Our mission, as God-fearing and God-loving patriots, is to defend this Constitutional Republic and to increase its greatness, in all good things and ways, by using our voices in free but courteous speech, by discussing the happenings of the world and coming to a profound understanding of those things, and by sharing and promulgating these Truths on both this platform and others.
The Nativity of the Lord December 25, 2019 “The Way Through Hardship and Struggle”
Is 9:1-6 Tit 2:11-14 Lk 2:1-14
My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –
No matter what we do or how we plan, life always seems to be a struggle. Even if things seem easy for the moment – often, that moment is very short-lived.
There are many different areas in which we can struggle. We can have difficulty physically, emotionally, interpersonally, financially, and spiritually – because human beings are complex creatures. And because life, itself, is also complex, what others do around us or in the world always has an impact upon us! Consequently, it is easy to get angry, discouraged, and depressed – because the struggle is on-going.
Unfortunately, it is a very human tendency to make our problem someone else’s problem or responsibility. Hence, we often try to blame others for our difficulty. Moreover, it’s all too easy to resort to selfish measures to make things better for ourselves!
However, God did not make us this way. God created us for joy, bliss, and love. The world and human life become such a struggle because, originally, we wanted to be supreme ourselves. We wanted things our own selfish way and the result was a broken world!
No one escapes the hardships and the struggles of life. But the solution is not violence toward others or nihilism in ourselves. The solution is always to look to God – and to the one God sent.
Jesus came to teach us how we must live amid all that life throws at us. Moreover, those close to Jesus, or to God Himself, witness for us how we must become in our own soul and spirit.
Mary and Joseph certainly had it rough – a grueling journey of 90 miles on foot, from Nazareth to Bethlehem – no available accommodations – or even a suitable place to give birth. Temporarily homeless, they found a stable for the night, and Mary had to use a feeding trough with straw as a crib for her newborn son. Nevertheless, they made the best of things and rejoiced in the birth of their son and in each other’s mutual love.
The shepherds were, basically, homeless people who had a worse than minimum wage kind of job. Dirty, unkempt, unwashed, bedraggled, ostracized, and unwanted everywhere – they were the ones to whom the angel came and who heard the heavenly choir. Having nothing, they were given the priceless gift of meeting the Savior who would prepare a place for them beyond the hardships and struggles of this world.
In all likelihood, life did not change for the shepherds after their divine encounter. But they were changed. They were empowered to survive their hard life with a new grace, a new purpose, and a new hope!
Brothers and Sisters, God did not send His Son into the world to change the status quo of its brokenness or to eliminate our struggle for existence. God sent His Son to show us how to bear with the hardships of life. Jesus came to enable us to change the kind of person we are. The peace of which Isaiah speaks and the elimination of violence will be in the world to come. Yet it can exist in our hearts and spirits, even now – today and every day – Because Jesus truly is the Wonder-Counselor, the God-Hero, the Father-Forever, and the Prince of Peace!
However, as St. Paul urges, we must reject all that is godless in our lives and hearts – all that is worldly and unworthy of us. We must try to live as true disciples of Jesus – Jesus who is everything and who gives us more than we can ever imagine! Since, as someone once said: “Life is a struggle toward greater being”, we must truly become people who are eager to do all that is good for others and for the world. This is incumbent upon us, even though so many others and the world are resistant and even hostile to God and to the gift that God sent in Jesus.
So, let us pray on this wonderful day that we can allow the grace and the mystery of Christmas to touch us and change us – May we see and hear and understand what we did not before – May we have a newfound hope – And may we face the hardships and struggles of life as did Jesus and countless others who have gone before us!
Along with the preparation of Thanksgiving nibbles, last minute business, unexpected visitors, I read today where Dep had major power outage. In the background, we see “bomb cyclones”, two of them, working their way across the states. Hope you guys are okay, safe and sound, with family.
But it reminded me of all the travel escapades around the holidays. Years later, we look back and laugh, although at the time, we were in what seemed like dire circumstances. Eventually, we muddled through, and arrived at our destinations…. with a great story to share.
The very first travel nightmare I recall was picking up Dad at O’Hare Airport. Mom was “world’s worst driver”. O’Hare was under construction, as it always is. The snow was stacked and brown-gray making everything monotone, except Mom’s turquoise blue Comet.
I remember counting, waving to my Dad 8 times, as we rounded the circle again, and again, because Mom was too skittish to change lanes in the snow. It was my first hint of problems traveling in winter weather.
The long car rides and airport delays were another issue entirely, as we became adults. Rushing to visit with extended family, presents and/or food in the car, adds tension. These are the best stories. Please feel free to add stories of YOUR family adventures.
The best story I have about holiday travel was over Christmas, and thus I will schedule this story to publish on Christmas Eve. We were leaving Logan Airport in Boston, returning to Memphis Airport on Christmas Eve. Gunner was 7yrs old.
