In the meantime

Forgotten At Christmas

My father was born on this day— December 22.  For his entire life, he was always getting "combination" presents - birthday and Christmas.  Every year on his birthday, there weren't balloons and birthday streamers.  His birthday decorations were Christmas trees, Christmas lights and Santa Claus stuff.  When he did get a separate present for Christmas, chances are it would be wrapped with... you guessed it— Christmas paper.

I remember him telling me how as a child he couldn't help but feel a little cheated.  People were so busy celebrating Christmas that his birthday got overlooked.

A couple of years ago, I saw a cartoon in the Atlanta paper that really touched my heart and made me think.  It was drawn by Mike Luckovich, the Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.  It showed a little girl with a birthday hat on standing in the middle of a sea of gaudy Christmas decorations.  The dejected looking little girl says, "You know, when your birthday comes at Christmas time, people just forget all about it."

Standing behind the little girl, looking equally sad, is Jesus. 

"Tell me about it," he says.

Just like the little girl in the cartoon — and my dad in real life — Jesus' birthday is all too often forgotten about because of Christmas.  How ironic! What started out as an observance of His birth has somehow morphed into gaudy decorations, parties, shopping, songs about decking halls and jingling bells, and some vague acknowledgment of peace on earth and good will among men.

The real Christmas is remembering the greatest and most costly gift we will ever be given.  It is when we stop to take in the awe of the only child Who ever chose to be born.  It is when we stop to remember this child would soon also choose to give His life up.  For you.  For me.

Let's purpose in our hearts that this year we won't get so caught up in Christmas that we forget Jesus' birthday.

Jesus' Christmas List

My Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking my name out of the season. First of all, I wasn't actually born during this time of the year.  It was some of your brothers and sisters years ago who decided to celebrate my birthday on what was then a pagan festival.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate being remembered anytime.

If you have children of your own, you can understand how I feel about this celebration. I really don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate my birth just get along with and love each other.  That would be a nice change. Do you realize that almost every time I get in the news it is because you all are either fighting with each other or you are making a stink about something?

If it bothers you that the town you live in doesn't allow a scene depicting my birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen on your own front lawn and put in a small Nativity there. If all my followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be so many of them all around town.

And stop worrying about people calling it a "holiday" tree, instead of a Christmas tree.  I made all the trees, you know. You can remember me anytime you see any tree.

If you want to give me a present in remembrance of my birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it.

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way my birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know this because they tell me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up by actually praying for him. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of my birth, and why I came to live with you down there. Hold them in your arms and remind them that you love them.  And that I love them, too.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her. Or better yet, pick several someones.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile. It could make the difference.

7. Instead of making a stink about what the retailer in your town calls the season, try being patient and loving with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you "Merry Christmas" that doesn't stop you from wishing them one! And while I'm on this subject, you know, if you would stop shopping there on Sunday the store wouldn't make money on that day and they'd close and let their employees spend Sunday at home with their families.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary, especially one who takes my love and Good News to those who have never heard of me. You may already know someone like that.

9. There are individuals and families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, they won't have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them (and I suspect you don't) buy some food or a few gifts and give them to the Marines, the Salvation Army or some other charity that believes in me and they will take it from there.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to me, behave like a Christian.  Let people know by your actions, not just your words that you are one of mine.

P.S. Don't forget— I am God and can take care of myself. Just love me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love.

I LOVE YOU,
Jesus

(Compiled and rewritten from several similar messages that are making the rounds on the Internet now.)

In Remembrance

It is important to remember.

With each year that goes by, fewer and fewer folks are still with us who were alive on this day in 1941, the day of the tragic surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that propelled the United States into World War II.  That event happened 65 years ago today. In recent years, the World War II generation has rightly been referred to as "The Greatest Generation" because they pulled together and mobilized after Pearl Harbor and went on to literally save the world from tyranny.

On the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and through radio the entire nation.  He began with these now-famous words: "December 7, 1941... a date which will live in infamy..."

There's something about the observance of anniversaries that is important to us in our culture.  We observe the anniversaries of events happy and sad, joyful and tragic. We observe some of these anniversaries — like birthdays and wedding anniversaries — to mark the passage of time and to show honor to the person or couple born or married on that day.

Then there are some anniversaries that are observed so that we never forget. Every December 7, we remember those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor.  Every September 11, we remember the victims and their families.  On the anniversaries of the death of a loved one, we make it a point to remember them and their influence upon our lives.

It is important to remember.

Jesus set an anniversary tradition in motion the night before He died.  As He gathered with His disciples in an upper room He took bread and broke it and said, "This is my body, broken for you... do this in remembrance of me."  Then He held up the wine and said, "This is my blood, shed for you... do this in remembrance of me."

It is very important for us to realize that Jesus didn't institute the Lord's Supper because He had a need to be remembered.  He instituted the Lord's Supper because He knew that we had a need to remember.  When I forget the simple yet profound truth that God so loved me that He gave His only Son to die for me, then I tend to become selfish, ungrateful and arrogant.

The next time you observe the Lord's Supper, don’t get lost in the ritual of it.  It is the most costly meal you will ever be invited to.  It cost Jesus everything to extend the invitation to you to come to His table.

It is important to remember.