- Not The Only One!
- Post #58
- 22Dec 22
- ” It’s okay & It’s Going To Be Okay “
- Greetings and welcome once again. I thought that today I would turn my focus to the holidays, since we are in the throws of them. On some level it is hard to believe that it’s Christmas again already, but that is what the years seem to do, just ,fly by. I don’t think that there has been any scientific study done on when Christmas goes from taking forever to get here, as kid, to when it just rolls around like it’s one of the four seasons. We are at that time of the year when people are supposed to be kinder and give more thought to others, than to themselves. Well, if that were true, then we should make everyday Christmas. People are busy decorating, shopping, making all sorts of yummy treats and just generally being jolly and festive. Covid drove a lot of people to online shopping, but honestly we were already heading in that direction. I’m one of those weird people who just love to people watch, and yes sometimes I will even give them a back story, if they are colorful enough or not. Across America, so many malls have just shut down due to high rents and less foot traffic in the form of shoppers. It makes it harder for me to find quality people watching time. ☺️☺️Some of the best may be at the airport, perhaps a food restaurant, but if you absolutely want to have a blast, try the cell phone store, doesn’t matter which carrier, its always entertaining ☺️☺️. It’s been some years since we have seen a good fist fight on a black Friday, over grabbing whatever the latest and coolest new thing is. Those fights were really exciting when it was between some local minister and a cop, whatever happened to serve and protect ?☺️☺️, definitely not the usual suspects but it happens. There is just something about the holidays that brings added stress, and at the same time just sucks some of the joy right out of the holidays . Some people completely loose their minds. I mean it may be cool and all, but does your Christmas decorations absolutely need to be seen from out of space,? come on ,really!! And, I’m not picking on my poor OCD people, but do you have to loose it when the cat walks past the tree and knocks off one of the ornaments? What exactly does a perfect Christmas look like? Isn’t a perfect Christmas a kin to a highfalutin wedding, which means if it can go wrong, you should be expecting a visit from Mr. Murphy at any moment ☺️☺️.I think for myself one of the best things about the holidays is getting to wear your stretchy pants , free of judgment, the amount of food, sweets and goodies around are just begging for an Alka seltzer, that’s right look it up, the rest of you guys remember the flop flop- fiz fiz☺️☺️. I would be remised if I didn’t mention the mayhem from in laws, or that weird uncle or aunt that has facial hair like a man, that you don’t feel comfortable around, and definitely not with your kids. Talk about tension and stress…am I right or what?? My little friend out in Kansas has me saying bitter/ sweet, so the holidays represents all of that. It’s great to get up with friends and family , but sometimes it can be like a credit card statement, by the time you pay it down , it’s Christmas again. That being said, all of the jolly mayhem from last year is still fresh in your head from when someone dropped some big news that just couldn’t wait until after the first of the year. There are always shockers almost like the big October surprises right before a big election. Years ago there was a miniseries on TV, and I believe that it was called, ” Rich Man/Poor Man”. It was about two different realities, so basically one person’s good news , is bad news for someone else. I think it was the first thing that I ever saw Nick Nolte in. You may be asking, what does this have to do with Christmas? Well your little brother and his live in girlfriend drop the news, that they are pregnant and wasn’t even trying , while you and your husband have been trying for over three years to get pregnant ,,and now you are trying to hold in the tears, and fake excitement for them, as you say congratulations. Not your story, ok , how about coming home for Christmas to find out that your parents are sleeping in separate bedrooms and have divorce papers waiting to be signed after the holidays, I mean it’s been forty-seven years , and they can’t just hold it together, just a little while longer ,it’s not like you are asking them to go another forty-seven years together ☺️☺️. I’m not immune to this one either, but you have some relative , you pick which one, who has chosen Christmas to be the perfect time to announce their sexual preferences, and that they are out of the closet, and it wasn’t a surprise to most, but poor old grandma is going to pass a kidney stone ☺️☺️. I could go on here, but I don’t think that there is a need to point out that sometimes holidays can be synonymous with drama, you just have to find the perfect set of situations. It can be a teen pregnancy or some other unexpected, unplanned dysfunctional family fun. I have been jesting here , just a little, but I would love to be able to turn the page. I get that none of what I just described may be the paint on your canvas this holiday season. I make light of the situation, but this time of the year the suicide rate just