Here we go, and a Very Merry Christmas to you all:
Big T and I were dating, still in the midst of prolonged divorces, fighting with our exes, but we were happy. Gunner and I were in Boston from Dec 17th -24th. We had Christmas with the girls, hosted and attended several parties, night at Boston Ballet, everything was terrific. I was mandated to return Gunner to his Dad, late on Christmas Eve, as all the out of town cousins n Dad’s side were in Mississippi and waiting on him for their festivities. Sounded like a good plan. We had it worked out well in advance.
We booked the 2:30pm flight out of Boston, a flight we had taken dozens of times before, direct, no problem with chance of delay on a layover. Our plan was to drop off Gunner when we returned and attend a Christmas Eve HUGE gourmet dinner at a girlfriend’s house. Big T bought a 6lb live lobster, and pounds of white asparagus for the occasion. We were bringing the “surf” for the “surf and turf dinner”. I had a clothing bag with Big T’s tuxedo and my gown. We were perfectly organized…. when everything went downhill.
To close up the little house in Boston was a bit of a process. We cleaned out the fridge, washed all linen, moved some furniture, as we would not be back for months. Goodbyes to all the neighbors and we left for the airport.
Along the way, we realized Gunner would come home on Christmas Day and we had no “Santa” presents for him at the Mississippi house, only presents wrapped from family. We made a last minute stop at Toys R Us, and somehow distracted Gunner to buy a few items, and munchies for his stocking.
At the airport, we breezed through checkin and settled into the boarding area. There was a 30 minute delay, but we boarded the small plane, ready to taxi out. We were sitting in our seats when the announcement came.
The problems started. Our flight crew came in from Indianapolis and exceeded legally allotted flying hours, so they could not take us to Memphis without permission from corporate. We had to disembark the plane, with no luggage. Northwest assured us another flight crew was coming, small delay, same plane. An hour passed, no flight crew. Gate agent was frustrated and claimed “no one is answering at ‘home office’ because it is Christmas”. Well, about 40 people whipped out their cell phones at the same time. We would be happy to call the President of NW Airlines on Christmas Eve.
Eventually the flight was cancelled, but there was ONE MORE flight out. We all raced back to the main gate agents to scrounge for seats.
…..Which meant I had to call my ex-husband and explain why Gunner would not be there at the appointed time, for Christmas Eve dinner. I dreaded the phone call. He was a jerk, of course, and blamed me, taking the opportunity to be truly despicable. I listened to him drone for a while, then snapped, and reminded him that if he had not come home with a sexually transmitted disease, I “probably wouldn’t be in effing Boston this Christmas“…. furthering challenging him to explain THAT ONE to his cousins. Dead silence.
Girlfriend who was hosting the elaborate dinner was gracious and understood completely.
With Big T still back at the plane trying to retrieve our luggage and Gunner the 7yr old running through the concourse like a wild kid, I approached the ticket counter to try to book seats on the remaining flight. It was bedlam at the counter.
The ticket agent was at her wits end, but I was ready to shoot the messenger. Tension at an all time high, and I did not handle it well. She shot her mouth off and me and my eyes narrowed. I was so close….. A manager finally stepped in. All he could offer me was a flight the next day…… and an overnight room at the Airport Hilton…….. on Christmas Eve……… with a 7yr old…… waking up to Santa Claus on Christmas morning……. at an Airport Hilton.
I damn near fainted….. and started to cry…. and I hardly ever cry, but I was overwhelmed with the sheer volume, the confab of events, beyond my control.
Through my teeth, sneering at the manager, “Santa Claus doesn’t come to an Airport Hilton!”
About that time, Big T rounded the corner with a cart piled high with 7 suitcases. He needed 12 arms to keep it all together as he was moving fast and swinging wide. Be damned if that perishable box wasn’t perched on top for the Lobster. It was funny. He looked funny….., and changed my mood entirely. Big T does that for me, centers me, one of the reasons I love him so much.
The emotions of my fellow travelers in line were swinging like a wrecking ball on a crane. Compared to those around me, I was the calm one. In a flash, I accepted the situation and was already thinking about what to do next. How were we going to salvage Christmas? We needed a miracle.
Gunner joined Big T and helped with suitcases. Big T was concerned because he thought I was crying…. He was still breathless and stressed, but I had already moved on to the next step. I leaned in and whispered, “I’m working it. I want more credit.” He took a few steps back and looked at me, perplexed. I think he was almost scared of “manipulative” me at that point. But I had the manager, dead to rights, and I wanted blood…. in the form of free tickets.
An overnight airport hotel would never work for my 7yr old expecting Santa. “Over my dead body!”, I said at one point. We agreed to go back to the Boston house. Northwest called us a cab, paid for, but the luggage would not fit. We waited for a BUS to take us home…… to our closed up house.
Driving through the empty streets of Boston that Christmas Eve was surreal. By 8:30-9:00pm, everything was closed. We rode in silence for a long time, Christmas lights blinking in the windows and the occasional “whoosh” of tires hitting melted snow. It was cold and the windows were fogged up.
