get down on myself, forgetting that I am a child of the King--a prince in my own right. Too often I try to put other things (including myself) on the throne instead of Christ.

So, when we arrived at church we were given a crown to wear upon our head. Yes, it took some humility to walk around (or stand at the door, greeting everyone, as it was in my case) with a big, yellow paper crown on our heads--though it did help that everyone was wearing one. After our friend shared her story about Christ being her King (as she shared her struggles in dealing with her plans not going her way in not being married or having a family by now, not working where she thought she'd be working, but knowing Christ called her to be where she is nonetheless), we were invited to decorate our crowns. We wrote on them or drew pictures of things that were important to us in our lives. Then, as we entered into worship together, we had the opportunity to lay our crowns before a crucifix.

I know that not everyone who reads this will understand what it means for Christ to be my King. Some will think it's unpatriotic. Some will think I'm a part of some radical, militant religion that wants to bring the world under one rule through crusades and wars. Some may just think it's stupid. I accept that. In many ways, it doesn't make sense.

But I also know that for me, it doesn't make sense to keep trying to follow my own ways. I screw up plenty. I get selfish and prideful. I also get depressed, lonely and bitter. I fail. But when I lay it all (and though I fail here, too, I do mean ALL) before Jesus, I can only succeed. It may not look like success in the world's eyes, but I'm not trying to please the world. I'm only trying to please my King.