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Hi everybody.
My manager and the kind folks who run this web site asked me to write a blog about Christmas and I drew a blank. What could I say apart from the usual stuff everybody says this time of year, sounding like Miss America with Silent Night playing softly in the background? Maybe some scattered thoughts as they come to me:
Get the music going, and I mean the good stuff that proclaims what Christmas is all about, the birth of our Savior Jesus. I find myself actually worshipping when the good stuff’s playing. “Frosty the Snowman” doesn’t do it for me, or … what was that other winner I took out of the CD player? “Even Santa Claus Gets the Blues.” Back on the shelf – or into the Goodwill box. I just love the carols, classic and modern, that still reach the heart where it really matters. And pardon my moment of seemingly crass commercialism, but I still play both of Michael W. Smith’s Christmas albums. Now that guy knows how to worship at Christmas.
Don’t let the crowds kill the magic. Just about got crowd-soured the other night in town. Barb and I were there for the parade and the big Christmas lighting event and the people, people, people just kept getting more and more packed, pressing, space-invading. I found a great solution, at least for that moment: I managed to get myself a nice Starbucks Decaf Mocha, find a comfortable place to sit, and just watch the kids gawking, pointing, squealing, lost in that magical world of fantasy-so-real that all of us once knew. And I remembered what it was like to believe, pretend, be caught away. I need to refresh that part of me every once in a while because that’s what it takes to be a storyteller, maybe what it takes to be a real human being.
On the cultural front: Merry Christmas, and don’t let anyone forbid you to say those words!This “Happy Holidays” stuff is an insult. Folks, it’s Christmas. The trees, the lights, the retail stores all decked out and making money are all because of a specific holiday and that holiday – Holy Day - is Christmas. In my view, any store that forbids its employees to wish the customers Merry Christmas should put away all the decorations and holiday promotions along with their hypocrisy and treat the month of December like any other month.
Oh, and for those who blame “religion,” and particularly “Christianity” for the evils in this world, let them stand next to a Salvation Army volunteer and ring that little bell for hours on end in the winter cold and ask themselves Why. Let them stand in the kitchen at the Union Gospel Mission and feed the destitute not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but every night of the year and try to explain it from a Darwinian perspective.
Speaking of the Salvation Army, don’t walk by that little red bucket without putting in some bills, preferably twenties. Been blessed? I know I have. It’s our turn to pass it on.
What a difference a season makes. I’ve included a photo out my front window. The snows have come, decorating everything for free, and boy, is it quiet out there! Even peaceful. No, I don’t feel led to pray for world peace, but I can certainly pray for my neighborhood, that God would touch hearts – including mine – and refresh our little valley with spiritual awakening, repentance, and the healing of hearts by a touch from Jesus. You know, that kind of thing HAS happened and I trust it can happen again.
God bless, everyone.It’s been a challenging year and I expect 2007 to be more of the same. I’ll be back with any news as things develop.
Frank
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