Finally, Gunner chimed in and said, “Hey mom, how will Santa know where I am? Won’t he expect me to be in Mississippi tomorrow morning?” Sheer terror went through me, from zero to 120mph. I only had 3-4 presents for him from Toys R Us, and chances were, he saw them. I couldn’t kill Santa Claus! Plus, we had no food in the fridge, I even gave away the eggs, the opened wine, liquor, everything.
Big T had a moment of divine inspiration. He turned to me and said, “You’ll have to call 1-800-Santa and reroute your presents.” I nodded, catching the drift of what he said. I pretended to call Santa’s workshop, “pressing “1” for English”. Gunner was fascinated but satisfied. He settled back into his bus bench, drifting off to sleep for the remainder of the ride. The back and forth of the windshield wipers were like a lullaby.
I called a girlfriend, to borrow liquor, and whine to her about my troubles. We stopped at an all-night doughnut shop so at least we had doughnuts for Christmas morning…. with our 6lb lobster. What the heck were we going to do with a 6lb lobster?
We arrived home, to our cold house, and Big T gingerly put Gunner to bed. The babe was exhausted. For some unknown reason, the Christmas tree was still up, and fully decorated. Good thing…. I plugged in the lights, praying for inspiration from Mrs. Claus.
And then, something magical happened.
We were standing at the kitchen peninsula, looking at each other, trying to figure out how badly we were screwed. Two girlfriends from down the street arrived in full Santa costume, with a LOT of liquor. They had been partying and wanted to share. Word of our troubles, a la George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, had spread through the neighborhood.
And they started coming, and they kept coming. By midnight, there were at least 30 people in the house. We cooked and ate the lobster, others brought extra food. Some, brought presents from under their kids trees, so Gunner would have presents from Santa……..
Wow. I’ve never been more grateful and humbled.
Best Christmas Eve, ever…….
The party didn’t break up until almost 3:00am. The guys took over a portion of the enclosed porch and assembled cart tracks, electric scooters, a grill, etc., smoked cigars and drank odd brandy until late into the night.
Christmas morning, Gunner beat me downstairs by two steps. He ripped into his packages, and Big T and I were just as surprised at what he received. Gunner loudly proclaimed, “It’s everything I ever wanted.” … like we planned it that way.
Neighbors dropped in with more food and gifts. It was a perfect clear blue sky morning in Boston. The kind of day which makes you squint your eyes but also makes your nose run. Another friend invited us to their Christmas luncheon as our flight would not leave until 2:30pm. After luncheon, we closed up the house again.
Big T and I were standing in the kitchen, Gunner in the bus with suitcases all ready to go. We were surveying the house to make sure everything was good, one last check. And as if God was watching and needed an exclamation point….. the Christmas tree fell over. It was eerie and it fell in slow motion. We looked at each other but didn’t speak. No time to clean it up. We closed the door and headed to the airport.
Flight went without incident until we got to Memphis.
There was an ice storm in Memphis and that airport is a huge hub. Suitcases were stacked all over the airport, and we could barely get out of the boarding area. To this day, I’ve never seen anything like the towers of suitcases which were everywhere. Temps had not risen and the ice was still on the ground. We had a heck of a time getting home, skidding on bridges. I later learned my in-laws totaled their car the night before, on the same bridge.
That was the year of endless Christmas for Gunner. He had Christmas with the girls, Christmas morning in Boston, Christmas with Dad’s side, and Christmas at our house.
I have no idea what I received that year, and Big T wouldn’t remember either, ……… but I’ll never forget my neighbors who were so kind when we were in need. They really came through when it mattered. I’ll carry that memory to my grave.
So, if you find yourself in a strange travel situation this year, take a breath, be kind. We barely remember the presents we receive, yet we do remember the actions of others.
Our well laid plans may go awry. When faced with no alternative, embrace the bedlam. Sometimes, not being in control allows better things to happen.
This year, Hanukkah is extra-special, because it coincides strongly with Christmas, beginning on sundown of December 22. And what better President than TRUMP to help us celebrate both Holidays!
Hanukkah isn’t a flashy holiday. It’s a quiet but important one – about keeping the faith, rekindling the faith, and celebrating the faith. So more than just being glad for Jews everywhere who will be celebrating – whoever you are – let me suggest that you think about taking a quiet moment to take in the Hanukkah spirit and renew your faith in God. Take your faith to the next level!
Good Morning, Q Treepers! Merry Christmas! I promised Plain Jane a recipe for her Prime Rib, but thought the recipe might get lost in the comments, meaning she would not see it. Therefore, a post might grab her attention. Yet, we can use this post as a recipe thread for all kinds of wonderful tidbits to share. Please feel free to post away and include your family favorites.
