The older I get, the more I value peace, the kind of peace that calms worry thoughts. To me, Christmas brings that kind of peace along with a quiet feeling of joy. I like to imagine the first Christmas night with Mary and Joseph, tired and amazed and filled with awe, gazing at the baby […]
Dec 20, 2021
Quiet Thoughts
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Our family has the tradition of lighting Advent candles on the Sundays before Christmas, then reading Scripture. The soft glow of the candle is peaceful and silent but it reflects a powerful message of hope and love. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will […]
Dec 17, 2021
In the Midst of Glitter
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My street is dark this morning, colors are muted. Earlier, we had a bit of thunder and rain, and probably will have more today. My small Christmas tree on the porch glows brighter in the murkiness and the larger Christmas tree inside winks and blinks that it’s a special season of the year. Have you […]
Dec 16, 2021
Winter Woods
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Wintertime trees are honest trees, stark and bare, their dark branches rising in graceful shapes. Nothing is hidden, all is in plain sight. There’s something bracing about walking through winter woods with the limbs of wild blackberries reaching out to snag the passerby and soft moss carpeting the rocks. A chill breeze blows away cobwebs […]
Dec 14, 2021
Winter Wildscape
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Backyard bushes, green and flowering in warm weather, become gray, drab sprigs in the winter. The birds don’t mind. When moonlight silvers the yard, they crowd deep into the thick twigs, twittering and chirping, discussing the day’s happenings, content to be hidden by darkness and their stubbly cover. A few wild, forest creatures slip into […]
Dec 13, 2021
The First Christmas
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The Bible says simply, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). I like to imagine the principal people involved in how the Lord Jesus came to be born in a stable, […]
