I really didn’t see it coming. If you are one of the many younger than I am, the headline may just have been a pass under your eyes. Survivors remember the 80 anniversary of the liberation of Aschwitch. I am a child of WWII. Fighting wasn’t on our soil, so it was easy for me to have a them/bad and us/good attitude. Magazines and radio reports did updates and friends we knew offered prayers for family members in battle zones. Then we won and I understood a little more about hatred and exclusion of a group of people. Some groups made their own sacrifices to provide places of hiding or escape and I learned names like Anne Frank and Corrie Ten Boon.

Fifty years passed and I taught in a prestigious private school in Houston. Sometime during each year a Jewish grandparent would speak of their personal route of survival and a glimmer of the part pure hate of a group of people played in this atrocity began to broaden my understanding of what had been just an historical happening. We had a noble, no other word could describe, principal. He was an American citizen of German heritage and had driven one of the tanks for the liberation of Dachau and was also a speaker in assemblies at times. The year my life turned was when when he quietly told of driving his tank to the gate that opened and revealed the malnourished, mistreated fellow humans being offered freedom. With a break in his voice, he said to room full of sixth through eighth graders; “Gott im Himmel! ” At that moment, I desperately never wanted to be a part of the group who hates.

It’s hard! Always there is the feeling of a self-assured eight year old who rests with confidence that in a world of them and us, my us side is mostly right. At this very moment, I’m sure each of us could make a list of choices and directions that are disfranchising some of our most heartfelt beliefs and we feel that supporters of those beliefs are wrong. I may have to speak out, or write a letter or organize a safe way to have another opinion. Yet, even if it’s a struggle, I can’t offer hate and separation as a solution. With God in Heaven, we have to work together.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave^]nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one.

Galatians 3:28

Adages that defined my week. The Camel Got His Nose in the Tent. When one needs to travel the desert, dromadaries (one hump camels) do the job. They plod mile after mile with a rocking motion, asking for nothing much. When one is forced to halt the journey, though they still want to be part of the group, two legged or four. So last week, when cough and weariness overtook me, they nosed into the tent, folded those spindly legs to allow me to slide off, closed the big brown eyes with lashes to help filter sand, and settled themselves in for a rest. Gradually, I’ve recovered enough to encourage them to stand, and move outside again. I am now able to see ahead, plan the journey, and define an end to the sand dunes.

Ah, I am now left with animal two, a left over necessity. How Does One Eat an Elephant? A Bite at a Time. I have never had an elephant steak or even a tidbit, yet definitely the mass behind that rough skin must be disposed of. This animal requires making appointments with doctors who know how to peel back the skin and provide the spices, otherwise known as medicines, to help make the bites palatable. Throw in passwords for a portal and the possibility of entering incorrectly a time or two plus the days required to see results and that pachyderm, while dwindling, has yet to vanish.

Even when these two are sent on their way, one more will stay simply by virtue of my almost completing my eighth decade and getting a little frayed around the edges. From now on the adage of the day is this. There Is a Monkey on My Back. Each day I choose what I can complete with grace. Be it feed myself, tend to tasks of washing and cleaning, or keeping a journal to prove life has meaning. I throw in Spanish, Mini Puzzle, Connection for Brain Power and, more for my “make it happen” than for you, write old lady comments for the week. Wherever you fit in with this week’s readers, begin thinking about your beasts. Whatever and wherever they are, a sure defense awaits.

“For you will be in league with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

Job 5:23

Due to a weak link between willing and able, the publication that usually appears in this space will not be released for this week only. In the meantime, mull over your own inventive thought, tweak an impossible idea, or simply wallow in the delight of suddenly unoccupied space. It is even possible to call to mind that Bible verse hidden in the back folds of your mind. If a total blank, this one is specific to some individuals, to January in Houston with weather and blooming cedar, and is recommended by our publisher.

“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;” Psalm 103:3.

Just like the stirred together mess of two cups of flour, plus sugar, baking powder, and some eggs gets poured into a pan and comes out a cake, tidbits of one thought, a word from another, and a visual reminder of a moment in time flow together to recreate a hidden memory.