soars. I just did a bit on the epidemic of loneliness across this great Nation of ours. There is something in us as human beings, where we have to look around and compare ourselves to others. We want to gage our success or lack there of based on our peers, family members or worse case scenario , the all to visible celebrities. I’m not sure how any of those before mentioned categories got to be the standard, other than You chose to put them there and give them that power in your life. I can be a broken record here, and scream it from the tallest mountain, NONE OF US HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER!!, and you know what? That’s OK. People show you what they want you to see, and for most people, we don’t like to brag on our, flaws, weaknesses, and failures. I’m not sure, why we feel the need to so desperately to impress others. It’s kind of like being a rabbit sports fanatic. What do you gain or loose if your team wins or loose, bragging right!, perhaps you have placed a bet or are in a pool at work, but your overall success in life has nothing to do with the success of a sports franchise. If you were the coach, then it could be about job security, but for most people, very little, and guess what there will always be another game or another season. We sit back and admire people’s success in life , but You never know what that may have cost them, or what kind of deal they made with the devil to own that success. You may think that I’m crazy, but there has been a ton of fathers who traded their families for professional success, tell me what that death bed experience is going to look like. I have strayed a little, let’s see if we can right the ship. There will be families this year, who will have an empty chair at the table and that can be really hard. It makes no never mind, if it was an elderly grandparent, who had a rich and full life, someone taken away by a drunk driver, or someone claimed by an unexpected cancer, which ravaged them in no time flat. The chair is empty and the pain is real and suffocating at times. If we throw in broken homes, suicides and people who just have no family to mention of, which means they are the last of the Mohicans, and what seems like a joyous time for so many ,can be dark and depressing and people can find it very challenging to try and figure out why they should continue on. Now let me tell you why it’s OK , and why it’s going to be okay. While many people celebrate a holiday, without understanding of the holiday, or true meaning of the holiday, I will not let that be the case on my watch. If you have children or know of how children get here, minus the stork dropping them off, then you realize that it can be an almost year long event, if it’s normal then about nine months or so, I know that one of my kids was really comfortable in there, and didn’t necessarily want to come out☺️☺️, but usually around nine months. If you could, imagine for a moment your wife or girlfriend’s stomach expanding, having to go pee like they have an old man’s bladder☺️☺️, weird food cravings, morning sickness, mood swings, and if you were really lucky, increased cup size☺️☺️, and maybe some swollen ankles thrown in for good measure. So, you have all of those things going on and of course you guys have been shopping, cribs, strollers, diaper genie if you are smart ☺️☺️, the car seat, the cute toys and you just name whatever little sidebar that you had with your deliveries. After all of this preparation and anticipation on the big day, your wife delivers a puff of wind, gas, a fart, whatever you want to call it, that’s it, no baby no nothing just some wind. I know some maybe thinking, what was all of that work up for, ? Just for a little wind. When we try to take Christ out of Christmas, that is exactly what you have a bunch of nothing. I’m not trying to take anything from the fat man in the red suit. I’m not trying to some how diminish the tree with the presents so nicely wrapped. I’m not even try to steal any of Rudolph’s thunder. All I’m saying is that they are not the main event, not the headliner, and to be honest not even a worthy supporting cast for a King . I have stated before that I’m no Bible scholar, just an average guy who sometimes tries to pay attention, but on most days , probably really missing the boat. What I know and what I have read and what I believe to be true, is that all the way back in the garden of Eden, , when Adam was being a weak kneed man and his wife was trying to run the show, God made a promise of a coming King, a savior. It took a while, thousands of years, but God, but God, but God, kept His word. If you have plans on celebrating Christmas without Christ, just give back the paid holiday and go in to work. You shouldn’t waste your money on a single solitary present, because you don’t understand the principle behind the gift. Furthermore, you should not waste your time decorating your home with lights, because you don’t comprehend that the Light of the world came at Christmas and without that Light we would all be walking around in darkness and some of us do a really great job at doing that anyway, and no, I’m not excluding myself, I have my days as well. Let me see if I can illuminate this for you, just a little. Ok, for all of us, myself included we have done, said or thought