Light Up The Tree

   As I walked this morning, I could not help but notice that people, who had arisen already, were showing their Christmas trees to the outside world with their lights. A lot of the houses that I passed were still asleep, but there were several that had their lights blinking into the darkness of their world.

   Through the years of decorating Christmas trees, both as a child and as an adult, there is still the anticipation and the joy of plugging in the lights and seeing the tree come alive. The house is much warmer, and the smiles come easier when we are around that tree.

   What do I most remember about those times of long ago? Well, the one memory that still comes to mind, even though it is not very awe inspiring, is when we lived on Tunnel Blvd. in Chattanooga. The house I grew up in had a coal furnace, way back before electric and gas heat pumps, and the heat from that furnace was distributed throughout the house by a system of ducts that fed to a metal register in each room.

   We had a special spot for our Christmas tree, and that spot in the living room was right next to the metal heat outlet. When you would stand on the grate and plug in the lights to the tree, you would get a mild electric shock. I guess there was a short in the cord or something, but we would take turns standing and plugging in the lights and thought it was great fun. A little sadistic perhaps, but that is the "fun" that I remember.

   It is said that, from the earliest time that people started putting candles on Christmas trees, the light pointed to the light from the star that God placed in the sky to light the spot of the birth of the Christ Child. The darkness of a hurting world was dispelled by the Light of God, at least to those who saw it shining.

   There will be individuals and families this Christmas who may not even want to turn on the lights on their tree. Their world has crashed around them, and their thoughts may be far from the joy of the season. They need what the lights have to offer, but just can't seem to find that way to turn them on.

   Then there will be those, who may have been facing a situation where their power would be turned off completely because of a lack of money to pay the bill to keep it on. Because someone stepped in and paid their debt, they could plug in their lights with a sense of great joy and thankfulness.

   We all live on that great continuum, somewhere from the depths of despair to the heights of intense joy. We all live.

   There are lights to be turned on. The multicolored lights of our trees shining into the darkness can be a symbol of hope for those hurting and those in joy. Those of us who can, have one responsibility:

   Turn on our lights, the lights of our trees and the lights of our lives.

   Jesus said, "I am the Light of the World", and He also stated:

   "Let your light so shine before men that they....."

   If you still need a shock to your system in order to see all of this, just find a metal grate and a cord with a short, stand on the one and plug the other in. You may light up...

Tears Again

   The other day, I was moved to tears as I wrote about the parents of the children in Connecticut who would not have a very good Christmas because of the school shooting up there. It was even hard for me to focus on the page as I wrote because of the emotion that filled me during that time, and it is still that way today as I remember what happened. How much more it will be for those folks.

   But there was another tearful moment for me yesterday. Not one of complete sorrow for those people up north, but one of gratitude to God for an outpouring of His great love as shown through the actions of His people.

   Let me set the stage for this. A few weeks back, our pastor had an idea that he felt would bless our congregation, to bless the folks who were hurting this season of the year and bless those that were not, all within our church. After a testimony from a couple who had been blessed by friends in the body at Christmas time, in a financially stressful time in their lives, two different groups in the church were challenged.

   The first group were those who were in need at this time. Their challenge was to swallow their pride and let the church know what their individual needs were. It would be anonymous, but they needed to let others know their true situation and not be afraid to admit to their need. It could be physical, emotional or financial, but the emphasis was on the monetary aspect.

   The second group to receive a challenge were those that had the means to help these others, especially in a financial way. Would they step up and dig deep to meet the needs of people in distress, not just a faceless mass of humanity "out there", but individuals and families that might be sitting on their same pew in the church?

   Three Sundays have come and gone. On the first one, the couple gave their testimony, and it was a powerful one. The second Sunday, at the end of his message, our pastor gave the first challenge. "If you are in need, especially financially, in this season right now, would you make your needs know to the church during the coming week. We would not publish any names, but just compile the needs and let the body know the results. Over 50 people responded to this, and the church kept a listing.

   On the third Sunday, after the message of the morning, the pastor related some of the situations the prior week had uncovered. No names, just the facts of people's lives where those specific needs resided. He invited those sitting in the congregation that morning to bring an offering to the front of the church while the lights were turned down and a carol was sung. If someone sitting there had no way to help financially, they were encouraged to write a prayer on something and bring that as their gift. There was really no pressure to act, but one by one and then almost in mass, people came forward.

