Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Merry Christmas - and I do mean Merry Christmas, not Merry Holiday, or some other innocuous greeting that means absolutely nothing. Christmas is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ! Hence the title Christmas. I don't care if people celebrate Hanuka, or Kwanza instead of Christmas; Happy Hanuka and Merry Kwanza to them, and I mean that joyfully. I am a Christian and I celebrate Christmas, so please wish me a Merry Christmas. I find it curious that the same folk who want to take Christ out of the holiday are not complaining about receiving a federal holiday from work, or asking that it be removed as one of our federal holidays altogether. I wonder if folks have ever thought about where St. Valentines Day originated? Or Halloween for that matter. Many of our Holidays have a Christian origin. Take Thanksgiving; who are we giving thanks to? I dare say the pilgrims were not giving thanks to some goddess. Okay, enough ranting. I really do wish everyone a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Memories

 When I think about life, one thing becomes very clear - memories are all we have. We come into this life with nothing, and we leave with nothing. Nothing, that is, except our sense of self and accomplishment, our spiritual struggle, our relationship with God, friends and family. Rather than leaving behind a wealth of material gain, I hope to leave behind a legacy of memory: hospitality, friendship, comfort of being, love that pours forth freely, faithfulness beyond measure. Oh, and a quilt or three or four...

Thanksgiving

 

I have so much to be thankful for.

This is what happens to people who make fun of my pie baking abilities!!

 

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh…

Melchior of Arabia brought the baby Jesus the gift of gold – meant to honor royalty, which surely the mysterious star suspended over the little town of Bethlehem indicated.

Balthasar of Ethiopia presented the holy infant the gift of frankincense – honoring the divinity of the tiny babe who, beneath his divinity, was swaddled amongst the stable animals, as there was no room for the small family in the inn.

Caspar of Tarsus traveled a great distance bearing the precious gift of myrrh for the holy child – signifying the great burden of Christ’s dual nature, both God and man, and presaging the Crucifixion.

These are the stories of tradition, carefully preserved and passed on from parent to child during advent with great awe, mystery, and ultimately, responsibility.

Frankincense and myrrh are resins obtained from trees (genus Boswellia) in Africa. For millennia, supplicants have harvested the precious resins through a process of ‘bleeding’ the native trees. Small cuts are inflicted upon the trunk of the tree causing the sap to run, or bleed. Outside the body of the tree, the sap – the lifeblood of the tree – hardens and dies as it sacrifices itself in order to heal the tree of the wound inflicted upon it.

How like the precious resin are we called to be? Preserving the truth and life-giving gift of our faith may cause us to ‘bleed’, but we do so willingly because we love the precious Son of God who once lay in a humble manger amongst the stable animals.

Now here's a man who knows his place!!

Wednesday Morning Sunrise

 

...early in the morning I will praise Thy name...

Thankfulness

the blessing of teaching piano
parents who loved me even though they tied me up
summers bounty
winters beauty
the gift of life

what I miss about summer...

What I miss about summer...carrots that taste like dirt; grandkids in the yard; long evenings; deck time; light; cherries, blueberries, apples, pears, rhubarb; wine with friends; birds; sockless feet...