something that has not been pretty or above board. It is different for everybody, but none are excluded . In our hiccups in life, and yes we all have them, regardless of how pretty and polished we may appear on the outside, we all have this cancer lurking deep within us. We don’t live in a time of just ripping the band aid off anymore, at least not for most of us . We like to window dress it as a short coming, a bad day, or if you are the Sci-fi type, it was an outer body experience, but truth be told, it’s just good old fashioned SIN, yep, band aid ripped right off. Yes, it’s really a dirty little three letter word that we want to distance ourselves from, but we can’t because it resides within us. I have encountered very few people who want to openly confess that. The problem is if we don’t acknowledge it, how can we ever hope to address it. So, it’s like being a functional alcoholic or functioning recreational drug user, you think that you have it under control, but in actuality it has you in control , and it is just waiting for the perfect time to sell you out, talk about a ticking time bomb ☺️☺️. Some refer to this as the great dilemma, and yes it can be crushing. The not just so good news, or great news, but the best news ever is that God chose to step out of eternity and into our great dilemma and that is what Christmas is all about. God gave the gift of His Son at Christmas to do for us , what we could not do for ourselves. And that enormous gift is why we give gifts to others. I know that I just loss some of you, so let’s see if we can back track just a little and lay down a few more bread crumbs.☺️ One of the many names given to Jesus in the Bible is Emanuel. Emanuel translates into God with us. Christmas is all about God coming down to rescue us from ourselves. I , on many occasions have spoke around scripture, not wanting to come across as to churchy, or some what super spiritual. The problem here is sometimes when you dress something down, it looses the original intent or impact of the meaning, and honestly this is to important, so in honor of His birthday, you get the full Monty. In John chapter one ,verse fourteen, it states” the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. We beheld His glory , glory from the Father ,full of grace and truth.” Now you can take this verse and slice and dice it anyway that you want to, and one version, even says it like this, The Word became flesh and blood and moved into our neighborhood. The meaning of Christmas, is that God came to be a part of His creation in a very real and personal way. God is not aloof and stand offish, but present and attentive. If you have never heard this before, God loves you and wants to be involved in your life in a real and personal way. There is nothing to big going on in your life, and surprisingly, nothing to small or mundane that He doesn’t want to walk through it with you. God will not force His way into your life, He gave you life, but it is completely up to you what you do with that life. This is why it’s OK, and why it’s going to be okay. It doesn’t matter the heartache, the disappointment, the failure or disillusionment that you are going through, God wants to be with you in that. He wishes to provide grace, strength, sometimes clarity and sometimes we aren’t ready for that. He is a God of peace, and He understands Your sorrows in a way that no one else does and He wants to meet you in them ,and if you will allow Him to , He will see you to the other side of a dark valley and to bring healing to a situation in a way that only He can. I’m not a window dresser, and if you read this on a regular intervals, then you know that I’m a realist and not much about fake substances. However I do want to encourage those of you out there, who are having real struggles with the season of joy, when it is just absent from your personal situation. God loves you, God is real, God wants to be with you, in whatever it is that you muddling through. It’s Christmas and believe it or not, I still play with toy trains, so it gives me great joy to be able to say, let’s pull this train into the station. I hope that this is not hitting some of you to hard between your eyes, and if so, I want to say sorry , but not so much! I know that very few people have an issue with baby Jesus in the Manger, but that is just part of the story. As much as some may want to, we can not separate the cradle ” manger” from the Cross. As I said before it was and is a rescue mission for all of humanity. Please don’t miss this, Christmas exist as a starting point for the Cross. Jesus came with two intentions, one was to do His Father’s will, and the other is to be a sacrifice for me , and for you, and every single solitary person who has ever trod the earth. Christmas is His story, yes its history, but more so His Story, so when you celebrate, remember the true meaning of Christmas. When you give a gift, give it with as much love as possible, because that is exactly what God did when He gave His one and Only. I hope and pray that each and everyone you guys have a blessed Christmas, full of grace and truth. If I have invoked any questions by this post, please feel free to reach out for a follow up.
- Till Next Time ✌️, Peace!
- Sandy The Southerner
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