Looking back over my childhood Christmases I find I remember only a handful of gifts I received. My stronger memories are of singing in the choir at church, the first year I was able to buy gifts for my parents with my first small job, spending time with family, a Christmas dance on a double date with my best friends where we came too close to an accident to remain blithely certain of our immortality. So little that was special had to do with getting stuff.
Yet how many a times have I been distressed about getting enough "stuff" for my own children and grandchildren. All of my grandchildren could open a toy store with their existing stock and, though they sometimes get focused on a "must have" toy for themselves, often they seem also to be overwhelmed with how much "stuff" they are already burdened with.
I listen to my own children speak of their childhood memories and they include service activities, developing close friends, spending time with family include those no longer on this Earth.
So today I am thinking about these words as translated in the Complete Jewish Bible recorded in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, versus 5 thru 9:
You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. These words ... are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates.
Oh, Holy Child of Bethlehem, make me mindful in this time set forth to celebrate Your willingness to come to us, come for us, come to redeem us. Open my eyes to see my little corner of the world to compare my stated values with the way I live before my children, grandchildren, family, friends, neighbors and strangers so to consider how my choices speak to them. Let me show them my heart for You, let me speak about my love for You, let my body language speak of Peace in You even in the midst of Walmart crowds and congested roadways. Let my home reflect what is most important to me in my walk with You. Thank you, Lord Most High, for persisting with us amid the commercialism, greed, one-upmanship and general chaos of these final shopping and shipping and baking days. Even when my focus drifts, You always hold on to me tightly so I can release my floundering ship to Your loving control, Abba Father. AMEN
Yet how many a times have I been distressed about getting enough "stuff" for my own children and grandchildren. All of my grandchildren could open a toy store with their existing stock and, though they sometimes get focused on a "must have" toy for themselves, often they seem also to be overwhelmed with how much "stuff" they are already burdened with.
I listen to my own children speak of their childhood memories and they include service activities, developing close friends, spending time with family include those no longer on this Earth.
So today I am thinking about these words as translated in the Complete Jewish Bible recorded in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, versus 5 thru 9:
You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. These words ... are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates.
Oh, Holy Child of Bethlehem, make me mindful in this time set forth to celebrate Your willingness to come to us, come for us, come to redeem us. Open my eyes to see my little corner of the world to compare my stated values with the way I live before my children, grandchildren, family, friends, neighbors and strangers so to consider how my choices speak to them. Let me show them my heart for You, let me speak about my love for You, let my body language speak of Peace in You even in the midst of Walmart crowds and congested roadways. Let my home reflect what is most important to me in my walk with You. Thank you, Lord Most High, for persisting with us amid the commercialism, greed, one-upmanship and general chaos of these final shopping and shipping and baking days. Even when my focus drifts, You always hold on to me tightly so I can release my floundering ship to Your loving control, Abba Father. AMEN
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