Auld Lang Syne?

Good times past. That's what those words mean. It's Old English or something like that. And, we sing that song in remembrance of the passing year. Oh, and there's a question mark at the end of the line..."Should auld acquaintance be forgot?" The song implies that you shouldn't forget what has past, but we should look forward to the future.
2011 has been a year of mixed blessings, but then what year isn't? We all had our share of good times and not so good times. People died and babies were born. The winter was long and cold and the summer was hot. Daily life went on. We were happy, and we were sad.
Someone asked me recently about the "meaning of life." I suppose everyone has a different idea about why we exist, but I am pretty sure that my purpose in life is to always do my best. I think that's what God wants us to do. Yes, do our best and love God and all of our fellow earthly dwellers (humans and non-humans) maybe with the exception of snakes and spiders.
That's my philosophy and my theology.
Blessings for a great 2012.

God, we thank you for our lives.

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree"

I am tempted to do a short dissertation on the prevailing idea that Christians only want to"give to the needy", at Christmastime. But, I won't. Someday, Christians everywhere will realize that God's message of Good Will to Men, is a 12 month lifestyle, and not just a 12/25 thing.
Instead, I want to share another Jolly Holiday observation. I want to tell you all about a small town, near my home. This quaint little town has very unusual holiday decorations.
Along both sides of the one-street. six block long shopping area, participating businesses have all decorated, for public display, very large 7-8 foot evergreen trees. The trees are placed outside the shops. These trees, with their colorful and sometimes whimsical themes, are all chained to the street lamp poles.
Now, I know that the merchants are concerned that someone will steal their festive trees, but the whole effect brings to mind terms like "Hostage Holiday", "Chained Christmas" and "enSlaved Santa". No matter what the caliber of decoration, the trees all appear to be straining to break free from their bondage. The effect is totally bizarre. But, no matter. The city has been doing it for years. It's a tradition.
The idea of having to lock and chain your decorations to prevent theft, goes against the very theme of the season. If someone wants a tree so much that they feel compelled to steal it.......then let them take it. Don't we believe that it is always better to give than receive?

Baby Jesus: How you must laugh at our attempts to celebrate your birthday. This year Christmas even falls on Sunday. The Lord's Day, for Christ's sake, and your churches are scaling down the number of regular Sunday Services! Oh, Lord, help us to remember that You are the real reason for the season.
Have a great birthday, Jesus.

She-ro

Today's sermon was from the book of Daniel. The pastor spoke of the heroes in the fiery furnace. Hot stuff for a cold December morning. However, my mind was doing a bit of wandering, particularly around the word hero. Because, I am convinced that I met a real "hero" last Sunday.
Last Sunday morning, was a particularly big day at church. A family had four of their children baptized. The four siblings, three boys and a girl, had been adopted into this family, only two weeks before. And, that evening, the whole family went Christmas Caroling with a large group of church folks.
The new Christians were the youngest among us, but they were a sensation at every place we sang. Armed with bells, they provided the backup to some really rousing renditions of "Jingle Bells".

I'm in awe of a mom that would take on four small children and make them part of her existing tribe. She's a real hero.


Everlasting Father: Open our hearts and minds to the possibilities of service all around us. Show us ways to better the lives of all of your children. We thank you for our many blessings.

"a rose by any other name..."

The word was VEHICLE. Our students were being taught the word "vehicle", and it was a word that needed quite a bit of explanation.
When our English Language Learners encounter a new word, they will ask the meaning of the word and then they want to know other words that have the same meaning. They will keep asking for synonyms, until they find a word that sounds similar to a word they know in their native languages.
With vehicle, I explained that it was a word that I very rarely use. I say car or even automobile more often than vehicle.
Naturally, I have had vehicles on my mind. Tonight on my bus ride home, I turned to look out the left hand windows and in my immediate sight there were many vehicles. First there was the big old bus that I was riding in. Then, there were quite a few cars of many shapes and sizes. They were sharing the road with some trucks and vans. A bit further to my left was a moving freight train, loaded with coal cars. And, then finally I sited a small personal jet airplane taking off from the nearby airport.
We have lots of choices when it comes to selecting a vehicle.

Gracious God. We are often in awe of our abundance and our choices. You have given us so much and yet you ask so little of us. Why is it sometimes so hard to follow your simple directive....to love You and to love our neighbors and ourselves? We are such a selfish bunch of folks. Please, don't give up on us. We want to do better. Guide us and help us to make wise choices.

Suite Life

In the middle of class today, a cell phone rang. Now, that's not too unusual. Every high school student has a cell phone, and most adults carry cell phones. And, even where I work, which is an institution teaching English to adult immigrants and refugees, most of our students carry cell phones.
Cell phone etiquette is often a topic of discussion here between students and teachers. Periodically a phone will ring and a student will blurt out, "Africa calling. I talk now." The teacher then directs the student out into the hall, to complete the transcontinental connection.
But today, the ringing phone just tickled my funny bone. The ring tone seemed so out of character for the setting. The ring tone was Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies Theme" from "The Nutcracker Suite". The bearer of the cell phone, can speak and understand only a few words of English.
I didn't have a chance to ask her why she had chosen that particular ring tone? Did she just enjoy the music? Was she familiar with "The Nutcracker". Were fairies or dancing toys part of her native culture? I'll probably never know.

Great and all knowing God. You challenge our simple minds with all sorts of conundrums. Life is such a delicious cornucopia of experiences. We thank you for all of our experiences and surprises. Your blessings abound.

In The Eye of the Beholder

Photographic images can be deceiving. Every photo, taken of me recently, portrays someone who doesn't resemble the image I have of myself.
Once, perhaps not so long ago, I was a young woman. My hair was dark. I could see without wearing bifocals. My face was unlined. I was actually five foot three. That remains the image I have of myself. But, when I view a current picture of myself.........well, I see someone quite different.
This week, I needed to mail off a recent photo of myself and I just couldn't choose one that I could live with. Every one I found was a photograph of some little old lady!
So, I asked my husband to choose one. I know that our 40 plus years together makes him extremely biased in his view of me, but he understands my issues. I trust him to make me look as good as I possibly can.

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)
Praise the Lord.

Ask and you shall receive.

I was sincerely blessed yesterday with the gift of 61 bottles of dish soap. Several weeks back, in this blogspot, I explained the need for liquid dish soap at my place of work. Well, lo and behold one of our local churches heard the plea, realized the need and took action.
This amazing congregation (with the help of its very creative pastor) held a Dish Soap Sunday Ingathering. I understand they used some of their pre-teens to demonstrate the sizes and colors of bottles, much to the delight of their Sunday attendees. The congregation was charged! They brought in the bottles. Now, we can supply 61 households (that's probably about 305 people) with a whole lot of clean!
Believe me, this is not a big church. It's not a wealthy church. But, by their actions, they have proved that they are God's Church.

All powerful Lord. We can serve you in so many ways. Allow us to keep our eyes and ears open to your people's many needs. Every one of us has the ability to do mission. Even when we think that we are sorely lacking in our abilities, we can help someone with something. Help us to seek out that need.
We praise your holy name.