Here’s the Prime Rib
This is for Plain Jane – “How to cook the Prime Rib, from Karl, the old Milwaukee Butcher.” I received this recipe in the early 90’s, and we’ve done it this way for decades in our home with great success. Tried and true recipe = no fear.
The size of the roast makes no difference. Have Rib Roast at room temp; season well. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven and roast for one hour. Then, turn oven off.
DO NOT open the door for any reason.
Roast may sit this way for 4-5 hours. Turn oven back on when ready to serve. Roast 30 minutes for rare, and 40 minutes for medium rare.
Carve and serve at once.
Note: I take the Prime Rib out of the fridge, season with salt and pepper and fresh minced garlic….. then spray well with PAM, which seals juices and makes a nice crust. I let the roast stand on the counter for about an hour to rise to room temp, THEN put it in the oven on a rack with pan underneath. That way you get a crust, all the way around.
This is a good story about community spirit, appropriate for our Christmas season at Q Tree. Curl up with a hot coffee and join me.
Because we have a B&B, our annual holidays are little different than most families. Years and years of retirement parties, birthday celebrations, weddings, corporate events, etc., meant that the townspeople viewed our house as THEIR house, they are personally connected.
It set up a strange situation, both good and bad (not really ever bad). I live in a “goldfish bowl” where everyone knows my business, but on the other hand, “almost” everyone helps me to succeed… and often at the strangest times and in odd ways… because it’s “their house”, too. Does that make sense?
Our home is next door to the town’s school, and it’s the biggest house in town, a real beauty built at the turn of the last century. Yet, the house was abandoned for 24yrs when we bought it. Thus, a generation of townspeople wondered about the house, a grand dame, but dark and cold (and maybe haunted)…… until we moved in……. and ALL the lights were turned on.
After 6 months of a massive renovation, we opened for business in late September, with Christmas approaching. Yet, decorating such a large home was a monumental task. Women began to approach me, offers of help, wanted to work for me, because I needed help. I kept resisting, thought I couldn’t afford it, because I couldn’t afford it. Members of my local bank board licked their chops like a hungry wolves, quarreling amongst themselves, waiting for my pipedream to go bust, so they could buy my lovely home at a bankruptcy…. which only made me more determined to succeed.
There came a point were several women had …. what can only be described as….. “an intervention” …..with me. They forced their way into my lives and became a coven of girlfriends, staff members, aunts to my kids, a shoulder when I needed it, and a sort of sorority, a fierce clan of protectors. But it wasn’t just women, it was the men as well. If I needed something…. anything……. all I had to do was whisper……. and the word went out like a quiet firestorm, and suddenly….. that item would appear, often from a kind stranger, who became a friend. It was amazing, and would NEVER happen in large cities, but it did happen in small town Mississippi. I never really got used to the wonderment of it all, the kindness of strangers, but it happened over and over again.
Women bringing me things became commonplace. For instance, an old experienced gardener would show up, compliment my specific flower bed, but insist it needed “XYZ” flower in a corner, which she brought to me, usually in a WalMart sack. BECAUSE it wasn’t just my house, it was her flower bed as well, and she wanted to make it perfect. Stuff like that happened all the time.
But it was the men who were most surprising. The gentle giants surrounded me but were often silent. Cornstalks, cattails, fieldstone, river rock, cotton, clumps of daffodil bulbs as big as washtubs, Birdhouses, pumpkins, fresh field corn, and thousands of pounds of peaches, plums, beans, blueberries, and tomatoes, would suddenly appear from the ether, sometimes with a note if I wasn’t home. The bounty of their generosity and impeccable timing was astounding.
Yesterday, I told the story of the mistletoe. Mistletoe grows high up in oak trees and has to be shot down. My grandparents always had a sprig of mistletoe between the kitchen and dining room when I was a kid. Grandpa swept grandmother into his arms to dip her, and kiss her, to great fanfare at the most inappropriate times. She pretended to protest but loved it. Of course, we needed a sprig of mistletoe. It turned into an annual town hunt, at the opening of deer season, with presentation trophies (old trophies from the high school), for the biggest piece of mistletoe, which would be ceremonially hung with a big red velvet ribbon from the keystone on our wooden arch.
What I didn’t know was that the men became competitive about the Mistletoe Hunt. Mr. Elton had the biggest horse stables in 3 counties, huge farm. For months, he eyed one tree with what he was sure was a grand prize winning piece of mistletoe. His daughter told me the story…… He shot at the piece a few times and missed, but he was more afraid it would fall apart and lose berries. Mistletoe is fairly fragile. He sent a farmhand high up into the tree to manually cut it down, but that didn’t work. So, he chopped down the whole tree….. Mr. Elton won that year, an old repurposed golfing trophy, and he could not have been more proud. We took his picture. He became a legend.
