Christmas --- What a Difference a Year Makes?

 

 Borrowing from the Dinah Washington hit from the 50’s (“What a Difference a Day Made”) I decided I would write about how every Christmas is different and then a peculiar thing happened – rather than write it I started to experience it. What I mean by that is all of a sudden I didn’t want to write a Christmas letter this year. And that for me is a first. Now what that does is point out for me, for a variety of reasons, this isn’t like any other Christmas.

  Let me mention some reasons – I’m in a different space, a different place (both in terms of location and in terms of attitude). I now reside at Juliet Fowler Christian Home. The official address is 5810 East Side Avenue, Apartment #F310, Dallas, Texas 75214. For those who pay attention to such things, that’s my new “snail” mail address. It’s a great place and I couldn’t be happier with it. More room, very neighborly neighbors, not that far from my old place and even the Laundromat is located on my floor, a few doors down and an extra bonus – it’s cheaper to use than my old place. Plus the rent here is $3.00 less than my old place and here instead of paying for an efficiency apartment I’ve got a single bedroom. So in way, as far gifts go, God gave me my Christmas present early.

  I had been on the waiting list to get in here since this past Spring so I was elated to be able to get in at last. My church, Wilshire Baptist Church, came through like “gangbusters” when it came time to move. Glad they did because I couldn’t do much of anything besides pack some boxes.

   Which brings me to the “different place” part of my earlier statement -- I’m currently dealing with some heart issues, brought on by an incident that took place in October while I was visiting my pals, The Duckett family, who live in Townsend, MA. This event resulted in my spending five (count ‘em, five) days in Mass. General Hospital in Boston. A fine hospital to be sure, world renown but frankly I would have preferred to skip my visit there altogether. What they discovered is that my heart is not getting enough blood flow and hence not enough oxygen. No surgery possible and so I got loaded up on medication. (Now that’s the “Reader’s Digest” version).

   I’m currently undergoing treatments that require I go spend an hour a day, 5 days a week undergoing a procedure. It’s for 7 weeks and I’m half way through it. Once again Wilshire is helping in a big way. Now all of that aside, I find that this Christmas the reality of one’s mortality, the challenges of dealing with possibly an on going problem and the frustration of not being able to do things for myself that I could normally do most certainly puts me in a different “place”, say from last Christmas.

   And so a question springs to mind and it’s one well worth asking, methinks. Every Christmas is different but is it really? Is it more a question of our perspective on how we feel about Christmas in any given year or does really change from year to year?

   Let’s tackle the basics – throwing out the gifts, the gatherings, the great parties and going to be with family what do we have left. Well, first off it’s about somebody’s birthday, ostensibly. This somebody was reputed to be the Savior of the world and his name was Jesus. His coming was such a big deal that a whole multitude of angels were hired for the occasion and the lowliest (the shepherds) and most noble (Wise men) were let in on the celebration. It wasn’t much of a place to be born, if you’re supposed to be a King – a stable with smelly, dirty animals. However there was a star in the sky that was so bright it could be seen for miles and miles and miles. That’s the basics right – if you’re one who considers himself a believer in Jesus Christ. If not, then your version of Christmas is your version of Christmas and I wouldn’t presume to change your mind about such things in a single letter – not that I could. But if you’re a Christ-follower then what I’ve stated is more or less the basics when it comes to what Christmas is.

  Okay, what about that story has changed? … that’s right, nothing. It’s timeless, it’s God-blessed, it’s forever and it’s what makes Christmas, Christmas.

   So for me, I’m going to do my darnedest to hang to on to that, to let the Spirit of that envelope me, even while I may bemoan the fact that this is not way I would have preferred to feel at Christmas. And believe me, I don’t begrudge anyone who honestly is disappointed in the way they’re feeling at Christmas as compared to past Yuletide celebrations. But let’s all try and not lose sight of the fact that Christmas will always be Christmas as long we remember the story and what the story means and why it’s still worth singing about and sharing. In the meantime … cry if you need to, wish hard if you need to and even moan a bit even if you need to. It’s okay – at least to my mind – but let’s each and all of us hold on fast to the hope – a hope for peace and joy rooted in the forever truth that on that first Christmas “A Savior was born – Christ the Lord.”

Merry Christmas

George Gagliardi, 2016

Question?

  What does Easter Mean to … you? (or me, for that matter). An interesting question, is it not? Of course how you answer it depends entirely on your belief, or lack of. And I believe that the source of the answer can be broken down into three categories. A – Jesus was raised from the dead. B—Jesus was not raised from the dead. C—Not sure if he was raised from the dead or not, maybe so but then again …

    (I skipped apathy because that sort of speaks for itself. If you don’t care one way or the other, then you don’t. Not a lot you can do with that. So I don’t care about that – and please note the intentional irony there.)

