It's the most, cra-azy time, of the year.

[Jens]

Can't you just hear that as a Christmas song? 

I deleted part of a post from another thread, and thought I would post it here in case others wanted to comment.

This time of year exhausts me!  Everybody is so busy buying things, things that in most cases nobody really needs, that they forget about the meaning of it all.  If you are Jewish, you are deeply grateful for God's goodness and grace, and the fact that he never gives up on those he loves.  It isn't about eight days of presents that will most likely be completely forgotten about in six months.  It is quite simply about one day of oil that miraculously burned for eight (everybody who is Jewish, don't demonize me for not talking more about Judah Maccabee, etc, just summarizing).  On that note, never wait to insulate!  I didn't insulate our attic, because $400 was a lot of money that could go to something else, and I would take care of it "when the time comes".  Well, the time came, and we couldn't afford $400!  Our utility bill for November was $400!  I reached out through Craigslist, and was blessed enough to get a call from a restaurant owner (a restaurant called Ephesus...like Ephesians from the Bible, won't even start with the communal help passages!), who gave us 2/3 of the insulation we needed that was in his basement for a year because he, "just had a feeling that someone could use it".  Then a dear friend, who makes little more than we do tithed us $120 to buy the rest.  So now we only have to come up with big bill money. 

Back on track...if you are celebrating Christmas (whether you claim to be Christian or not), the reason that you have a holiday to celebrate has nothing to do with reindeer, trees, or Gimbals, it is because on a cold night 2000 years ago the world was graced with a gift from God.  A person who came to tell us that we are free and loved!  Not oppressed and held in contempt by a god who is largely indifferent to our suffering and toil.  On the contrary, God is a loving father, one who not unlike human fathers, has to let his children suffer, and give them the freedom to make their own choices and mistakes.  Because He knows that through our mistakes we will learn (hopefully) and grow.  Our suffering is actually a display of his love, in that he suffers with us along this bumpy road called life.  Any parent would probably agree with me, that it is one of the hardest things to watch your child suffer and fail, yet we have to let them.  It would be so easy to just step in and stop everything bad from happening, but progression would be stifled. 

Whether Chanukah, or Christmas, this time of year is about celebrating communion with each other.  Being together and thankful for God's grace.  Thinking about others more than ourselves (the root of present giving), taking care of the poor, the widow, the fatherless among you as it is ordered in scripture.  Not showing off the size of one's pocketbook, or the might of the credit system and its willingness to let one destroy himself.  There is an old saying that goes, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  I twist that when thinking about this time of year to be, "if you don't have anything nice to buy, don't buy anything at all."  "It's the thought that counts" they say, but most gift giving this time of year has little thought involved.  Don't get me wrong, we buy Christmas presents for our kids, and Santa gives them gifts, but they must always be gifts of value.  Not $$$, but value.  Most of the time they each get a handmade gift, and just a few store bought items.  But we will not buy things just to buy.  I am not trying to put us up on some self-righteous platform, just teach, because my Father has put it in my heart to do so. 

I didn't set out to write a sermon, or to preach, but I feel that this has as much relevance to the subject of this thread as any piece of furniture.  God bless you all, and keep you in high spirits during this holiday season.  And may the season find you filled with the joy and splendor that was meant when the holidays started.  Those of you who grieve over the loss of loved ones, I grieve with you, but rejoice in the life that they lived, and the love that they still receive, even after their passing.  Those of you suffering from loss of relationship, or the hardship of a change of life, I suffer with you, but appreciate that life is constant change and is never as difficult in retrospect as it seems in the present. 

Shalom, Salaam, "peace man"

[NM_Shooter]

Thanks Jens, you too.

Here's hoping that this thread stays tight. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Preach on, Jens.