Friends, Family & Christmas

When I drove to Augusta last week, I called a friend from seminary who lives in the Atlanta area to meet me at Starbucks in Douglasville. Jim Qualls is such a good man. He seems o be doing well. He had a few rough patches in church work. Now he sells real estate and seems happy. We spent about 2 hours talking.

I guess one thing I have been doing lately is connecting with old friends. Randy, Robbie, and Ed this summer. Alan Gilbert several times at his cabin in Pigeon Forge, and now Jim Qualls. I have also been in closer contact with family. I am looking for a time o go and see Joy within the next month. She and I are closest in age than my other 4 siblings. Joy is just 1 ½ years older than I am. When I do visit, I’ll try not to get into any theological debates with Bill, her husband, who is more conservative than I am. Maybe if we do talk theology, we can agree to disagree.

Last night, at church, we had our annual Christmas Candle Light/Communion service. I read my poem “The Christmas Story”...

The Christmas Story

By Dr. Reece B, Sherman

12/15/2013

John wrote “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”

Luke called him a babe in a manger

The way God chose to change the world

Couldn’t have been any stranger

Born of a virgin in Bethlehem

To peasants like Joseph and Mary

Who chose to obey the plan of God

And do what was necessary

To introduce God’s Son into the world

In the small village of Bethlehem

To bring light to a world that was dark

A world that was lost without him

If we were asked for input

If we had had a say

Jesus would have entered the world

In a more sensational way

To a world that was completely lost

God sent his only begotten Son

This is how he was referred to

In the 3rd chapter of the Gospel of John

A world that had turned away

Like sheep who had gone astray

Lost and wandering aimlessly

Came the One who was the light, the truth, the Way

He came to his own

And his own received him not

But those who received him

He gave power to become children of God

And the fact that it was shepherds

To which the angels gave the news

About his birth in Bethlehem

These were a strange bunch to choose

Like I said, if we were asked our opinion

About how God should have done things

The announcement would have been made

To important people, like kings

But God wanted to let the world know

That he sent his only Son

Not just to the rich and powerful

But to poor shepherds and everyone

We don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood

He lived in obscurity

We only know about the time when he was twelve

And the teachers listened to him captively

Then we are told he grew in wisdom and stature

In favor with God and man

And, before he began his ministry

He was baptized in the River Jordan

He lived his life for others

Always sharing a God of love

And teaching people about the truth

That could only come from above

He healed the sick and raised the dead

And put the proud Pharisees in their place

Knowing that not living by convention

Death on the cross he would face

He trained 12 disciples

To preach to the world the good news

Some accepted his message

Others chose to refuse

One day he fed the 5,000

With 5 loaves and 2 fish

There was enough left over

For every disciple to have a dish

He taught the masses to live by love

And not by following rules

Which was very different

From what the scribes taught in their schools

He said the greatest commandment

Was to love God with every part of you

And to love your neighbor as yourself

He tried to teach them what was true

He had no place to lay his head

He travelled from place to place

He stressed the most important truth

That God was a God of grace

He taught the people in parables

Which came from everyday life

He also warned his disciples

That they should expect strife

The religious leaders made plans to kill him

They tried every trick in the book

Trying to get him to say something wrong

But he wasn’t a fish they could hook

He always gave the right answers

And amazed people with his authority

But his enemies didn’t give up

They would not let him be

They convinced one of his own disciples

To give him up by pointing him out

Judas said “The one I kiss is he,

That way you won’t have any doubt.”

So while Jesus was praying

In the Garden of Gethsemane

His enemies took him captive

After Judas pointed out, that it was he

Judas betrayed his Lord

For 30 pieces of silver

That was all it took

For him to keep his promise and deliver

But he felt bad about what he had done

He said "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood."