Components. The Wall Street Journal had a holiday section titled My Best Christmas Gift Ever which was choices by important people. The blue ribbons were a variety from a Hello Kitty panini pan to a horse to a Tonto action figure to time given to life after surgery. I found a picture of me at age four holding the reins to a Sheland pony named Bill. Maybe he qualified as best. No, my dad liked my having him more than I did. I couldn’t saddle or mount by myself and he had a bad habit of running under clothes lines to dislodge this weight on his back.

Back to the drawing board. Lately I’ve been re-readibng journals I wrote in 1999 just to see what I was like then. In the middle of October was a story about the winner. It wasn’t a gift to me, but to my best friend Joyce. The year was 1945. Victory in Europe had been won in May and supplies on hold during the war were just coming back. For Christmas, Joyce got a bike. The frame was thin and steel, no chrome or exotic paint design. and it had narrow tires instead of balloon tires to still conserve rubber. The first challenge was to balance oneself while mastering the motion of pushing back the kickstand and hefting your bottom up to the elevated seat without toppling over before you could begin peddling. To win a chance to learn to ride, my helping hand was to run behind and guide the rear wheel until some degree of pedaling expertise was learned.

Eventually, I did get my own bike with a basket to carry the bicycle pump because my tires were the upgrade that leaked and needed refilling. Seven of us, names of my childhood, claimed freedom of motion to cover our world until a driver’s license tweaked the mix. That togetherness was the best gift ever. This Christmas no children were out with new means of transportation. They may have to wait to think of who knew best what they needed and it was the perfect gift. Both being a giver and a receiver count.

A gift opens the way. Proverbs 18:16

First word, have a Happy New Year, or a Healthy one, or a Profitable one, or even an Adventurous one. Whatever it is about this day, we think we have the chance to make it different from any year we have ever known. Truth be told, some change would happen under any circumstances. However, let’s look at options.

The most common word I like least; New Year’s Resolutions, a word heavy with obligation and commitment. It also usually involves some form of intense exercise that in many cases, has been put forth with hopefulness in previous years. Maybe next January will see you as the feature article in the Outlook section of the Houston Chronicle. You will have lost a planned for amount of weight, or clocked an amazing number of miles running each day in the dark, or your membership in a nearby gym has you pressing your weight goal in front of amazed admirers.

Instead, you could just focus on Behavior, those responses that brighten your life and that of others. You might Laugh more, try extra Forgiveness, or even be Grateful for that totally unexpected happening Another umbrella word could be Mindful, which opens all varieties of possibilities. Call up a response of Calmness to ride a tumultuous wave or even Simplify to avoid the wave in the first place.

Unless we are rocking unhurriedly on a front porch, an exhaustive list of “Today I will…” is not possible. I think at this moment my goal is to do a better job of Sorting and Unstacking with a small amount of purging as needed. The temptation of a flat surface calls me to create unclassified groups of bills, notes, and grocery mailings indiscriminately until more action time than I want to give is required to accomplish another despicable word: Organize. Choose whatever fits you as per this unknown admonition. “Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year resolve to be yourself. “ Verse 1 to keep on track.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed. 2 Timothy 2:15

or Verse 2 if you need extra back-up.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3

If you want just bare bones, read Matthew 2:1 – 18. Google can flesh out some details. Because of a horrific end to their visit, we know it occurred two years after Christmas Eve birth. A unspecified number of Magi, wise men most probably not Jews, arrive in Jerusalem asking Herod , that pinpoints the date, about the birth of the King of the Jews, which Herod thought he was. They asked this question because of their interpretation of a bright star which had led them to this place. Herod gave the question to Jewish chief priests who used Micah to send the Magi to Bethlehem after Herod has asked for more information to be brought back to him. The star led the searchers on to a house where they worshiped and gave three gifts. A dream advised them to not share news with Herod. An angels stepped in again and told Joseph to take the family to Egypt until Herod died. Herod thought he had gotten ultimate revenge by killing all baby boys two years old and under, giving us that heart wrenching statement, “Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted. “

From this comes the obligatory hymn to conclude the season; We Three Kings of Orient Are. Basically it sets the number at three kings, identifies the gifts metaphorically as appropriate to a new-born king, and emphasizes the star in the story. Historical research and inventive story tellers have fleshed out the bare bones. Henry van Dyke’s The Other Wise Man may be considered by some to be part of the canon narrative. I don’t have a Bible verse. Just consider these two offerings. The first is from Scholastic Magazine in 1958, how to travel.