One year, we were working on Halloween, and I was upset with the high prices of colorful Indian corn in the grocery store, 3 ears for $2.99. We needed hundreds of them for what we wanted to do. I whined and moaned, but was grumbling about something I could not afford. We ended up doing something else. The following year, a local farmer brought me a truckload….. he planted 5 acres of the most beautiful Indian corn, small raspberry corn as well, and bushels of brightly colored gourds. Total surprise to me. He stayed for hours, and ate chicken salad, drinking iced tea, while the girls and I fussed all over him, and assembled the front door decorations. Mr. Ralph was thrilled and told everyone in town about “his” corn. Every now and then, strangers appeared on my front porch…… to see “Mr. Ralph’s corn” and take autumn pictures with their kids.
Another year, we planned a back to school party for the local teachers. I thought a front door surround of sunflower heads would be pretty. We thought about using artificial silk flowers but that was cost prohibitive…. We mulled over our options looking for something creative, we were stuck for a good idea. Three days later, the farmer’s co-op called, it was my buddy “Pork Chop”. He said, “Your sunflower heads are here……”. Huh? I never ordered any. I didn’t know there was such a thing as ordering sunflower heads. From Pork Chop, “Well, they’re here. Do you want to come and get them or do you want me to send him to your house?” We dropped everything and rushed down to the co-op.
We were twelve women, hugging and loving on a kind farmer, genuinely grateful, and our affection was a powerful force. Again, a whisper of a request went out, and a benevolent farmer, another county over, brought in a whole truck load, ready to dry, with seeds, and still had yellow petals. It was a gold mine….. and the birds… loved them. Walking through the door was like a Disney movie with all the birds around. When his wife died a few years later, the girls and I made the flowers, returning the kindness.
Sometimes we needed strange things. Once, we needed BIG acorns, for Christmas wreaths and decorations, preferably with the caps on, like the thumb-sized ones when I was a kid. Our house is surrounded by oak trees but we have small puny acorns. I mentioned it casually…. and forgot about it. About two weeks later, I was standing in the kitchen when one of the girls came back and said, “There’s a bunch of men here to see you.” I wiped my hands and went out front. In front of me were six of the dirtiest Marlboro-looking-men I’ve ever seen. They were so handsome they practically took my breath away, tall, rugged, strong men, but they were FILTHY and the image of them standing in our pristine parlor was a perfect picture of contrasts.
The smallest one, who was probably 6’2″ with deep blue eyes, spoke up, “Are you Miss Daughn?” I nodded, and could hear the girls giggling behind the archway like they were still in high school, looking at the guys….. He grabbed my arm a little too tightly and leaned into me in a whisper. For a flash of a moment, the thought of being ravaged by this man in my parlor was strangely appealing…… He said, “We found your tree.” I was confused. “What tree?”, I said. He replied, “Your tree with the big acorns, it’s a white oak. I looked it up, and we found one, plenty of acorns for you.” Shaken from my trance, I was thrilled, “Really?!??” The girls came out from behind the arch to join us. He was a lumberman and they were clear-cutting land nearby.
He said, “You have to come now though, because they’re cutting this afternoon. We’re only in town for lunch.” From one of the girls…. grinning from ear to ear……”We’ll be happy to make you boys some lunch and then follow you out to the land where the tree is.” And…… we did….. baskets of acorns, enough for years of supply.
The whole thing was bizarre. Six lumberman, completely unknown to us, removed their boots to dine at my table….. They looked like Knights of the Round Table who just completed a quest, for BIG acorns…… The chance of our meeting was even more noteworthy. Not only had our desire for big acorns gone out into the wind like a quiet firestorm, but strangers, handsome lumbermen, took the time to look up the SPECIFIC KIND of tree needed, and then, spent weeks looking for the particular tree we needed. Amazing…..no, THAT would never happen in Manhattan.
But nothing was better than the Yew, Holly, and Douglas Fir delivery.
I had it in my head that every corner where your eye falls, there should be something which was Christmas related but not overly fussy. With over a dozen artificial Christmas trees in the house, we still needed another layer, the fresh greens, rosemary, and the smell of Christmas. We did baskets of fresh greens, dozens and dozens of baskets, big and small. To get enough greenery, we cut down an overgrown boxwood at Grandma’s house, pilfered her magnolia tree with minivans full of greens, raided her neighbor’s holly bush, stripped another neighbor’s nandina berry bushes, cut down a 60′ tall cedar tree…. but we really needed Douglas Fir, mixed pines, and more holly. We needed the kinds of conifers which don’t grow in Mississippi.
Buying fresh Christmas trees was too expensive, but we went to the tree lots to negotiate. One lot manager told me to come back on Mondays. They often had a stack of branches, from trimming the trees up, and I could have a little bit. Back home, the parties we booked were requiring our raw materials, but the house was only about 1/4 finished. We needed MORE pine boughs, the pretty stuff, …. when Mr. Fred’s semi-truck arrived.
