A Christmas Eve Reflection

Est. Reading Time: 2 minutes

It’s Christmas Eve of this peculiarly horrendous 2023 year. I know I’m supposed to sit back and reflect on all of the good things that have happened and be joyous as I give gifts to others tomorrow. This will be be a true test of my ability to be joyous regardless of my current circumstances. There are myriad reasons to not be joyous, but I have to say, as I sang this morning during church the glorious Christmas song “Light of the World” and the less traditionally Christmas “God With Us” (although it is appropriate for this season) I felt a definite mix of sadness and joy.

This is my first Christmas without either my mother or my father, and it feels every bit as odd as I expected it to, maybe even more. As expected, the family is somewhat physically spread out across the country instead of being concentrated at my Mom’s house. Again, this was not unexpected, but it feels a bit more empty than I could imagine.

Pile on cancer, tax issues, dealing my Mom’s estate and the general state of the world and things start to weigh heavily. All you can do is grasp at the opportunities you have to reach out and be with people. This results in spending Christmas Eve playing Hand and Foot at our new friend’s house with other new and old friends. It was a time of good food, playful teasing, and honest sharing of experiences that shaped us as we grew up, leaving us all laughing, shaking our heads at ourselves, and realizing that we all need times just like this one. Times to share, times to relax, times to not worry about what someone else might think or say, as grace and mercy consumes any potential judgment.

Soon we will begin the new year. A year that will most certainly be fraught with conflict, strife, sacrifice, and hardship. But it should also be filled with resolution, productivity, recovery, and peace. Not so much peace in the world (highly unlikely), but the shalom peace granted by God through the Spirit that is available to us if we can discipline ourselves to accept it.

I’ll end this short little reflection with a traditional blessing offered in churches everywhere, all year long.

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;

25 the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

26 the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.” ’

Numbers 6:24-26

21 Days of Posts – Day 21 – How Does Worship Music Affect The Service?

Est. Reading Time: 3 minutes

This is day twenty-one of twenty-one days of posts between January 10th and January 30th of 2021. This is the last day of the fast. Hello again to those who read previous days, and hello to those of you who may have stumbled across this post “out of order”. You should go back and read from Day 1, for a few reasons. It explains why I am doing this. It is the first one, and I may make reference to something in it in this post. It also has a list with each day’s post (once they are available) and you can jump to whatever topic you are interested in. Thanks for reading!

We made it! Day twenty-one has arrived and this is the last post in this series. This is the last official day of the fast, but the church doesn’t consider the fast over until noon tomorrow. That’s fair. I’ve written many times how music affects my mood and my thoughts, but this post will deal with how music affects the worship service, at least for me. Not everyone will feel the same way and some may feel that I am focusing on the wrong thing, but this is how I feel, so I thought I would share.

Continue reading “21 Days of Posts – Day 21 – How Does Worship Music Affect The Service?”

21 Days of Posts – Day 20 – Why Am I Writing A Fantasy Novel?

Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes

This is day twenty of twenty-one days of posts between January 10th and January 30th of 2021. Hello again to those who read previous days, and hello to those of you who may have stumbled across this post “out of order”. You should go back and read from Day 1, for a few reasons. It explains why I am doing this. It is the first one, and I may make reference to something in it in this post or a later one. It also has a list with each day’s post (once they are available) and you can jump to whatever topic you are interested in. Thanks for reading!

I wrote about this subject briefly back on Day 2 of this series. I mentioned that a fantasy novel was an ambitious project. I also mentioned that I like the freedom to make new rules and realities. All of that is true, but there is a deeper motivation and a cowardly avoidance behind my endeavor to write a fantasy novel.

Continue reading “21 Days of Posts – Day 20 – Why Am I Writing A Fantasy Novel?”

21 Days of Posts – Day 19 – What Verses Would I Have Tattooed On My Body?

Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes

This is day nineteen of twenty-one days of posts between January 10th and January 30th of 2021. Hello again to those who read previous days, and hello to those of you who may have stumbled across this post “out of order”. You should go back and read from Day 1, for a few reasons. It explains why I am doing this. It is the first one, and I may make reference to something in it in this post or a later one. It also has a list with each day’s post (once they are available) and you can jump to whatever topic you are interested in. Thanks for reading!

I know, it is an odd question. I’m not much for getting tattoos. Not that I am opposed to anyone else getting one, just me. Aside from not really wanting to undergo the process, I don’t have a very welcoming canvas for tattoos. I’m hairy, and have moles and other flaws pretty much anywhere a normal person would get a tattoo. But I have considered the question of what I might have tattooed on my body.

Continue reading “21 Days of Posts – Day 19 – What Verses Would I Have Tattooed On My Body?”