Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies
Well, I’m all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I’m not a child, but my heart still can dream
So here’s my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas List
Not for myself, but for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
And wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

I write this blog on a bright and crisp winter morning. Yes, it is now winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is acting like it. It is cold and dark, with extreme angles of the sun making glare a paradoxical hazard of winter.

But, in contrast, the Christmas season is exactly the opposite of that. Even the Christmas carols sing about “warm and bright”. We cherish the warmth of a fireplace, the bright lights of outside decorations and Christmas tree lights. Such physical experiences add to our emotional sense of well-being during this time of year.

The presence of family and friends gathered together gives us a sense of connection and joy. I trust that my readers will bask in the glow of both physical and emotional warmth this Christmas. Some of my friends and relatives are grieving significant losses that occurred over this past year. To them I extend the prayer of peace that this season promises. To a world broken by war and senseless violence, I pray for strength, and the promise that Jesus is the ultimate answer to humankind’s propensity for such evils.

The lyrics above from the song My Grown Up Christmas List came to mind as I composed this blog. It seemed to touch a chord this year.

I trust that your Christmas wishes come true this year…

A Note to Readers: This is a blog I wrote exactly 7 years ago. It was when I was healing from knee surgery. I hope you find it helpful…

I am now 9 days post knee replacement surgery, and the healing progress is real, but, in my thinking, interminably slow. Such thinking is undoubtedly formed by excess hubris on the part of the patient, painful but true. However, there have been many lessons already in this process, even though that process is quite new. Time indeed is relative, even though in a different sense than Albert Einstein explained it.

I am struck first by the fact that the struggles of rehabilitation from a surgery are much more mental than physical. It goes without saying that there are significant physical struggles, but the will to do the hard work of rehab, to force oneself time and again to engage pain because you know it is good for you, takes a certain amount of faith. I trust that the principle of “no pain, no gain” is true, however, that does not make me want to engage it. That is a moment by moment battle to “just do a little more”.

There is also an immutable law of nature which is paradoxical. In order for new life to happen, there must be a death somewhere. The renewal of our bodies, and indeed that of all nature, only takes place by the old cells which have died being replaced by new cells. Muscles which have been damaged by surgery must be rebuilt and strengthened. In the words of the Bible, (John 12:24) “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels–a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (New Living Translation)

Another lesson from rehab is that “use it or lose it” is proven once again as another universal truth. Lay off using muscles for a few days and they believe that their owner has died, or decided to die, so they might as well retire. They start to atrophy right after we stop using them for a while. The point here is that the sooner we use every muscle we can, the sooner we heal.

Finally, one must decide to be well. I know that just because we decide to be well that such decision alone does not make us well. However, if we do not choose to be well, we cannot be well. There is a certain despair that hits everyone at various times- that self-defeating part of all of us, which tells us that this healing is never going to happen.  “Just give up and stay in bed” it tells us. I suggest that this happens to everyone, regardless of surgery or anything else. There are times we just want to give up and go to bed. I think it is reasonable to visit this place in our head, and even entertain it for a very short while. However, we can only visit this place, we cannot live there.

I write this as self-healing, so thank you for indulging that. However, the much higher purpose is to engage the reader to think about some laws of nature and how we deal with them. Healing is a great gift, but it comes with cost. We need to allow others to help us in this process, and we need to push ourselves to do the work of healing. I am learning on that journey, and it is good for me. We learn from pain and we better understand the wonderful plan of how healing really works.

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect                                                     Romans 12:2

Have you grown in your faith over the years? I hope so. Do you think about your faith the way you did several (or many) years ago? I suspect not. That is O.K. We are curious people, growing physically (well not in the ways we might like!), spiritually, emotionally, socially. We change, and that is good.

We are forced to look regularly at our faith, and how it guides us through changes in our life. Yes, there are some basics that we hold fast onto. We may not change so much what we believe, but we may change the way we talk about our beliefs.

As I have gotten older, for example, I have recognized that my idea of “certainty” has changed. I am more open to seeing that there are many ways to look at how God deals with his creation. My limited understanding does not limit God and how he has organized the universe. As science gives us new insights into the world, it does not weaken my faith- it strengthens it.  As I look at the history of Christendom, I see the flaws that sapped the vigor from the bold witness that the Church could have given to a needy world.

Yes, we evolve in our thinking, but we hold fast onto basic truths. God loves us, created us to love and trust him, and to love others.

The Good News!

Prayer: Lord, help us to embrace change as we cling to the basics of your love, Amen

Grace flows downhill. It runs down from the heights of God to the humble at the foot of the mountain. Grace also takes away fear and reveals the mighty, tender, compassionate securities of God. As you humble yourself, you will find fears fading away like the morning mists. Believe, only believe.

Jack Miller

I like the quote above because it gives hope for those who feel that they are “at the bottom”. God’s grace and his plans always feel “upside down” to those who are not in tune with God’s Kingdom principles. Those who appear at the “top of the mountain” sometimes seem to feel that they need less grace because they have met with some worldly success. That they, by nature of hard work, connections, or just luck, have been blessed with all that they need.

We all need grace, but God’s plan is that “the least of these” are recipients of the grace that flows all the way down to them- in abundance. I don’t know where you fall in seeing yourself as a recipient of God’s grace. You may feel lost or overlooked. You may feel hopeless. However, especially at this time of year, when we celebrate the start of the Kingdom work of Jesus coming to earth, know that his grace is free and abundant to all.