 So we’ll start with C – Not too much to say about that because with that sort of perspective Easter is kind of nice but not all that essential. It’s pleasant but not all that significant. Although folks who feel that way may secretly wish they could believe in the resurrection, they just can’t bring themselves to accept that as a reality.

   However don’t imagine for a moment that many of us who consider ourselves believers are completely free from doubt when it comes to the resurrection. There are still times when we have difficulty with how fantastic the whole notion is – somebody rose from the dead, really? And we’re not talking about Jesus as a zombie. Nope, he wasn’t merely undead, he was as alive as you and I are. (Depending on how alive you feel, I suppose.) So doubters take heart – I’m prone to believe that honest doubt may well be the path to discovering real faith. Or perhaps to put it another way – out of searching, wondering, wandering and questioning sometimes one can catch a glimmer of light. Remember that old spiritual – “This little light of mine” …

  Okay, on to B – Resurrection didn’t happen, it’s a trick, a myth, a scam, a … you may fill in the blank with whatever negative response you see fit. And whereas not all who espouse these thoughts are cynical, angry skeptics, some are. And you know if I believed what they believe I can see how they could get ticked off.

   “To think someone is trying to insult my intelligence, to con me, to take me for a simpleton, to “sell me a bill of goods” and expect me to swallow the whole thing just because they say it’s so – well, I’m not going to do it. Moreover they condemn me because I won’t go along with the deception. They behave in a very hateful way and won’t even bother to hear my side of things. Well, count me out.  I’ve got no use for that sort of attitude.” (By the way, neither did Jesus.)

   For the B folks Easter is, at best, Peter Rabbit, Easter egg hunts, Spring awakening (though not necessarily in Texas), maybe some pastels, pretty flowers and Irving Berlin’s hit song, “Easter Parade”.  It’s nothing much more than that. Sadly, it can’t be, really.

   Here is where I want to point out that this bit of scribbling has not been created to convince you that I’m right and you’re wrong. Nope, that’s not my job and not my purpose in laying out these particular paragraphs. If I truly am to treat you in a Christ like manner then that means allowing you to choose whether to believe or not – not brow beat you into thinking the way I want you to think. Here again – that’s not the way Jesus dealt with folks in His ministry – brow beating was not on His list of how to do things. And since he set the standard, well then …

 Now we come to the A people, people who do believe that Jesus was in fact raised from the dead on Easter morn. For us the event was real. It happened and it was/is life changing. Now I’ll pause a minute or so as to avoid going into “church speak”, lest this part sound like the “pitch” for a bargain I’m trying to get you to buy into.

   Okay, let me digress for a moment.

   When I thought about writing down the preceding paragraphs it was obvious to me that at some point I needed to answer the question for myself “What does Easter mean to me, today?” Remarkable as it may seem, this was not as easy to answer as I thought it would be – short of just giving a kind “knee jerk” reaction. And so here’s my answer to the question I started out with.

  Easter means nothing stops God from doing what He decides to do and that includes death. God has a way of bringing new life out of destruction, despite what it may look like to begin with. Anyone who saw what happened on the Cross when Jesus died would not have stood up and sung “Victory in Jesus”. Not then – but later, after the resurrection they could and would. Easter means the same God who raised Jesus from the dead can raise my spirits when their low, give me hope when it’s hard to find hope, give me a peace that really makes no sense in light of the circumstances, make me believe in the impossible because with Him impossible is just a word and most importantly help me believe that’s God’s big enough to … (fill in the blank.)

   So I’ll leave you with this to ponder –  Jesus being raised from the dead was either the greatest event in human history or it was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the human race. You get to decide. We all do. What does Easter mean to you?

Happy Resurrection Day

George Gagliardi, March 2016

Question?

  What does Easter Mean to … you? (or me, for that matter). An interesting question, is it not? Of course how you answer it depends entirely on your belief, or lack of. And I believe that the source of the answer can be broken down into three categories. A – Jesus was raised from the dead. B—Jesus was not raised from the dead. C—Not sure if he was raised from the dead or not, maybe so but then again …

    (I skipped apathy because that sort of speaks for itself. If you don’t care one way or the other, then you don’t. Not a lot you can do with that. So I don’t care about that – and please note the intentional irony there.)