   I sat in the back and watched as hundreds of people, young and old, came quietly to the front and returned to their seats. Even now, as I think of that scene, my eyes again fill with tears of gratitude. If I felt that way, think of how the people who had turned in those needs felt as they watched. It was quiet, it was done in reverence and it was amazing. I can't even come close to expressing the mood. God was there.

   This coming week, needs will be met, and next Sunday the people that responded with prayers and offerings will be reminded that, sitting right there with them, will be folks that they have helped. The people and families that have had their needs dealt with are sitting right there with those who have met those needs. The Body of Christ functioning as it should.

   I can't wait to see and feel that.

   Praise Be To God

What Can I Do?

   As I walked this morning, I looked at the Christmas tree lights as they shone through the windows of a darkened house. I imagined the family inside, still asleep, comfortable in their beds, thinking and dreaming good thoughts, anticipating this day, looking forward to Christmas Day, 10 days in the future. Presents under the tree are calling out, "Look at me, wonder what I contain, think how much fun we will have 10 days from now when you get to open me".

   I think of the delight the parents in this house will have as they watch their kid's eyes, wide open in amazement at the bounty put before them. I can see the parents, even now, 10 days before the big day, as they look into the kid's rooms and see the smiles on their sleeping faces, and they smile too, knowing what is in store for those little ones that they love. Life is good. God's in His heaven, all's right with the world. Or so it seems.

   But my mind will not let me stay in this perfect world. Just a few minutes before, as I picked up the morning paper to put it inside as I prepared to walk, one word jumped out at me. "Horror". I know the story on the front page is about the school shooting up in the northeast, and I begin to think of the parents of those kids up there, even as the new day dawns in the east, and I see the colors of a God-painted sky begin to appear.

   I am sure that they too may look into a kid's room, hoping against all hope, that they will find them there, asleep with smiles on their faces also. What a shock and horror to find that they are not where they should be this morning, that everyone in that home will not spend this day, looking forward to a Christmas that will not come, at least not in the way they imagined yesterday.

   How will everyone feel as they look under a Christmas tree, perhaps unlit this day, seeing packages with names of little ones that will not be there to open them. I know in my heart that their eyes will fill with tears, as mine do right now, as I try to put myself into a place that I cannot even imagine, no matter how hard I try.

   I want to know what I can do in this situation . Can I help in some way, to alleviate the pain and suffering in those homes up there? I know I can pray for them, that God in His mercy and grace, will comfort them in their time of sorrow and loss, but, forgive me God, that seems lame right now. I know, deep down, that it is not that at all. It is right to pray, and prayer does work miracles, but somehow I want to do more.

   I cannot go to Connecticut and put flowers at the school site, but my heart says, "do something", so, as I walk, I think, and I think of something I wrote into my prayer this morning, even before these events came to my mind, and I see at least part of my responsibility in this matter.

   My prayer was, as it often is, to see the day ahead as a brand new opportunity, one that has not come my way before. I will have the chance to treat my family in a way that says "even if one of us does not have a tomorrow here, I'll do my best for you today". Not a fatalistic thought, just a challenging one. Not a macabre thought, but an uplifting one, and not only for my family, but for those others out there whose lives may intersect with mine today, in any way.

   And I can pray for those who are hurting, those that are far away and those right around me. God knows and God cares, even when I cannot see His hand in the affairs of men. I can see what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 55:

"My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me."

   And I can live my life, even in this one day, like He has pointed out to me this morning, so as to honor Him in the way I treat all those "others" in my life.

 
 

Thoughts on a Monument and Life

   While we were out last weekend visiting various county courthouses here in Georgia, I came across this monument on a square in one of these towns in the southwestern part of the state.

   So you won't have to strain to read the words at the bottom of this stone memorial, this was erected in 2002, so it is not an old idea or thought that has been resurrected for some occasion. This is a "Save your confederate money, boys, the South will rise again" thought.

   How do I square the sentiment of this stone marker with the verses from Psalm 50, part of the reading for this day?

   "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”

   "An offering of Thanksgiving" combined with a realization that God is in control and the need to  line up my will with His, gives me the best chance to be in fellowship with Him. If I want to order my way rightly, I will bow to His way and His control of the events of man. Do I understand all that those words imply? No way, but I believe it is true nonetheless.

   "All races and religions joined together...". There might be some truth-stretching going on there.

   God, help me to walk in your truth today and offer my thanksgivings to you for all you have done, for me and throughout history.

Regardless...

   After spending the morning in meetings at church, most having to do with a benevolence project for this Christmas season, I sit down to think for a few minutes.

