December 1st! the real countdown begins :) I finally finished my advent calendar, im VERY happy with the results :)
every night we will put up a figure to tell the story of Christ's birth. It's so fun to think of passing it on to my kids :)
As i reflect on this time of year, i am sad to see so many people "turned off" by the holiday. I mean i know its commercialized, but what isn't? Halloween sure is! But im pretty sure wiccans and worshipers of other type gods NOT associated with my God keep that peticular holiday pure. Couldn't we do the same? Why do we have to spend the holiday begrudging those who ruin it? Why can't we be the candles in the windows, offering hope, showing others that there IS a place for CHRISTMAS and the TRUE meaning of it in this crazy mixed up rush rush rush world.
I was thinking about CHRISTMAS through the ages, and you know not alot has changed through the years, even though we like to rant and rave about how its worse every year.
Remember the old movie "Its a wonderful Life"? That was full of people with no clue, people who ignored the joy and giving spirit, one man who was confused, but his family and friends who brought him back to reality, and showed him the true meaning of the season.
What about "A CHRISTMAS Carol"? Scroodge and his Bah humbug, only celebrating CHRISTMAS for his personal gain, (oooh that sounds famiiar!) People ignoring the less fortunate, and spending time and money on themselves, ignoring the reason for the season, and then the precious few who held out for hope, hope of better days, hope of happy days, clinging to the meaning of CHRISTMAS, "love come to a world of sinners" "Grace doused on the undeserving"
What about the very first christmas? We had unbelievers, people toally ignorant of what was going on around them. A busy frustrated stressed out innkeeper who couldn't see past the end of his nose (or his purse) and notice the haggard young man and his deffinatly needy wife. What about Herod? The greedy, arrogant King who only sought to snuff out the news, the idea of a king come to earth, the idea that he may not be the center of the universe, he tried to use the men who came to worship Christ for his own gain, to carry out His agenda. (Oooh THAT sounds familiar!) Then, the Shepherds .... they heard the news, they ran, they worshiped on bended knee. They Left their obligations, sheep in the feilds, their stress, their very sleep, to go "check it out" and what did they find? "Love come to a world of sinners" "Grace doused on the undeserving" and then waht? The ran ... they ran to tell others, to spread the news. the GOOD news!
Then the wise men, they knew something was up, they left thier homes, hundresds of miles away to follow a star .... can you imagine what their wives thought? Or their friends? They left on a journey that would last maybe years? To find the king, and find him they did.... They went out of their way to seek him. To see for themselves, do you thik they ever regretted it?
Thats what i think of when i see CHRISTMAS ..... i want to be a shepherd .... i want to get up in the middle of the night, kneel in a warm smelly barn and worship the king, and then tell everyone, and hear the angels sing overhead. I want to go OUT of my WAY to make others hear, to tell other what i KNOW about the blessed holiday. Lets try it shall we? Lets be the obnoxiously happy merry deeply thankful people who celebrate CHRISTMAS for it's very simple, very important, very REAL meaning!
and ..... "God bless us, every one!"
(sorry i couldnt resist :) ...)
every night we will put up a figure to tell the story of Christ's birth. It's so fun to think of passing it on to my kids :)
As i reflect on this time of year, i am sad to see so many people "turned off" by the holiday. I mean i know its commercialized, but what isn't? Halloween sure is! But im pretty sure wiccans and worshipers of other type gods NOT associated with my God keep that peticular holiday pure. Couldn't we do the same? Why do we have to spend the holiday begrudging those who ruin it? Why can't we be the candles in the windows, offering hope, showing others that there IS a place for CHRISTMAS and the TRUE meaning of it in this crazy mixed up rush rush rush world.
I was thinking about CHRISTMAS through the ages, and you know not alot has changed through the years, even though we like to rant and rave about how its worse every year.
Remember the old movie "Its a wonderful Life"? That was full of people with no clue, people who ignored the joy and giving spirit, one man who was confused, but his family and friends who brought him back to reality, and showed him the true meaning of the season.
What about "A CHRISTMAS Carol"? Scroodge and his Bah humbug, only celebrating CHRISTMAS for his personal gain, (oooh that sounds famiiar!) People ignoring the less fortunate, and spending time and money on themselves, ignoring the reason for the season, and then the precious few who held out for hope, hope of better days, hope of happy days, clinging to the meaning of CHRISTMAS, "love come to a world of sinners" "Grace doused on the undeserving"
What about the very first christmas? We had unbelievers, people toally ignorant of what was going on around them. A busy frustrated stressed out innkeeper who couldn't see past the end of his nose (or his purse) and notice the haggard young man and his deffinatly needy wife. What about Herod? The greedy, arrogant King who only sought to snuff out the news, the idea of a king come to earth, the idea that he may not be the center of the universe, he tried to use the men who came to worship Christ for his own gain, to carry out His agenda. (Oooh THAT sounds familiar!) Then, the Shepherds .... they heard the news, they ran, they worshiped on bended knee. They Left their obligations, sheep in the feilds, their stress, their very sleep, to go "check it out" and what did they find? "Love come to a world of sinners" "Grace doused on the undeserving" and then waht? The ran ... they ran to tell others, to spread the news. the GOOD news!
Then the wise men, they knew something was up, they left thier homes, hundresds of miles away to follow a star .... can you imagine what their wives thought? Or their friends? They left on a journey that would last maybe years? To find the king, and find him they did.... They went out of their way to seek him. To see for themselves, do you thik they ever regretted it?
Thats what i think of when i see CHRISTMAS ..... i want to be a shepherd .... i want to get up in the middle of the night, kneel in a warm smelly barn and worship the king, and then tell everyone, and hear the angels sing overhead. I want to go OUT of my WAY to make others hear, to tell other what i KNOW about the blessed holiday. Lets try it shall we? Lets be the obnoxiously happy merry deeply thankful people who celebrate CHRISTMAS for it's very simple, very important, very REAL meaning!
and ..... "God bless us, every one!"
(sorry i couldnt resist :) ...)
Well put. But I do feel a little diabetic now.
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ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful Yubby!! I am proud of you. Gosh...
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