Inspirations

The Christmas season is now squeezing in on all of us and as we go, from store to store, in search of that perfect gift for dad, or the last minute gift for "Aunt Harriet" because you had no idea she remembered you this year; it is easy to get irritated.   The cashier took a few minutes longer to get the person in front of us checked out and now we are late, or perhaps we are running late and remember that we still need a gift for the party that we forgot.  So we swing by the local stuffmart grab a gift, head to checkout only to discover that every checkout is littered with people.  Or maybe, you have to make a trip back to a store to fix a problem that the store created in the first place.  Suddenly, what should have been easy, becomes complicated like the first Christmas.  We have two choices.  We can let these minor things steal our joy of Christmas or "going with it" and refusing to let the little things crush our spirit. ...

I've been thinking about that first Christmas that occurred so very long ago.   I can't help but smile when I think about how, from a human perspective, The first Christmas seemed to capture life entirely, messy.  Mary had "plans", thoughts, or expectations for what her life would be like.   She would get married, then after a year, or two they would have children.  Joseph, no doubt, also had dreams and expectations for his life.  He would marry a "nice" Jewish girl and perhaps, once they had saved some money they would have a house and children.   They were a good Jewish couple.  Then ... God stepped in and suddenly life was very complicated.  Sometimes when we are following God, life gets harder.  Just like it did for Mary and Joseph.   Mary found herself pregnant in a society in which the penalty for this type of "sin" was death, and the only explanation she could give was one that no one would believe. I imagine that Mary mu...