The meaning of the holidays

First, let me clarify that the holidays I'm referring too are Thanksgiving and Christmas.   I like Thanksgiving because I get to be with people I like and maybe some family members too.  This past summer I planted pumpkins at the church so I didn't have to mow yet still not have the property overgrown with weeds.  I sold many of the pumpkins and gave the money to the church to make improvements.  What pumpkins weren't saleable or didn't sale I carved out and froze the pumpkin so now I'm baking pumpkin pies for all the church members. 

I plan on planting a largger pumpkin patch next year.

The older I get the less meaning the traditional way of celebrating Christmas means to me.  I no longer see my kid and rarely hear from him and the same for my wifes children.  They all have busy lives and live so far away.  Honestly, my church family means more to me than my relatives do because I know they care about me. 

Instead of buying stuff to put under a tree my wife and I usually make a large purchase and consider it our Christmas gift to each other.  One year we bourgt a new TV, last year we purchased new computers, a desktop for me and a laptop for her and this year we purchased a love seat with twin lounger/rocking chairs.  Most of the items we purchased in September or October. 

I find the most meaningful things about the holidays is the people we want in our lives.  Not the food or the gifts but the people.  Christmas, especially, is about people and Christ.  I know he wasn't born on December 25th and I also know that that date was picked by the Catolic church as a way of getting people to give to the church rather than to pagan rituals.  Still, we don't know exactly when the birthday of Christ was so December 25 is as good as any other day. 

What is important is that we celebrate his birth.  The gifts and the food and the parties are fun but the best gift we can give is our hearts to Christ.  If we give him that he will give to us eternal life.  And that, my friends, is what the holidays are about. 

I was lost but now I'm found

Last Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012 I laid my glasses on my dresser and took my left hearing out out and laid it with my glasses.  The right aid had been sent off for repairs so the left one was doubly important now.  After I took my shower I got dressed and put my glasses on then played on the computer for a few minutes to make sure my ears were completely dry.  That's important since moisture can affect hearing aids, even to the point of causes them to permanently malfunction, just like getting any electrical system wet.  Well, to my horror, it wasn't there. 

My tarnished gold cat, Ryder, had recently started jumping up on my dresser.  I guess it was her birthday present to me to show off her new trick.  I wasn't amused. 

I searched everything for that hearing aid.  There was nothing I didn't look at, under, or in and over the next three or four days I searched over and over.  I knew it had to be there somewhere and I kept hoping I would either find it or it would myteriously show up.  My wife suggested the cat might have eaten it but I remeinded her that cats are carnavors and don't eat plastic.  True, they may chew the shell but they would not eat it nor could they eat the battery or the wires. 

This morning I realized that the only place in the house i had not searched was the master bedroom.  After my wife's recent head trauma I don't distrub her but she was out in the regular part of the house so I decided to search there but to no avail.  I went to my room to do a little research on the computer when I heard my wife calling me excitedly.  I rushed out of the room to see what she was excited about and there in her fingers was my hearing aid. 

"I just looked down to see what Ryder was playing with and this is what she had.". She explained. 

I was really happy to get it back.  It was lost but now it's found.

I can imagine how excited Jesus gets when a human being accepts him as his savor.  What shepard who has lost a sheep doesn't leave the ninety-nine and go look for the one.  It is a glorious day when a person can excalim "I was once lost but now I'm found." 

I sure hope to see you in church one day. 

Election Day

The country is evenly divided about the direction this country should go.  The present administration wants a more liberal agenda in an attempt to "reinvent America".  Those are his words, not mine.  America was made strong on the backs of hard working men and women and with the minds of those willing to take a chance.  Our constitution was written so that people could have that opportunity to make things happen in their lives. 

One cannot prosper, not matter  how intelligent, if there are not men and women willing to work for him to put his ideas into practice.  By the same token, one cannot find work to do unless someone is willing to take a chance and make something.  America has always been the land of opportunity but never the land of equal opportunity.  I do believe that some people voted for Obama because they believed he would level the playing field.  He has not. 

What some see that he has done as great accomplishments, others see laws that endanger the well being of this country.  I can understand the validity of the argument that we all should be able to provide for our own health and welfare and we have not always been able to do so because it is expensive and different employers have different health plans if they have any at all.  Private plans are beyond the ability of many Americans to afford.  A National health insurance program seems logical. 

Americans bought into the idea of social security for the elderly because many retired but had no money to live from.  The same with the idea behind medicare.  But Obama's health care plan went beyond the elderly and attempted to cover everyone.  That plan is expensive.  The government has never operated a plan successfully in our history and many people are afraid this plan will lead to our self-destruction on cost basis alone. 

Some people think that all people should be able to marry whomever they want while others believe that marriage should remain as a union between a man and a woman. 

What the different parts of the constitution mean is determined not by principal but by the political ideology of the person making the decision.  It isn't supposed to be this way.  A group of highly educated people, specialists in the law, should be able to read the same words and come to the same conclusion about what those words mean, but that was proven to be not the case in this countries history. 

Not only does an election concern the next four years and what kind of policies and programs are put into place and what laws are passed, but the new president can effect the interpretation of his actions by the make-up of the Supreme court. 

There is a lot riding on the outcome of this election.  From reading comments on political news, Americans are a emotional people who have a difficult time with the English language and the spelling of the words who quickly fall into calling those with different views derogatory names but just don't seem to be able to discuss an idea with intellectual thought. 

Good luck in this election and may the best man win (although I doubt that he is running).