Month: December 2007

Recently, while dropping off a couple of bags of coats and clothing at a thrift store that services the homeless and underprivileged, I thought I'd just take a look around, as they always have great things. As I turned away … Read more

It must be very hard to be far from home at Christmas. Mary and Joseph had that sad experience, but they had no choice. They were a subjected people under Imperial Rome, and they had to obey orders. So here … Read more

Joseph must have been quite a compassionate man. In his days, a young woman who was found to be pregnant out of wedlock would have been ostracized by the community and ruined for life. Even before the angel visits Joseph, … Read more

It's amazing what a thousand years of faith can do for people. King Solomon, who perhaps wrote some of Ecclesiastes, was a spoiled, rich man who was bored with life. He had experienced everything under the sun, and when he … Read more

Some people think that reading the Bible is what gets them into heaven. It doesn't. If that were the case, we could read the whole Bible once and be assured of our passage into God's everlasting presence beyond the pearly … Read more

I have often wondered about the music of the angels. Do they use words when they sing? Or do angels use a different mode of expression, without words? Toddlers gain the use of words quite easily, but prior to that, … Read more

I am reminded of a game where a message is repeated from one person to another, around a circle. Usually, when it comes back to the sender, it is a brand new message. Hardly anything of the original is left. … Read more

Since moving to Alberta where there is more snow (usually) than on Vancouver Island, I have been looking forward to a white Christmas. Like many who were raised in the frozen areas of Canada, I am once again dreaming of … Read more

Every Christmas season, I treasure the wonderful carol, "Good King Wenceslas", written by a man named John Mason Neale in 1853. The song tells of the good king who ventured out into the bitter weather on the "Feast of Stephen" … Read more

Having company visit or drop in over Christmas is part of the holiday season for almost everyone. For most of us, part of Advent and Christmas preparations is to give the house a good cleaning, so that it looks good … Read more