Mr. Fred was an over-the-road truck driver, the kind of wonderful man I would never have met in my former life. He was in his mid-50’s and had a Santa Claus belly. His wife was the aunt of one of our staff members. He returned from a run to…. I can’t remember where, but he came home “empty” which was unprofitable and unusual for a truck driver. Therefore, he brought us trees and bushes. Some were chopped down, but some still with the dirt on their roots. When he opened the back doors of the truck, small birds flew out. It was a miracle.
For days and weeks, we used the greenery Mr. Fred brought us. We had enough to be lavish with our stash. For years, Mr. Fred brought me pinecones, long and thin ones from California, big fat ones from Florida, and reindeer moss from the side of the road in Missouri, because he thought we would have fun playing with them. Mr. Fred was our Santa Claus.
In later years, Big T, hoped to replicate the bounty of natural greens for Christmas. Yet, he was returned to our home by a local constable with a good sense of humor. The forefathers frowned on trimming of their trees in local Boston, but allowed him to keep the boughs…. and they were beautiful. He loved me….. best Christmas gift, ever.
Is it odd, that as the years tick by, the Christmas gifts of gold and diamonds fade into the background? Yet, I long for the gifts of Indian corn, pumpkins, BIG acorns, rosemary, holly, and evergreens.
Indeed, the kindness of strangers is simple, heartfelt, long lasting, and priceless.
Isaiah 7:10-16 The Immanuel Prophecy 10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” 13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Prayer for Israel’s Restoration 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! 2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up Your strength, and come and save us! 3 Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! 4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in great measure. 6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. 7 Restore us, O God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! 17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!
Romans 1:1-7 Greeting 1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 1:18-25 Christ Born of Mary 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [literally, Savior], for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and kept her a virgin till she had brought forth her a Son. And he called His name Jesus.
4th Sunday of Advent December 22, 2019 “The Obedience of Faith”
Is 7:10-14 Rom 1:1-7 Mt 1:18-24
My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –
One of the challenges we continue to face throughout our life is to take good and sound advice when we are on the wrong track. Taking advice is often difficult because our minds can be pretty well made up before that advice is forthcoming. That advice might be how to do something in a better way. It might also be a warning against something that will do harm to ourselves or to others.
When we heed sound advice, we are usually pleased with a good outcome – or with the resolution of the problem we were facing. However, when we fail to take good advice, we have no one to blame but ourselves when we are faced with the negative consequences of our decision.
Some of the best advice we can receive sometimes comes directly from God Himself. God is continually calling us to good and better things. God speaks to us, often, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. However, this is usually a quiet or subtle intimation. But it can also be powerful and overwhelming as well!
Of course, the most difficult advice to accept is that which comes from someone we dislike – or from someone who opposes us on other levels. This was certainly the case of the advice given to King Ahaz in the passage from Isaiah today.
Prophets always call us to task – They usually face us with unwelcome truths! Israel and Syria wanted Judah to join their coalition against Assyria. Instead, Ahaz sought to be united with Assyria itself. However, this was not God’s way. God had a better plan – a hidden plan – which would, somehow, preserve the Chosen People of Judah. King Ahaz was even told to ask for a sign from God. But in his intransigence, he refused.
So God gave him a sign anyway. One of the maiden wives of Ahaz would conceive and bear a son. His name would be Emmanuel which means “God is with us.” God would not abandon the Chosen People – He would continue to be with at least the faithful few, the “Remnant”, – until the Eternal Emmanuel was born in their midst!
In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph is one of the greatest examples we can have of someone who listened to the voice of God and followed God’s plan. Mary, his betrothed, was pregnant with someone else’s child. Since betrothed couples had conjugal rights, any unfaithfulness was considered to be adultery, which was punishable with death by stoning.
However, Joseph was better than that. He planned to divorce Mary quietly – thus allowing her to marry whomever fathered her child. So God spoke to Joseph – and Joseph listened and obeyed. Being a truly good man, he, somehow, understood that God had a master plan that would save a sinful world – So Joseph accepted his new role as part of a mystery that required great faith and trust.
St. Paul was so conformed to the call of God in his life that he tells us that he is the slave of Christ Jesus. Initially, it took a vision and blindness to get Paul’s attention. However, it really changed the course of his life. Paul tells us that we must have the “obedience of faith”. The word “obedience” means “to listen, to harken and accept” – to implement what we have been told. And “faith” is our relationship with God. Faith is something intangible, beyond anything material – that we cannot even begin to describe!
Brothers and Sisters, the Child born to us in just 3 days will always make demands of us. His Gospel is truly Good News – but it requires much on our part. It requires that we are always open to what God asks us to do or be. Hopefully, we will not be like Ahaz who refused to listen, and lost everything. Instead, we are invited to be like Mary, our mother, who said “yes” to the angel of God – and like Joseph, who was unafraid to set his plans aside and embark upon a path only gradually revealed to him by God.
So, let us pray today, that we can listen and respond to God’s call in obedience – however and whenever it comes!
This 4th Sanctuary Sunday of Advent Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It is also a place to read, post and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
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In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
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With the Storm upon us…please remember to Pray for our President.
