A4 THE JOURNAL, Thursday, December 26, 2019
Opinions
” ’. journal Colurnnist
Mads received a Christmas box in'the mail from his
I mother this week. Inside, among all the candy, wool socks
and a toothbrush was a card for Charley and me that read
'as follows: “Dear Charley and Aaron, Thank you again for
o
t:
opening your home to our son. Four months have passed
. 3 and suddenly it’s Christmas, so we Wish your whole family
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you
have a wonderful Christmas holiday. Frank, Charlotte,
Michael 0g Mie.”
It‘s true. Four months have passed already since Mads
came into our home, joined our school and has been living
in our community. One of his concerns coming into our
home was our persistent church attendance and that he
considers himself on the outside of Christianity looking
in. Never will I forget our conversation on Mads’s first
night: in our home.
Mads’s two main concerns were: 1) the fact that the use
of curse words in Denmark is far more prevalent than here
in The States and 2) that he perceived that the Box family
was in church every time'the doors were open according
to the paperwork we submitted to the exchange student
agency. Needless to say, the use of curse words has cured
itself. What happens at school I cannot say, but I’ve never
heard anything from teachers or administrators, so I sup-
ipose it has gone well enough. '
first night were this: “Know that you will go to church
with us. Let this be an experience for you. Don’t feel
obligated to do anything in particular, but experience our
traditions and see for yourself. Go With an open mind and
you’ll be fine.”
As we enter the Christmas holiday,I have studied Danish
Christmas traditions and have learned that theirs are very
much westemized since the Second World War. Christmas
parties, foods that are only eaten once a year, the exchange
of presents and even dancing around the Christmas trees
singing songs are part of the Danish tradition. Many Danes
attend Church services on Christmas Eve. While Denmark
fis attached to Germany, and thereby Europe geographi-
ically, the Nordic or Scandinavian influence in Denmark
v is still prevalent. Much of the Christmas celebration is
still based on the pagan celebration of Winter Solstice. .
John I : l —5 reads, “Before anything else existed, there was
i Christ with God. He has always been alive and is himself
t :God. He created everything there is — nothing exists that he
-§didn’t make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light
if to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the
' ‘darkness and darkness can never extinguish it. (CEB)
While the spread of Christianity is still ongoing in some
parts of the world, the truth as I believe it is that God
through Christ has been with us since the beginning and
will be with us through the end. God is with us. Emmanuel.
May you celebrate this Christmas knowing that no matter
your traditions,.God is with you. He came to our world to
be like us so that he' could save us from ourselves. He came
in the fOrm of an innocent child so that he, the creator of
the world, would depend on his human family so that in
return they would depend on him someday. He came as
., one of us. Nothing you have done, seen or experienced can
separate you from the love of God‘ through Christ Jesus.
No matter your station in life, know that you have already
received the gift of God’s love for you. If you are in need
-, of a place to explore this gift, I urge you to reach out to
i one of the many Bible based churches in our community.
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Any one of them is ready to welcome you home. God
bless you and Merry Christmas.
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As for the church attendance, my words for Mads that
It is 1:00 am on Monday and 24 degrees with freezing fog
again.
For awhile my page disappeared with the compose link on
it....not good for someone not tecky.
Jesus and I are praying for First Responders in every commu-
nity, our medical teams, all those in charge of large apartment
complexes , the nursing staff in rest homes, our Fire Department
and Sanitation crews in Stillwater and those who create better
living situations for all of us. Most of all I ask blessings on our
Staff at all churches.
MarywillbeinforChristmasandhopealltheroadsaresafe.
The tiny “glam” tree designed by Leila shining in all its beauty
on the slim entry way table always brings a smile to my face.
Love comes in many forms and all that matters is that some one
loved you enough to bring an eariy Christmas.
By the way, my grand daughter Chelsea had a 9 pound baby
boy for Christmas. Mom and baby doing well. Blessings and
joy to my family out of state. ‘
Itseems like it was just yesterday she wasateen....my goodness
how time gets away. I don’t know his name yet. Every child is
precious and many are bom under “interesting” circumstances.
Our lives are always in transition at different stages of change.
Some we are not ready for, others come slowly as we adapt to
the times and circumstances of our life.
When we left Joseph, Mary and Jesus in the stable in Bethle-
hem, they were engaged with the Wise men and gifts.
This scene was more than aryoung couple bringing life into
the world....this was the son of God and there were men of great
power searching for him to take his life.
IwasreadingagainthestoryfromMatthewonthissacred
event. We find Herod sending the Wise Men to see the baby
Jesus and report back to him. He was not happy about hearing
the words, King of the Jews.
When they saw him, the Wise Men fell down to worship and
presented the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Later they
left being divinely inspired to not return to Herod and went to
their own country.
