Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

LOVE John 3:16-17 Pathway to Heaven by Mark Bradford As a small child, I learned "Silent Night, Holy Night" by heart.  In verse 3, I heard and sang, "Son of God loves pure light."  It's been only recently, that I've really looked at the printed lyric and realized that it's "Son of God, love's pure light."  What a difference that apostrophe makes.  Without that apostrophe, it sounds as if Jesus came into the world to find the pure and perfect.  With the apostrophe, Christ is described as a gift of God's unconditional, perfect love for us.  " “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  (John 3:17) Today we're going to open that gift of God's saving love. Christmas mornings at our home when I was a child was agonizing!  My sister, Paula, and I were under strict orders ...

Nehemiah 8:9-10             And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the  Lord  your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.  Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our  Lord ; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the  Lord  is your strength.” Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light Radiant beams from Thy Holy Face With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth! Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth! "Silent Night, Holy Night"; Words:  Joseph Mohr; Lyrics: Franz Xaver Gruber; 1818. Friday, December 21, is the first day of winter and the longest night of the year.  With the dawn of December 22, we look forwa...

Luke 1:26-18, 2:8-14;  John 14:27    Silent Night, Holy Night. Shepherds quake, at the sight.  ("Silent Night, Holy Night, verse 2; Words:  Joseph Mohr, Lyrics:  Franz Xaver Gruber; 1818) When we say, "Peace be with you," what kind of peace are we talking about?  Peace, like the absence of war and conflict?  Peace and quiet, like a cabin by lake in the middle of the woods or that time in the morning before the rest of the world is up for the day?  Or peace of mind, when we fall asleep without a care in the world because we're safe and warm in our homes and all is right with the world? The problem with those kinds of peace is that they're all temporary.  At any moment, they can be disturbed by what I call "Holy crap!" events.  That's when everything seems to be under control and my future seems secure, and something happens, and my life is turned upside down. Mary had one of those "Ho...

Psalm 23:5-6 Disconsolation:  adjective, without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable; causing dejection; cheerless; gloomy.       Dictionary.com -- https//www.dictionary.com/browse/disconsolation When I was a second grade teacher, answering the questions of children was so much easier.  I could tell them why the sky was blue and why it rained with simplified scientific explanations.  When one of my students came to me sobbing, I was able to assure her that, despite what her little friends told her, the tooth she swallowed would not chew her stomach up with a basic overview of the human gastro-intestinal system.  Everything, I told her, would work out in the end, and the tooth fairy would understand because this kind of thing happened all the time. It was easy to help them discover the answers for themselves ("That's an interesting question.  Let's look it up together!") or ask leading questions to awaken empathic think...

Isaiah 9:2 John 1:1-5 Advent:  the arrival of a notable person, thing or event, like the 200th anniversary debut of the Christmas hymn, "Silent Night, Holy Night.  On Christmas Eve in 1818, Father Joseph Mohr, the young priest of St. Nicholas parish church in Obendorf discovered that the church organ was broken.  Stories differ on the cause -- some say it was mice and others say it was rust.  At any rate, Father Mohr realized that there was little chance of fixing the instrubent before the evening service.  So, he pulled out a poem he had written several years before called "Stile Nacht" and took it to the schoolmaster and organist of a nearby town, Franz Xaver Grueber.  Grueber wrote a melody to accompany the poem for guitar.  Just in time for the Christmas Eve service, Gruber had the music written, and the hymn was played for the first time that night. With the help of this beloved hymn,  celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,  we're...