AND WHAT TIME IS IT? TIME TO….DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!
Our movement is about replacing a failed and CORRUPT political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. ~ Candidate Donald J. Trump
Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
On this day and every day –
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, you can find something here that will build you up a little . . . give you a smile . . . and add some joy, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
4th Sunday of Advent ~ Love
~ Love ~
Matthew 22:35-40 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole Law and the writings of the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Love – how important? So important that all of the Old Testament Law and all of the writings of the Old Testament prophets depend on it!
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Love – the characteristic that Christians must embody by which the world will recognize us!
1 Corinthians 13:13 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Faith, hope and love . . . all important! But the greatest of the three is love!
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
There is no greater love than Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
The culmination of Advent, after faith & hope, peace and joy is love, agapé love . . . and rightfully so. God’s agapé love for us is the reason for the entire existence of mankind.
Agapé love is a specific kind of love. It is founded in willful actions to put the welfare of others above yourself as in “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
An example: Empathy or sympathy may involve understanding of and emotion toward an old, frail bag lady struggling painfully up the stairs, but agapé love walks over to that foul-smelling lady and takes her bag and her arm and helps her up the stairs.
God chose us in Him before He laid the foundation of the earth and has destined us for a wondrous eternal future with Himself and Jesus. God’s plan, all that He has done from the Creation, through the Garden of Eden and all the events of the Old Testament; the birth, ministry, sacrifice, resurrection and 2nd coming of Jesus; through the events of Revelation . . . all of that leads to our eternity with God and Jesus . . . and has been and will be carried out because of God’s agapé love for us.
Why do I think it’s all because of God’s agapé love for us? Because “In love [agapé] He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.” In agapé, God planned each person’s existence, from birth through eternity, all before He laid the foundation of the earth.
“Wondrous eternal future” . . . what do we know about that? Well, certainly not a lot, but since “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has anyone imagined the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”, we can be assured it will be wondrous.
And since “The kingdom of God is . . . righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”, I think we can solidly plan on righteousness, peace and joy in God’s eternity.
We even have a foretaste of what we’ll be doing . . . God granted Jesus “authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
The word “know” (γινώσκω, ginóskó), used above, means to know, especially through personal experience. It will take an eternity, getting to know God, Who is omniscient, and Whose thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways His ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. And “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”.
“Take an eternity” . . . we shouldn’t overlook the enormity of this statement. “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years,”. We are only on this earth for an infinitesimally short time, compared to eternity, before we whither, like leaves, and are blown away. Eternity is forever. Never ending. Our true home.
This is the future love that Advent points us to. When this sinks in, it’s very difficult, perhaps impossible, not to experience the hope, peace and joy associated with the first three Sundays of Advent. Give to God the thanks, praise and love He deserves many times over.
May we all experience the hope, peace and joy of this Advent season as a result of God’s agape love, and may we return our praise, thanks and love to God for the unmerited favor we have received and will receive from Him.
People are nicer during Christmas. Strangers hold a door open a little longer, we give of ourselves a little more freely. We more kind to each other. Even poorly mannered children say “Please” and “thank you” because Santa is watching. I wish it was that way all year long. The world would be a better place. It’s the Christmas spirit, a chance for rebirth during our holiest season. It’s hope for peace, health, and prosperity in a new year.
Christmas Story: I have this magical “thing”. Not sure what it is, but at this point, well into my 50’s, it is undeniable that I possess “it”. I consider it a gift. I have Christmas “spirit”, and it oozes out of me and gently covers everyone around me with love and joy, cinnamon and peppermint. It’s impossible to be around ME, during Christmas, and not sing and dance, or decorate something.
Every year, someone crosses my path who is a Scrooge, a lost soul, torn and wrecked because of personal trials or disappointment, and who has lost the spirit of Christmas. It’s easy to lose the spirit of Christmas, but there is nothing like that feeling of rebirth. Personally, I think it is the best gift I could ever give.
One year, Dad was dating a cute lil’ sprout of a redhead named Pam. She was in her mid-40’s, an ICU nurse, had grown children, and 3 grandchildren. I was in my late 20’s, just cashed out from the firm in Miami, and moved home to resolve my mother’s problems. I was living with Dad that year. As Christmas approached, Dad and I made the annual trek to the tree lot, and brought home the big tree for the living room, and regular 8′ ones for the family room and dining room. We were putting them up, trimming a few boughs, and Pam was sitting at the bar, nursing a bourbon and water. I was mildly annoyed she wasn’t helping us because Dad and I needed 12 arms each.