   My prayer as I begin this time, becomes my prayer for the part of he day that I have left, and, after I reflect on it again, it is a good one for the rest of my days as well.

   Father God,

   Help me to have my attitude on straight,
   regardless
   Help me not to just adhere to a pithy saying, but to live out its truth,
   regardless
   Help me to be truly compassionate, not just tearful at the heart-wrenching stories,
   regardless
   Help me to see others through Your eyes and feel what You feel for them,
   regardless
   Help me to not just speak a good game, but live it out every day,
   regardless
   I know it is not just the knowing of what is right in life, but having the will to live it,
   regardless.

   Thank You God

   Amen

  I know not what lies just over that hill, but, with God's help, I'll live it out in faith, regardless

Are There Degrees of Denial?

   In the Gospel reading for yesterday, one of Jesus' disciples acted to defend his Master with his sword and succeeded in cutting off the ear of one of the arresting party. Since Peter was usually the one disciple who acted impetuously, he is the assumed attacker, although the text does not identify the man.

   As I read further on in that same text, the reading for today, we see Peter in another light. In Luke 22 I read:

   "Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”  And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”

   Peter the denier, the one who earlier had spoken up to confess Jesus as the Christ, now gives an outright denial. The question is asked, the only answer needed was a simple yes or no, and Peter gives an emphatic "no". There is no doubt of the denial, it is absolute.

   Are there other ways of denial? Could some of my actions yesterday, even after I had felt so much that God had spoken to me, be classified in this way?

   I felt a conviction about some things in my life that were not right, or maybe not appropriate in light of what I had sensed was God's will in a matter. As I spoke to some others about these convictions, I was hesitant to say that "God told me". It seemed presumptuous to say for certain that I could hear these words, especially if others had not felt the same compunction about the subject. The prophets of old had proclaimed boldly "Thus saith the Lord", but who was I to give out that word?

   Was this a form of denial?

   Then there was the word from the Psalm 41 reading from yesterday:

   "Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health."

   I concentrated my thoughts on the part about the poor, but was there more that I should have taken to heart? If there are promises that follow obedience to a certain precept that God puts forth in His Word, and if I fail to claim them, is that a form of denial? Do I pick and choose what part to emphasize and not follow through to the period at the end of sentence?

   So there appears to be denial in several forms. One is an outright "no". One may be an incomplete rendering of a situation, and another may be a sense of unbelief, or at least the denial to a possible connection in what has been proclaimed.

   Perhaps I am much more like Peter than I thought, at least in one of his bad moments.

   Help!

Seeing in the Fog

   As I sit here in the quiet room this morning and think over the things that have run through my mind, even in the short time I have been awake, I have to wonder how it all fits together. God knows how disjointed this all is in my thoughts, but He also knows why I have had the images and ideas run through during this time.

   Take for example the situation outside as I walked and thought. It was a foggy morning, and it was pretty early, and the world outside my condo was not really awake yet. The sounds were muted, and when I would stop to listen hard, the only thing that entered my ears was the soft dripping of water from the leaves of the trees onto the dead leaves on the ground. It was as if God said "Listen". So I did, but not only with my ears, with my mind and heart also. Was there something that He wanted me to hear, not only from the muted silence, but from what I had already read in the Bible this morning? Did He take this very quiet time in nature to get me to reflect on what I had seen with my eyes earlier?

   The first thing that I had seen as I read earlier was these verses from Psalm 41:

    "Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health."

   There is that thing about "the poor" again. My eyes have been drawn to those words over and over again over this past year. Perhaps it is because the phrase is used so many times in the Psalms, the book I have been reading in this calendar time period, but perhaps it is because He wants me to really see and feel what I am reading. Am I still in a fog about this?

   Then I read at the end of Psalm 52, these words:

   "I will wait for your name,"

   I have seen that admonition to wait again and again in Scripture. It is a theme that cannot be ignored, but is there a time to quit using the "waiting" excuse and get on with whatever it is that God says? The answer to that is obvious, but how do I know when I have the answer I seek?

   In the Gospel reading today in Luke 22:

   "And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!”

   The disciples asked Jesus what to do, and then without waiting for His answer, did what they thought anyway, only to be rebuked for their error. They asked the right question, but then acted out of what they thought was right. Better to have acted out of what His answer was, for sure.

   What would my friends and others think if I take the answers that I receive from God and act on them? Would they think that I was weird and going overboard?

   But are those the right questions to ask? Does Jesus say "No more of this"?

   I see that the fog feels secure and anonymous, but, is it time to come in out of the fog and quit waiting?