Again

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.  I sit watching the news as the NY stabbing in a home at a Jewish rabbi during Hanukkah  is described only to hear of another hate crime in a church against in Texas. Will it ever stop!! Heinous crimes like these, and others that have occurred this past year, have just been more than a person can bear. Some days I can hardly stand to watch the news.

I agree with the news reporter that these incidents are not only about the individuals who committed the crime but the corruption that spreads and spreads, like a fire being fanned. More and more individuals think harming others by word or action is acceptable. This must stop.

I don't have an answer, in fact I don't think there is any simple answer.  I do believe, though, that if each of us worked on becoming the best person we could, the world might be a kinder, gentler, more loving and respectful world. There are so many ways to do it but each of us must figure out what that means for us individually.

Our language has gotten outright aggressive toward others beginning at the very top of society.  Yes, I mean our very president!  What a horrible example! Changing how we speak to one another might be a very good beginning. 

Finding and funding treatment for drug and mental health issues might offer help for those who desperately need it. Deepening one's spirituality: one's relationship with self, others and God/the divine also brings wonders. 

To live in a community, to be a person of a particular color, creed, sexuality, etc. etc. and to fear for your life and safety...no one should have to experience this!  The song, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" comes to me as I write this.  How can each of us be an instrument of peace in this new year? 

Yes, it's very easy to say, "Happy New Year" but seriously, how about really doing something concrete each day to make that happen...will it begin with you and me? Consider it, do it.  Don't just say it. 

A Phone Call

Have you ever been in a situation and wondered why in the world was it happening to you and what good could come of it?  Well, today is Christmas Eve day and I called a friend of mine only to hear him say his wife was being transferred to a rehab facility this afternoon.  The rest of the details don't matter for this short space but all of a sudden I realized the journey that has transpired in my life lately was offering a "gift" to my friend now.

In fact, that gift to him will also enrich my days ahead, also. Amazingly so, this transpires on a day when we welcome a newborn baby, Jesus, born in a stable and was laid in a manger. He was poor, amidst barn animals...not even among other family or friends.

My friends too, today, are not among any family or friends as they transition from acute care to assisted living. They are going to a strange place, have no comforts of home, are fearful and uncertain of the thoughts of a new environment. Yet, my phone call to them came as he was to drive north to the hospital to meet her.  I was able to offer words of comfort hopefully.  Will meet up with them later today at the facility.

Courtesy of Pixabay

I connect the dots from the birth of that little infant Jesus, helpless and needing to be cared for by his parents.  Even his parents, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, needed to trust in God's guidance and care. Today, thinking back to this scene gives me hope that there is nothing going on in my/our world that those parents and their child do not understand.

And here we are, each of us, able to offer strength and hope to others, often because of our own struggles, helping others to be comforted in their own journey.  It brings me to such a sense of gratitude first of all for that first Christmas, secondly for the gift of my faith, and thirdly, for family and friends. 

I don't have to sit in a pity pot bemoaning things I don't have, but to be grateful for the gifts that I do have.  Oh, no, not the Christmas gifts under a tree but true gifts of being able to think of a friend, call up and wish Merry Christmas and have a door open that really offers something consoling to the person on the other end of the line. 

This is the real Christmas to me, knowing I have gifts and even though often not able to realize them at first, listen to God's guidance in a day and follow that star that leads me right where I'm supposed to be!  How about you?  Where does that star lead you? A phone call? To the biggest gift you could ever ask for? 

A blessed Christmas to each of you! Feel free to share this post with those you love, and those who love you. It may be a wonderful gift for them, too!

Calloused Knees

Yes, in less than a week Christmas will be here.  Friends and family alike seem to have the same refrain of, "Are you ready?" Some are ready, some not...some like me are still in the process! This has begged a bigger consideration for some, as well as for me, since this time is also Advent.  Christians prepare for the coming of Christ, which Christmas is all about. 

When Advent began I had lofty plans of getting "callouses" on my knees but for reasons beyond my control, I "flunked" Advent the first day!  My expectations were on the religious side and as simple as it seemed to me, didn't work! 

Then  I saw something that tripped my trigger.  It was a daily calendar of small, yet significant things I could do each day.  These suggestions caught my attention because the word "Awake" is a word that is found in music and liturgy at this time of year.  I could do small things like holding the door for someone, letting a person go ahead of me in the grocery line, or even being aware of smiling kindly at someone.  Being conscious, or "awake" and aware is giving Advent a new energy for me this year. I no longer feel like I have flunked Advent!

So, I know this little perspective may have been more useful to some of my readers a few weeks ago but it's never too late to "prepare ye the way" for this wonderful day next week.  It's not so much about just God taking the form of man as a newborn but how do each of us prepare for God to be born in us, for that new life to come alive in us.

Courtesy of Pixabay

It's amazing that the thought of "calloused knees" no longer gets my attention these days.  Consciously offering to hold the door open and being generous and complimentary to the waitress takes on new meaning.  Now I truly can say, "Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!"