I went to grab another pair of snips, walked past her when she said, “I haven’t seen a Christmas tree in the house since I was 7yrs old.” I took a few more steps, slowing down like an aircraft carrier, and turned to her, “What did you say?” She told me the story…… Horrible childhood. No presents that year when she was 7yrs old, and she actually received coal in her stocking. I had heard the legend of people who received coal but never met ANYONE who actually received coal in a Christmas stocking. She did. At that time, she still believed in Santa and Santa brought her… coal. Her father was cruel and left her mother the following day, December 26th. Her mother, feeling the loss, never put up another Christmas tree, and died young, when Pam was 14yrs old. Pam carried the loss into her adulthood. Her kids and then grandchildren, never had a Christmas tree. Pam was an accomplished woman, no one would have ever imagined the pain underneath……..
Between the Bourbon and the tears, I finally said to her, “So, you mean to tell me, you’ve been carrying around that $hit baggage for almost 40yrs, anxious about the month of December, hating on Christmas…… full of old dred?” She nodded. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “For 40yrs?”, I asked. “Yeah”, she admitted. “Well, don’t you think 40yrs is long enough?”, I proposed. It was time to pack the old crap up and throw it away, especially for the kids and grandchildren. She admitted she thought about breaking up with my Dad, “since we were such a big Christmas family”. I looked at her like she was crazy, “You mean, you would rather hang on to 40yrs of weird misplaced grief, than spend Christmas with a guy you love?” Just talking it out, realizing the oddity of it all, saying the words, gave her a little bit of hope. She agreed to……….. try.
Dad, the Marine, has a “thing” for Christmas. He decorates the outside to the hilt. People drive by his house to see his lights. So, he goes to garage sales all year long to buy stuffed toys, comes home and launders them (some don’t make it but most do). Then, he dresses up in a Santa suit, every night, in front of the house, and gives stuffed animals to the kids in the cars who have driven by his house to see the lights. THAT was Dad. Pam didn’t know if she could handle it and was anxious.
Well, she turned into a Christmas elf. Don’t get me wrong, I could have been Mrs Claus, but for Pam, it was 40 yrs worth of pent up Christmas spirit all coming out at the same time. It was slow at first. But she was always over for dinner and we were always doing something related to Christmas. Pretty soon, I was the right hand and she was the left hand. We worked together beautifully. One night, I came home from a late class, and there was a 6′ tree at the end of the kitchen peninsula. She was humming in the kitchen. I motioned to the tree, teasing her, and said, “You want to explain..?” She looked guilty, “It was on sale, and I thought we needed another one.” I nodded…. we did….. and it was beautiful!
We made Christmas stockings for her kids and grandkids….. they didn’t have any.
We MADE peppermint that year (I’ll never do that again), popcorn balls, peanut butter balls, fudge, and all kinds of breads and casseroles. One night, we sat on the kitchen floor, still making meatballs at 2:00am…….. it was her mother’s recipe……. which she had saved but hadn’t made in 40yrs. We made enough for a diabetic coma! She had the nurses over for a party – she had never done anything like that before. I was so happy for her…. in the lead. She was a natural, and I swear, you could SEE the light shining from inside her. She glowed like an angel.
On Sundays, we usually had her kids over for a big lunch. Her son cornered me and asked about “the Christmas thing”. I told him the story Pam told me. He never knew the real reason why his mom hated Christmas. She had never spoken about it.
A few nights a week, Dad slipped over to Pam’s apartment to spend the night. Mid December, out of the blue, Dad hugged me bigly. She had told him of our conversation. Pam’s apartment was decorated to the hilt……. overblown Christmas explosion. Dad was exhausted though, no sleep for him, Pam insisted on sleeping with all the Christmas lights on.
Middle of December, Pam decided we had to “make a trip to the country for pine boughs”. Okay fine, a trip to the grocery store is fun for me. Dad was supposed to go but for some reason, he couldn’t make it at the last minute. Pam was sad at the prospect of canceling. “No problem, we can do it.”, I said. Off we went. We drove almost 100 miles into Mississippi before finding “adequate” pine boughs and cedar…… one of the best days of my life. Pam was beaming, brimming with Christmas spirit. We came home loaded with clippings and ANOTHER tree, tied to the rooftop, for the deck. We then decorated the BACK yard.
We went to church on Christmas Eve as one big family. Pam didn’t have a church but that was okay, our’s was big enough for spares. She softly cried most of the way service, raw emotions right at the surface, especially when it came time to sing. Dad kept trying to hold her hand and ask her what was wrong. I already knew. Happy tears, and bittersweet for all the years she lost. She was back, among the living.
And along the way, she kept inviting people to Christmas dinner. We had 24 that year for Christmas Eve. It was GREAT! And our living room was small, but by the time Christmas morning rolled around, there were so many presents, you couldn’t get INTO the living room…… grandkids……. you know how it is!
And that was the year Pam got her Christmas spirit back.
So, this year, if you find someone who is in need of a little Christmas spirit, give them some of yours. If you need spirit, find it. We only have so many years on this earth, don’t waste a single one…… by holding onto the sadness of years gone by. Cast out the dred. Let it go. Warm your cold old heart. The year 2020 looks to be a promising one for us all.