 So we’ll start with C – Not too much to say about that because with that sort of perspective Easter is kind of nice but not all that essential. It’s pleasant but not all that significant. Although folks who feel that way may secretly wish they could believe in the resurrection, they just can’t bring themselves to accept that as a reality.

   However don’t imagine for a moment that many of us who consider ourselves believers are completely free from doubt when it comes to the resurrection. There are still times when we have difficulty with how fantastic the whole notion is – somebody rose from the dead, really? And we’re not talking about Jesus as a zombie. Nope, he wasn’t merely undead, he was as alive as you and I are. (Depending on how alive you feel, I suppose.) So doubters take heart – I’m prone to believe that honest doubt may well be the path to discovering real faith. Or perhaps to put it another way – out of searching, wondering, wandering and questioning sometimes one can catch a glimmer of light. Remember that old spiritual – “This little light of mine” …

  Okay, on to B – Resurrection didn’t happen, it’s a trick, a myth, a scam, a … you may fill in the blank with whatever negative response you see fit. And whereas not all who espouse these thoughts are cynical, angry skeptics, some are. And you know if I believed what they believe I can see how they could get ticked off.

   “To think someone is trying to insult my intelligence, to con me, to take me for a simpleton, to “sell me a bill of goods” and expect me to swallow the whole thing just because they say it’s so – well, I’m not going to do it. Moreover they condemn me because I won’t go along with the deception. They behave in a very hateful way and won’t even bother to hear my side of things. Well, count me out.  I’ve got no use for that sort of attitude.” (By the way, neither did Jesus.)

   For the B folks Easter is, at best, Peter Rabbit, Easter egg hunts, Spring awakening (though not necessarily in Texas), maybe some pastels, pretty flowers and Irving Berlin’s hit song, “Easter Parade”.  It’s nothing much more than that. Sadly, it can’t be, really.

   Here is where I want to point out that this bit of scribbling has not been created to convince you that I’m right and you’re wrong. Nope, that’s not my job and not my purpose in laying out these particular paragraphs. If I truly am to treat you in a Christ like manner then that means allowing you to choose whether to believe or not – not brow beat you into thinking the way I want you to think. Here again – that’s not the way Jesus dealt with folks in His ministry – brow beating was not on His list of how to do things. And since he set the standard, well then …

 Now we come to the A people, people who do believe that Jesus was in fact raised from the dead on Easter morn. For us the event was real. It happened and it was/is life changing. Now I’ll pause a minute or so as to avoid going into “church speak”, lest this part sound like the “pitch” for a bargain I’m trying to get you to buy into.

   Okay, let me digress for a moment.

   When I thought about writing down the preceding paragraphs it was obvious to me that at some point I needed to answer the question for myself “What does Easter mean to me, today?” Remarkable as it may seem, this was not as easy to answer as I thought it would be – short of just giving a kind “knee jerk” reaction. And so here’s my answer to the question I started out with.

  Easter means nothing stops God from doing what He decides to do and that includes death. God has a way of bringing new life out of destruction, despite what it may look like to begin with. Anyone who saw what happened on the Cross when Jesus died would not have stood up and sung “Victory in Jesus”. Not then – but later, after the resurrection they could and would. Easter means the same God who raised Jesus from the dead can raise my spirits when their low, give me hope when it’s hard to find hope, give me a peace that really makes no sense in light of the circumstances, make me believe in the impossible because with Him impossible is just a word and most importantly help me believe that’s God’s big enough to … (fill in the blank.)

   So I’ll leave you with this to ponder –  Jesus being raised from the dead was either the greatest event in human history or it was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the human race. You get to decide. We all do. What does Easter mean to you?

Happy Resurrection Day

George Gagliardi, March 2016

As Long as We’re Still Here

The Christmas season has come and gone

It’s time to sing a different song

A song I wrote, a song of hope

That I hope will bring a cup of cheer

For the coming year

Long as we’re still here

Why not live out our own dreams

Those lovely, fragile, precious things

We hold within our heart

As long as we’re still here

Why not take a leap of faith

For endless possibilities

That just might be the key

To making a brand new start

Sure I know sometimes

The past is like a shadow

An unwelcome guest

That’s hard for us to shake

Delighting in reminding us

How often we mess things up

And especially that big mistake

But the past is just that

And I say, if it’s a burden

Why carry it

Go ahead and bury it

And then move on

Long as we’re still here

Although I know it sounds cliché

Tomorrow’s still a brand new day

 Let this be a time of hope

We can live life like life really matters

As long as we’re willing to be free enough

To believe we can change through the power of love

Isn’t it worth a try this year

As long as we’re still here

George Gagliardi, December, 29, 2015