CHRISTMAS 2019

Lois & I went to our church's 3:00 Christmas Eve service:  Carols & Lessons. [We don't have a Christmas Day service.] We sang many familiar Christmas hymns. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to sing, due to a bad case of laryngitis. Sitting & listening to Lois & the congregation sing was still meaningful to me, as were the scriptural readings. Texts were from Old Testament prophecies & the accounts of the first Christmas in Matthew & Luke. The same Christmas readings still resonate with me.

We had leftovers for supper, & then we watched "It's a Wonderful Life." Tonight Derek, Rachel & Bentley will join us for Christmas dinner:  ham, party potatoes, cream cheese corn, & pie. We already exchanged presents at Thanksmas, when the whole family was together, but Lois did buy a present for Bentley.

I pray for you a blessed Christmas & a wonderful New Year.

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

"As I get older, one reason I think so many Americans are yelling at each other more & more is because we know each other less & less. We now have more daily interactions digitally than in person. Two thousand years ago, the God of all creation, who brings bread from heaven & water from rocks & raised all of us from the dust of the Earth, came back to live with us. He downgraded from wandering the desert . in a tent with the Israelites to a food trough in Bethlehem surrounded by real braying biblical donkeys. If He wanted a relationship with us that much, perhaps we should work on our relationship with Him. Part of that involves working on our relationship with each other There is no better tie to start than at Christmas. Merry Christmas." --Eric Erickson, Omaha World Herald, 12.22

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

The first time I walked through the noisy streets of Bethlehem and endured its smells, I gained a new sense of the difference between our Christmas carols, glamorizing the sweetness of the “little town of Bethlehem,” and the harsh reality of God becoming flesh and making a home among us. On that quiet Christmas night so long ago, lying in the manger was the answer to all of life’s successes, struggles, disappointments, and regrets. The hopes and fears of all the years had met in him that night in a makeshift crib. A carpenter, a humble maid, a band of shepherds, and ordinary folks responded in awe at the angel’s declaration: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” --Ravi Zacharias, Slice of Infinity