Merry Christmas

Toasty Toes...

For Today...

Hope...

Ringing....

Dark, horrible, despairing news just about everywhere I turn. If it's not the tragic details, speculations and debates over Friday's massacre, it's the talk of the impending end of the world. 

I found this link on another blog and it's just a series of tiny reminders that we have a choice, every single one of us, to make a positive difference. You might want a tissue nearby when you watch it.

Our sermon on Sunday was called "Bells" and it was a how-to to live a life of few regrets and to make a tremendous mark on the humanity around us and within our orbits.

B = set out to BLESS three people this week. A blessing can be a compliment or kind word, buying a cup of coffee or someone's lunch. Holding a door and offering a smile. It is not difficult to offer hope and goodwill. It's actually embarrassingly easy at times.

E = eat with at least three different people this week. Share a meal or snack and connect. Make eye contact, listen, engage, silence the phone and put it out of sight. We, as a society, are quickly becoming islands connected by fragile threads of technology.

L = Listen to God. An hour a week, get somewhere where you can just listen to and for God. No noises, no distractions, just racing thoughts that eventually calm into listening and connecting to the creator of the universe. 

L = Learn. As religious folks we are prone to follow rules, sometimes to the point of crushing people. Spend an hour a week reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - the first four books in the New Testament). We all think we know who Jesus was/is. He was a baby who changed the world, an amazing teacher, and then He died and rose again (to simply sum up the Christmas/Easter stories and common overall feeling). The Gospels display Him in action, quote His words, and show us His heart towards us. He is the ultimate picture of grace and this world needs all the grace it can get. 

S = Sent. Our lives have purpose. Every last one of us. We are not random, disposable creatures. We were created to love and be loved at the most boiled down level. Beyond that we were created to live life to it's fullest. And to give, love and be for others. We will interact with the world. Our lives will tell a story. It's up to us to decide what story we will tell. What picture we will paint.

In this Christmas season, into this hurting world, we can all ring with the hope and joy and truth that light does penetrate darkness. That heroism and grace, mercy and love exist and can be found. Be a bell. Ring.

Grief and Horror

This world has a dark underbelly, doesn't it?

Andy Warhol once said that everyone would get 15 minutes of fame. And that sometimes feels true. Reality television, YouTube, the blogging world all have made fame a reality for people who otherwise might not ever reach an audience.

And as twisted minds and broken people strive to make their mark, grab their fame, heinous behavior seems to be increasing.

Shootings and terror once happened infrequently. The little pockets of affected world would gasp, question, grieve and begin to heal before the next lunatic struck the next community.

The massacre in Connecticut takes suicide and mass murder to the next level of horror. Suicide by cop has existed for a long time. Have we now entered a societal norm of suicide by sensationalism?

My heart goes out to the families who have been victimized and who have lost their precious babies. And to the community that has suffered such a tremendous blow. I can't begin to wrap my mind around the loss and the horror.

Stolen from these families are the babies, this Christmas, all future normal, safety and security, peace, sleep, and large chunks of their hearts. The community has lost normalcy, peace, a sense of protection, a mere fraction of population that, like a thread, runs throughout the warp and weave of the entire town.

Added to them all is fear, twisted memories, grief over what will never be, and even the loss of being able to mourn and remember each individual person outside of this horrible mass victim tragedy.

My prayers are with you. And, though, none of us can even begin to understand your loss and the depth of this tragedy and what it means for your future, so many grieve your loss and your pain.    

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Java Shop Update

No, I didn't make this one. A little Seattle trip reminiscing.

I'm getting to know the customers at the coffee shop. The guy in the uniform = the large Caramel Frappe with extra coffee...unless he wants to mix it up and go with a hot caramel. Never, ever whipped cream, don't even ask. He could come back behind the counter and make his own because when I was still learning and asked & how many pumps or ounces of one of the components he'd supply the answer.

Mocha Jim, skim, extra shot mocha with a sticker on the spout. Generous tipper, too, I might add. 

The four to five guys who buy varying scenarios of brewed coffee. One likes four ice cubes, another likes an inch of hot water. One buys a small, then comes back up to pay for a refill. Another likes the endless mug but in the smaller cup.  Another buys an Americano then sits down while we make it. I delivered it the other morning. The guys complained, "Hey, why do you deliver his coffee? Why are you so nice to him?" (Said in whiney, pitiful voices.) Mr. Americano thanked me graciously. So I told them that they could learn a little bit by paying attention. With a smile, of course, my sarcasm is always delivered with a smile. 

So yesterday, when I delivered the Americano, one of them piped up. "Hey, are you and your daughter the same age?" 

Did I mention that I like my little coffee gig?