We do not know exactly when the angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream saying, “Arise, and take the young child
with his mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring
you w .” V
JosephwasawisemanandhetookhisfamilytoEgyptuntil
Herod was dead.
When Herod s'aw he was deceived by the Wise Men, he
became aneg and ordered all babies under two years old put
to death in Bethlehem and its
In the world today, we still‘have domestic violence, prison
riots, drive—by shootings and the death of innocent people. Graf-
fiti covers alleys and buildings and the homeless are moved to
different sides of the city.
In a Detroit suburb, a Cancer—Causing green slime oozed onto
a US highway. ' '
Did you know that Sandra Bullock’s foundation often donates
a million to help disaster situations?
I watched the channel 9 news one day as they went to schools
andcelebratedChristmasandresthomesaswell. '
What are the transitions you will make this year at Christmas
, time? Do you have prayer warriors in your corner as mountains
loom before you? Is there some one who needs your help?
Mentor them, invite themto church-lunch or give them a ride for
medicalcare. Life is short‘andthis is the seasonto pay itforward
quietly and pour out grace as the Father did, at the birth of Jesus.
Here it is, not quite the New Year—acmally, a new decade!
Are you considering making resolutions? Ifyou aren’t because
they always seem impossrble to keep, don’t be discouraged, you
are definitely in a class with hits of Many of us simply
stop making resolutions!
, A tradition dating back to ancient Babylonia, mid-March (the
beginning of planting season and “new year”), promises were
made to_their gods during the 12-day festiyal of Akitu to repay
debts, return borrowed property and re-avow loyalty to the king.
If kept, these promises would bring favor upon one’s family.
Julius Caesar,inmovingthebeginning ofthecalendaryearto
January 1, continued the tradition with early Romans sacrificing
tothe godJanus andpromising goodconductinretmnforfavor.
Adopted by Christians, John Wesley held a “Covenant Renewal
Service”; today in many Christian communities the service is
Bob really loved writing the Love Line column all these
years. He has had many people tell him how much they
have enjoyed them. He even has had subscribers from out
of town call him about certain columns and tell him how
much they appreciated them. Bob was in a bad car acci-
dent, and on December 10 he passed away. As his wife,
want to thank you readers for all 'the encouragement and
interest you have shown him for his writings.
Barbara. Penick- '
Dear Friends and Readers
For the past 13 years or so, I’ve enjoyed sharing
“stuff” that I’ve found interesting and worthwhile in my
Love Line articles. It’s been a blessing to have had the
opportunity to do that, and I appreciate your occasional
comments and support. . I ‘
I was going along pretty well until I turned 85, and had
my first of 39 falls. Since then, I’ve developed a serious
case of “Old.” At the over—ripe age of 88, I’m finding my
memory slipping a bit. I’m loosing my voice, gradually
going deaf, and having to deal with glaucoma and dou-
ble-vision in my eyes. After rupturing a disc in my lower
back when I was a young man trying to pull a tree up that
had roots down to China, I’ve had progressively painful
problems with my back. When some doctor asks me what
operations I’ve had, I usually tell him I’ve had 3 on my
lower back, and otherwise, it would be easier to tell him
which ones I haven’t had. Now, with increasing debili-
tating pain that starts in my back, runs down my leg all
the way to my tippy-toes, and keeps me from sleeping,
it may be a good time to give up writing my Love Lines.
I’ve really loved writing those Love Lines, and I think
there has been some good “stuff ’ in some Of them. But,
my mind isn’t working as smoothly as it once did, and
it is a little slower to note good subjects for me to write
about. I don’t want to let my perceived quality of what I’ve
'written slip. I think some of those early articles are special
and worthwhile, at least to me, So, let me invite you to
look back at some of them in the archives if you like, and
see what you think.
Please let me thank you again for the helpful comments
and encouragement I received from some of my regular
readers. I really appreciate both of you.
Bob on his Rover
called a “Watch” service. As with traditions that stem from
various religious roots,today , New Year’s resolutions are primar~
ily secular with the resolve usually a form of self-improvement
and promised only to oneself.
I learned long ago that for me, New Year resolutions only sup-
plied me with more ammunition to prove myselfa failure. I sat
as a harsh judge of my progress through life. When I realized we
are instructed to “examine” ourselves rather than judge ourselves
a yoke was lifted from my spirit.
Lynn Harold Hough said,“The tragedy of the world is that men
have given first class loyalty to second class causes and these
causeshavebetrayedthem.”'l‘hislformdtobetrue inmanyareas
of my life. Not always were my causes second class, sometimes
I just needed to find a different way through the door to achieve
my end goal.
Political and environmental activism left me disillusioned as to
my power to generate change. Years of protests, citizen watch
groups , even deliberate disobedience resulting in anest seemed a
massive circle that each year brought me (us) back to square one.
Nothing changed. I came to realize I could only influence those
> LEEANN, Page A3