So he went out and hung himself

And then fell to the ground with a thud

The religious leaders finally had Jesus

But they couldn’t kill him, you see

So they sent him to Pontius Pilate

Who had the inclination to set him free

There was a yearly custom

That took place over Passover, so

Pilate asked the people “Should I free Jesus

Or let the criminal Barabbas go”

The crowd was very rowdy

And the religious leaders held sway

They convinced the people to call for Barabbas’ freedom

And to crucify Jesus that day

So Pilate had Jesus flogged

And the guards treated him mean

Then he had to carry his cross

Until they enlisted help from Simon of Cyrene

When they arrived at Golgotha

To the cross, they nailed his hands and feet

Then they put the cross in the ground

And for his clothes the guards did compete

He was crucified with two thieves

One on either side

One sought Jesus’ favor

But the other joined with the crowd to deride

One said ”Remember me when you come into your kingdom”

Jesus said, “You will be with me in paradise today”

While he hung there on the cross

His body began to give way

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”

were the last words that he said

And then he took his last breath

And the Savior of the world was dead

What a sad thing it would be

If the story ended that way

But we know he rose again

Being resurrected on the third day

Before he ascended to heaven

He gave his disciples the great commission

That’s why we know Jesus today

Because his disciples completed their mission

And one day he will come again

And we will see him face-to-face

And all of this came about

Because of God’s unflagging grace.

But it all started when he was a babe in a manger

And all that followed had a reason

So remember the whole life of Jesus

As you celebrate the Christmas season.

(As far as I know, the pictures are Public Domain, and free to use).

In her book, Stitches, Anne Lamott quotes C.S. Lewis. She wrote “C.S. Lewis famously said about forgiveness, ‘If we really want to learn how to forgive, perhaps we had better start with something easier than the Gestapo.’”

Lamott also wrote, “To use just one Christian example: Christ really did suffer, as the innocent of the earth really do suffer. It’s the ongoing tragedy of humans. Our lives and humanity are untidy: disorganized and careworn. Life on earth is often a raunchy and violent experience. It can be agony just to get through the day.

“And yet, I do believe there is ultimately meaning in the chaos, and also in the doldrums. What I resist is not the truth but when people put a pretty bow on scary things instead of saying, ‘This is a nightmare. I hate everything. I’m going to hide in the garage.’

“I asked a wise friend, ‘Is there meaning in what happened in the slaughter at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown?’ He said, ‘Not yet’.”

“Part of this is that we witness such terrible suffering here. Children suffer so; Christ suffers. Then there is the hope of the resurrection. Death is not necessarily the enemy, or the end of the story. I assue tha the murdered children in Connecticut were welcomed home at the moment of their deaths. I know in my heart that somehow their families have come through and begun to live again. Yet we have to admit the nightmare and not pretend that it wasn’t heinous and agonizing. It wasn’t a metaphor; it was the end of the world.”

…”It’s the worst, even if you are the mother of God. Mary didn’t say, ‘Oh, he’ll be back in a couple of days.’ She didn’t know this. She stood with her son in the deep unknowing as he died.”

We had a good Christmas day yesterday. I am sitting at Starbucks. I couldn't sleep because of leg pain. I tried, but it wouldn't let up. Anne doesn't want me to be on Morphene (Opana ER). I didn't tell her until the other day. She freaked out. I told her that it was either that or Methadone. They couldn't use Methadone because of my heart irregularities: Mitral Valve, Right bundle-branch block (RBBB). According to my friend, Wikipedia: 

"A right bundle branch block (RBBB) is a defect in the heart electrical conduction system. During a right bundle branch block, the right ventricle is not directly activated by impulses travelling through the right bundle branch. The left ventricle however, is still normally activated by the left bundle branch. These impulses are then able to travel through the myocardium of the left ventricle to the right ventricle and depolarise the right ventricle this way. As conduction through the myocardium is slower than conduction through the Bundle of His-Purkinje fibres, the QRS complex is seen to be widened. The QRS complex often shows an extra deflection which reflects the rapid depolarisation of the left ventricle followed by the slower depolarisation of the right ventricle."

I have had trouble sleeping larely, but usually when I don't sleep, I am not very tired during the day. I do sleep better at night if I didn't sleep the previous night. I am sleeping with my CPAP. Last night I started ut in the chair, because I had a headache. When I have a headache, wearing the CPAP apparatus hurts because it puts pressure on my head.

I believe Dr. Paulk will start the EMDR back up again this week. At least, I am ging to ask her to. It is time that I dealt with MBBC issues. Perhaps after I have dealt with them I can begin seeing Dr. Paulk every other week. 

As I wrote several days ago, I am going to try to find a time within the next month or so to visit Joy. I have seen her only once in the past 10 years and that was at mom's funeral. I have tried to reach out more to family and friends lately.

Anne and I had a good anniversary movie/dinner date. She seems to love the silver cross necklace I gave her. The horizontal part of the cross are angel's wings (even though angels didn't have wings).