December 25, 2023 a thought for the day, A light burden's heavy if far borne. English Proverb

My first upload for December 24th was “lights”. So far this month we have had photo uploads including lights several time. So I wanted to make it a little bit different and a little more interesting so I added some movement to the creation and capture of the image. These are my Christmas tree lights with an add flare. 

The second upload for yesterday was “together”. I used an image from my archives for this entry. We aren’t all together in one place as much as we once were. Families grow and others enter our lives to share moments with us. So time together has to be planned when it can be.

My third upload for yesterday was “Christmas: reflect”. This is one of my great grandsons on one of his first Christmases. So, for me, it is a reflection of the past with him and what his future may be becoming. 

Life today. Yesterday was our “candle light service” at our normal Sunday service time. For me it was as meaningful as if it were held at 7:00 or midnight. The meaning is the same, the lowered sanctuary lights were strong in sending the message of darkness as the candles slowly illuminated the dark. There were the times in the messages of the songs that took my breath (and my tears). All in all a perfect beginning to recognizing and honoring the reason for the season.

I woke up as many did with childhood memories of past Christmas morning. Mornings when the kids were waiting upstairs to be called down or waiting for Bill to get home from a 24 hour shift at the firehouse for the two of us to spend with the kids. It’s a much different morning. No kids in the house. My sister is still sleeping. The house is quite. So it is a lonely morning of reflection. As the minutes passed I have started getting text message and a phone calls wishing me a happy day, and the sun, God’s light, is getting brighter by the minute.

My first image for today is called “my Christmas day”. As you all know I am an animal lover. All the animals around me on this day as all others are important parts of my life. Today they weren’t the lambs, cattle and other creatures that were with Jesus at His birth but I had several others around me. This one is a hairless sphinx cat, one of my fur(less) grand babies. He, pardon me (I was politely corrected, by my great grand son that he is a she) is trying to stay warm on this winters day.

I will be spending a couple of hours with my daughter and her husband, my granddaughter and her husband and great grand son and daughter, one of my grandson’s and others who may show up.  During the rest of the season I will be seeing the rest of my hearts loves. All in all the remembrance of my God and His love is stirred and relit for my 84th year even through the changes the years have brought me. The day’s canvas is different from years the past. Different from waking as my parents waited, and the years my children waited for this special day to begin. But all with the same meaning even today, maybe especially today. 

Well, I’m going to get ready for my daughter to pick me up.

The second upload for today is “Christmas?”. This tree is one that has graced our narthex. The angel on top is Christmas....a major symbol of the day.

The word for today is Christmas.  I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Charles Dickens. Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection. Pindar.  For it is in giving that we receive. Francis of Assisi.  Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. Washington Irving.  A good conscience is a continual Christmas. Benjamin Franklin.  Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both, Phillips Brooks.  Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home! Charles Dickens.  I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep! The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men!” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself, Charles Dickens. Good news from heaven the angels bring, Glad tidings to the earth they sing: To us this day a child is given, To crown us with the joy of heaven. Martin Luther.  There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas, Charles Dickens.  How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts! Benjamin Franklin . The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records is the fact of-Christ's birth. Charles Spurgeon.  He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute. Saint Augustine.  Come to earth to taste our sadness, he whose glories knew no end; by his life he brings us gladness, our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend. Leaving riches without number, born within a cattle stall; this the everlasting wonder, Christ was born the Lord of all. Charles Wesley. 

My third upload today is “Christmas: highlights”. This another of my great grandsons on one of his early Christmas’s. I see his attention to his new delights in life as a look into the future. It is my wish for him and all my human “babies” (no matter the age) to be as amazed with all the “newnesses” that come with life......that always come. 

A story. This is probably the best time of year for this story. “Ever wonder what happens to unsold Christmas trees?” It begins with sharing the fact that not all Christmas trees gets the “tinsel and ornament experience”,,,, they get left behind on the tree display field “hoping for a Charlie Brown treatment that doesn't come”. One owner of a Christmas tree lot said that after Christmas they “immediately lose all of (their) its value and has no shelf life," He feels that even thought “they are no source of revenue” there are ways they can contribute to good use. The owner of the lot says that they, this particular lot, is “involved in the "entire lifecycle" of the holiday tree”. One of the ways they have contributed the use of the left over (forgotten) tree was to send them to “help rebuild coastlines in the wake of storms and erosion”. Now they are working with farmers to “recycle the trees as feed and as mulch”. They are having a problem getting others to join in this recycle and other useful ways of depositing the trees, there is no “central network” for this. A Facebook page was established for this purpose. (Side note: see how Facebook can be beneficial to our society?) A way for the general public to help with their used trees is to use a curbside pick up or take them to drop-off locations. The article even mentioned that some Boy Scout troops offer a pick up service. Yard waste is another source of disposal. 

Dinner will be catch as catch can due to the huge and wonderful Christmas meal at Natalie and John’s house. 

Joy

                           Christmas morning traffic