It flows downhill.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace so abundant, Amen.

But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.                                                                            Psalm 9:18

It only takes a few minutes in starting to read the Sermon on the Mount for one to see that Jesus came to give a message to those who were hurting. He assumed that the people who were drawn to him were drawn because they could see that he gave a message of hope. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn”, etc. These were hurting people. They needed his attention, and they needed to hear about hope.

The fact that Jesus was so particular, and so direct, in giving a message of hope to those hurting people should be the message that his followers hear. Those are the marching orders for his followers.

So, the gospel message is one of hope, not fear, not destruction, not division, but hope. Let’s follow the Master’s lead in spreading that message.

Prayer: Lord, help us to have clarity about your simple message, Amen

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law Galatians 4:4

This Christmas season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the visible manifestation of God. He came to earth to fulfill the covenant that God had made with people. In ancient days, Hebrew men had been instructed to become circumcised as a symbol of their obedience to God- a mark that they were his people. That symbol, of course, was not visible to others. It was an act of obedience to indicate allegiance to God as his people.

The mark of God, in the fulfillment of his covenant in Jesus, is love of others. Not that the Hebrew people weren’t loving people- indeed they were. Yet in that distant and ancient culture, those who were “in the tribe” were the ones who were to be accepted. Those outside the tribe were viewed with suspicion- understandable when the Hebrews were a minority people often not accepted and persecuted by others in their culture.

Jesus was the visible manifestation of God’s love for mankind. It is now our mission to spread that mission to the world.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be the messengers of the presence of Jesus and his mission to love the world, Amen

Adulting: the act or practice of attending to the ordinary tasks required of a responsible adult.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word aptly spoken.                                Proverbs 25:11

“You don’t get credit for just being an adult!” That’s what one of my clients said to me the other day. What she meant was, just performing the ordinary tasks of daily life- laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, her day job, etc.- was not a reason to give herself credit. On the one hand, I agreed with her. Yes, these are the expected tasks of adults to maintain a household. However, when you add that to other stresses, such as relational problems, health problems, lack of sleep, depression, or lack of social support, you find that just keeping up with “adulting” can be a significant achievement.

She was unable to see that. Given her current situation, just keeping up with her daily chores was indeed an accomplishment. I pointed out to her that it was not about being given “credit”, but accepting that she is performing well despite some very difficult current circumstances. Often, we cannot see what others see in us. Timely encouragement, from an objective point of view can be incredibly helpful.

Prayer: Lord, help us to give encouragement to others who cannot give it to themselves, Amen

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe                                  Hebrews 11:1-2

The writer of Hebrews tells his readers that in the past, prophets were the ones who interpreted God’s message to people. That changed when God sent his son, Jesus, to earth to be the messenger of the Father’s grace and forgiveness. Amazingly, or perhaps not so amazingly, that messenger of good news and forgiveness was killed. Seems like we just cannot handle new plans when we are so wedded to old concepts and ideas.  

Jesus knew that would be his fate, yet he decided to come to earth to redeem the people he and the Father loved so much. As we open up the official celebration of Christmas today, the First Sunday of Advent, let us also recall that the sweet helpless newborn we celebrate on Christmas Day, came for the express purpose of Good Friday, and later Easter.

That is the real good news!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the wonder of Christmas, and the miracle of redemption, Amen

For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.                                                              Hebrews 9:15

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, we also are recognizing that his birth brought about a new covenant. The Old Testament was based upon a covenant of law. The laws of Moses set forth the ways in which people could relate to and understand God. Law was an important concept because it made people aware of the awe and wonder of an omnipotent God. It spelled out the need to honor and worship God and ways to behave that would mark “his people”. It was also practical in the sense of the hygienic laws which were protective in an age before the understanding of microbes and bacterial infections.

The Old Testament explained a legal relationship with God. The New Testament explained a different way to exist in the world as a people of God. Whereas Jews believed that adherence to the law made them the promised people, followers of Jesus were identified as his people by how well they loved others. Let us be clear that our Jewish brothers and sisters share an important spiritual heritage with Christians. No one is excluded from the love that God has shown through his son.

The Jewish followers were understandably culture shocked by Jesus. The new relationship of simply loving one another was such a shock that even today, many miss the point. The celebration of Christmas is an attempt to show love for others by our gift giving, our celebrations, our “Joy to the World”.

So, at Christmas we recallthe message of Jesus by how we treat one another. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a Christmas mindset all year?

Prayer: Lord, help us to share that “Joy to the World” year-round, Amen

…We write this to make our joy complete                   I John 1:4

I attended the Christmas party today for New Creation Counseling Center where I still contract to do counseling. What a blessing to see the growth and impact of this Center! We shared some of our favorite Christmas traditions. In doing so, the desire to recapture the days of our youth and the warmth of family gatherings was evident.

During the Christmas season we stop and cherish old family traditions of food, seasonal practices, movies we watch, places that we go, activities that we attend, friends that we visit. All of these things are rituals which give us a sense of stability and predictability. It helps us to feel grounded in so many ways, including honoring the object of our faith, Jesus.

So, my dear friends, I was reminded very recently of the brevity of life as we experienced the death of a brother-in-law. Remember to celebrate each day, and determine for yourself that this Christmas season will be one of joy, a celebration and remembrance of traditions, and the value of family.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the birth of your son, and the celebration that it brings, Amen