It's Christmas Eve.
I have a 4 p.m. service to do.
Charlie and Ann, from the church, pay a man to drive me on Christmas Eve. Very thoughtful and generous of them.
There will be a much bigger crowd than the 20 or so we average.
Christmas Eve brings folks to church.
I hope your day and tomorrow are full of wonder and joy--with some thoughtfulness and prayer mixed in.
Joyous Christmas Eve!
The stuff Trumpie is doing makes it hard to watch the news.
People being arrested and deported for no reason--some of them citizens.
The bombing of 'drug boats'--with no proof of any drugs.
The health costs some are going to experience next year.
Renaming buildings after himself.
Ignoring laws and not releasing all the Epstein files when ordered to by Congress.
And watching members of the administration being questioned in congressional hearings and lying or refusing to answer the questions.
It's all too much.
And that's not all of it.
At least he's gone so far that MAGA seems to be tearing at the seams.
God help us.
We need good news....
Tomorrow is the day we put out our garbage and re-cycling. It will be picked up early Wednesday (unless Christmas Eve is a holiday for the workers).
That was my job for years.
But Bern has been doing it for months because of all my health issues.
I hope to change that tomorrow.
I'm hoping she'll let me try,
I'm pretty sure I'm up to it.
Here's hoping.....
(I wrote this for Advent 3 but snow cancelled church that Sunday.)
12/21/2025--As Good As It Gets
Imagine this. You woke up this morning and the sun was shining bright. It was 71 degrees and a middle-of-the-night rain left the flowers and grass and bushes in your yard well-watered and looking great.
You have your favorite breakfast and everyone you love calls or comes by to see how you are and to wish you a great day.
Your bank calls and tells you your investments have gone up 25% over night. Your doctor calls and says the test he did all turned out great--you're as healthy as you've ever been. Plus the TV stations have changed their offerings and all your favorite shows are on whenever you want to watch. A neighbor has washed and vaccumed your car and filled it with gas. You check the lottery ticket you bought yesterday and find out it's a winner.
Today is as good as it gets! All is well and all is well and all manner of things are well!
Today's collect says, "Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us...."
Today's readings echo what God's power can do among us.
Isaiah says: "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,/the desert shall rejoice and blossom;/like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,/and rejoice with joy and singing..../Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees./Say to those who are of a fearful heart,/'Be strong and do not fear.'"
Then the Psalm tells us: "Who gives justice to those who are oppressed/and food to those who hunger?/The Lord sets the prisoners free./the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;/the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;/the Lord loves the righteous;/the Lord cares for the stranger;/he sustains the orphan and widowed."
And in Matthew's gospel, Jesus sends this message to John the Baptist, who is in prison: "Go and tell John what you hear and see; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them."
Perhaps, as we await the birth of the Christ Child, we should look for and find the GOOD in life--what is positive, what gives hope, what points to the Wonder that is God.
Perhaps we must see the Positive and correct the negative by doing all we can to bring all people into the light.
Perhaps we should assume that all is well, all is well, all manner of things are well...and do all we can to repair what isn't well.
Perhaps that is our calling as the Body of Christ in the world.
Perhaps....
Shalom and Amen.
Less than a week now.
I've written my sermons for Advent 4 and Christmas Eve.
I still haven't heard back about the gifts I bought from WorldVisions which is where I gave animals for those in need for Bern and our children and grandchildren.
I hope it comes before Christmas so I can show them what I donated in their names.
We shall see.
At least, no snow.
Yet...
I probably told you this already--but I'm always cold.
I think it's because I grew up in an apartment in Anawalt, West Virginia that had a coal stove in the living room, but no heat anywhere else.
It was over a grocery store, so the floor was warm until the store went out of business and our apartment got colder.
Our bathroom had only a small electric heater. Cold there too!
The year I went off the college my parents moved to Princeton, WV and bought a house with central heat.
Ask me if I've forgiven them....
So, my chill factor is from childhood.
I have a heater beside me as I write this and one by my side of the bed.
But chill follows me wherever I go....
Who am I kidding?
I am old! 78, I think, if I did the math right.
But what bugs me is watching kids walking home from school looking at their I-phones and not the traffic.
I see it all the time.
A young teen almost walked in front of my car today because he was watching his phone and not the road.
I have a 'dumb phone'. It takes calls and I can make calls, but not even a way to leave a message.
I like it like that.
And I only look at it when it rings--not all the time.
Maybe I'm getting old--but smart phones are a threat to us all....
