At Gulfview Mall here in Florida, it appeared that all people are the same as all the people everywhere. Doesn't matter what the weather is like, everyone is in a hurry. I used to walk pretty fast years ago but now I wander along watching people speed past me. Dashing here and there or as you might be doing, "Dashing through the snow."

That might be all that we can do right now. Some put this season off until the last minute. This contributes to the insanity. I saw two interesting people at the airport this week. The first was someone doing just that. I would guess they had forgotton something. We all do it from time to time, don't we? It looked as if they were searching for a present to give to someone at the end of their flight. Wonderful gesture but maybe not the best present. It would do. Well, that's what I was thinking.

The other was a young mother with her very young child. At first I watched the baby. Wide awake and doing those child things. So handsome and looked so content. It was wonderful to see. Then I noticed the child's eyes. This little boy was transfixed on it's mommy. There may not have been any verbal communication but those eyes spoke volumes. Then I saw something extraordinary. I saw the face of mommy. It was only when she stood to make her way to the plane that I was able to take my eyes off of her. In that face I saw all that we need to see in this frantic world. A world so filled with strife and terror. Countries so enbroiled in conflict and hatred they have no idea what peace really means. And I wondered what Jesus saw in his mother's face.

I saw in her face what we can not only give to each other but what we need to give ourselves, peace. She exhibited in her face an assurance that all is well with her, her child and the world she lives in. I saw a face radient with love and compasion. This child would never know or remember his Christmas gift this year or even next year but it could recognize the face of his mom. From her face I believe he received peace knowing she was caring for him.

Our society is filled with children who hurt every day because there is no face for them to look to for love, protection or peace. We see them in the mall, we hear them cry for attention and we stand by not knowing what to do.

We need to hear the words of Jesus afresh. He motioned to his deciples and said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not. . ."

Look into the face I looked into and decide that peace on earth starts with our love for those close by. Give them what the world can't give.

In a few short days it will be Christmas Eve. The stores will be closed, the decorations up, and all the gifts will be ready. Out on the street, few cars will pass by. It will be the one and only time this year that our society and world will stop and see what living is all about. This is your gift to you. Take your tea and go off on your own. Stand by the front window. Walk down the drive, Go where no one else is at that moment and be all alone. Then look out and look up. In that moment you will have opportunity to look into the face of God and know true peace. Just like the mom in the airport, who was totally oblivious to me watching, God will indeed look down on you and you will know, Peace!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Robin

LOVE And JOY

There are many words in our English language that we apply to differing situations and circumstances. Just think about them for a minute. They may have the same essence but differing application. Simple words like say, road. There are a number of meanings. The road is something you drive down. It is also something we take as we live life. How about the word, cloudy? Again we have cloudy in that it is cloudy out or it can mean obscure.
Our second Sunday of Advent brings us close to one of these words. I wrote about this just recently so I will not repeat myself. Suffice to say, we have watered down its meaning when we apply it to loving something against someone. Our greatest understanding of love can be found in two scriptures. The first you all know by heart. John 3:16, “For God so LOVED the world” . . . Oh, there is another one of those words, the world, is it physical or what’s in it? Just asking.
Our true understanding of love is revealed to us in the demonstration of love shown to us. Something akin to a mom or dad who loves their child no matter what they have broken or gotten into. God said, ‘Yes you do things wrong but it doesn’t stop me from loving you.’ It is something a parent does when they look down at that new face for the first time. God does that even though we have no concept at the time that He is indeed loving us.
The second understanding we get from God in relations to love, is when he tells us that we need to LOVE Him back. It is the great commandment. What? He is commanding us to love Him? That’s right. How dare someone order us to love them? Step parents know all about this one. But no, I think it’s different. I think He starts by commanding and when we finally get to know Him and understand what He is all about and how we relate to Him, the command will disappear. It will be replaced by a facsimile of His love and our heart will leap for JOY.
And that loved ones is next Sunday’s Advent word. JOY is having all those warm and fuzzes in the right places. JOY is not just someone’s name or something we experience when the present is the right one. It is that point when your heart finally connects to a LOVING God, and all seems right with our world. Not right with the world, just ours. Real JOY comes out of real LOVE. This is that precious moment on the road of life where the clouds part and we see Him for who He really is. And we will feel loved like never before. You cross over the divide that separates us from the LOVE of God and step into His presence. It is a God moment. It’s like the first time you hold the hand of someone you just fell in love with. It’s the last moment you get to hold the hand of someone precious before they take hold of His hand.
Joy To The World - The Lord Had Come!
In our lives, In our hearts and In Joy.
Something to think about
Rob

Advent - HOPE

If you really have to know, yes, I’ve made a few mistakes in my life. I know, it’s had to believe that a person in my position, (everyone thinks preachers are near-perfect), could make mistakes but I do. In fact I decided to keep track. Just for the record mind you. It was surprising what I discovered. I found out that . . .
You know I’m kidding. It would take too much memory on the computer to record them all. No one is exempt from making mistakes, getting things wrong or just doing something that offends or hurts someone else. At church one Sunday I put up my hand and asked the congregation if they might have made some mistakes in the past week. Some hands shot up while others were raised in a way you knew there was hurt and pain. When all hands were raised high, I had two things to say. They needed to know my hand was up first. Then I told them we are all in it together. Heard a line a long time ago that “of all the decisions we make in life, 50 percent will be wrong, but a preacher best do better.”
Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. And for those who ventured out into the snow, you heard about Hope. In most cases the sermon would have wound around our hope of eternal life. A word about Christ coming to bring us hope of an eternal life in heaven. In the liturgical churches they may have learned that Advent is the time of year where we prepare for the ‘hoped’ appearing of the Christ child. The first candle is a symbol of the first flicker of light in a dark world.
The dark world gets the first glimmer of light and asks . . . What do you want for Christmas? Maybe this is where maturity shows itself. Our answers are different. We ask for toys as a child, clothes as a teen, needs as an adult and something far greater as we get older. I believe there is something else that goes along with hope and we find it in Col 1:27. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” There it is. Christ in you. When we accept Christ into our lives, we are changed. We become new people. Not different. Just better. And there is a hope that is far different. His presence gives us hope for our worldly future as well. It is a journey through time when we have the presence of Christ in us and we get better every day as we get closer to Him. This is supposed to mean making fewer mistakes but it also means that we make this world a better place.
As a small child, I looked up to my mom’s dad. I’m named after him. He was my hero and I wanted to grow up to be like him. When he came over to the house, I would always try to sit right next to him. I watched him, listened to him, tried to be like him and to know him just by getting closer and closer. As a young adult I went to see a couple of the men grandpa trained as engravers. Walking into their little shop Mr. Froget looked up from his work and said, “Hi Bill.” A number of years ago, while looking at a photo of him before he passed away, I noticed many physical similarities. Had I indeed grown to be like him?
That is my hope for each of you. That you are growing closer to the image of Christ. Will this mean we cease to make mistakes, hardly. But it may mean we make fewer and fewer as we mature in Christ. But there is only one way for all this to work. We need to get closer and closer to Him. Maybe that is why my life verse is, Phil 3:10, “That I may know Christ and the power of His resurrection.”
What is your hope this Christmas? The greatest gift we receive is the Gift of Christ in our hearts. Share the true gift as it is an eternal gift. Remember. It is Christmas in you not you in Christmas.
Something to think about
Rob