Onward they journeyed, the star in the eyes. straight to a glory that lit up the skies. Most people stay in the place where they are. Only the wisest follow a star.

Christina Rosetti In the Bleak Mid-Winter can define your gift.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

Next week this time unless you are marching to a different drummer, a last worship service for Advent will have been held, gifts will have been opened, a meal consumed, and, in some cases, s’mores made and a favorite movie watched. Now, what carol is unsung? In our hymnbook, from p. 79 – p. 150 choices are presented. Stately offerings like Once in David”s Royal City , a jubilant Joy to the World , and do you really think I will leave out the touch our heart favorite, Silent Night. Yes, because this night is approaching the time when all gather: individuals, couples, the elderly, the teens, and some hand holding younger ones . We started this journey with almost outcasts, the shepherds. We blended our voices and paid attention to what the angels sang for each of us to note. The simplicity of children’s voices evoked our memories of a unique nursery and the special child it sheltered. Now is the time to light a candle and hold it high as we declare what we are as a group in O Come, All Ye Faithful.

All that has been hoped for has come to pass. Emmanuel, God with us, is true. All journeys start at a beginning, maybe even with just a lone traveler. Like the call Hark earlier in the season, the call now is Come! with exuberance. The destination is Bethlehem, not very large, yet expands to make room for a crowd. The God who sends the child doesn’t shun a humble dwelling. He elevates the status of this new one with a choir of angels. On this happy morning, Oh, Come, let Us adore him, Oh, Come, let Us adore him, Oh, Come, let Us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Join the crowd of the faithful which has grown through the years. Be a part of the ones who add their voices to the varied songs and hold dear the treasured verse.

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Holding a hymnbook isn’t easy for tiny hands even if the spine is resting on the pew back. The three year olds may have learned to recognize their name and a STOP sign if their parents have really been focused, yet reading a whole page is not a possibility. The song this week is the one children know because it goes with rocking time, story time, or is part of a performance. Also what is more tender to all than a new baby. Away in a Manger tells the whole story. My favorite setting is to Flow Gently Sweet Afton. That tune seems to have a sway that the strong first beat lacks for me.

The lyrics tell the whole story and provide teaching in the untold places. A Christmas Eve manger helps children see it is not at all like their bedrooms, yet adults have done what they can to care for a new baby even as their parents do for them. If cattle are lowing, is it scary? Did Jesus really never cry? What better phrase to use than, “I love thee, Lord Jesus,” and be assured that that love is poured back on them. They learn to pray that Jesus be not only with them, but also with all their friends in His tender care. Truthfully. I like the upgrade to “fit us for heaven.” My childhood version was “take us to heaven” which put a damper on going to sleep.

I can see the shepherds coming in quietly. They had held baby lambs with the mothers nudging around to check on their offspring. Somehow children too know instinctively how to welcome a new baby. Maybe at some level, we wish we could have held a swaddled child. Our family has a video of a new great-great nephew brought home to older brothers. His mother put the two day old in a dough-nut on the couch with older ones at head and foot. We could hear a soft, “ooh.” as they settled in. Very slowly the three year old raised his hand and lowered it to barely cup the small head. Checking with his mother, he then bent over to bestow a welcome kiss. We too can remember the Christ of Calvary was once the Babe of Bethlehem. “Be with us Lord Jesus, we ask thee to stay close by us forever and love us we pray.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

Luke 2:15 – 16

Listen up! Everyone knows this week’s song. It is sung robustly by small children and men with strong voices and when the congregation begins they give their best to the final note. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. It has a page in every denomination’s hymnbook that reveres Christmas carols. In the way of so many activities, I have sung it with gusto and auto pilot at the same time. Then our choir this year sang an arrangement by Dan Forrest, and I suddenly had to pay attention to the flight plan.

First off, the familiar title appears. Then for three full pages no hint in the music gives a clue to the song you are awaiting. Instead, you are sitting on the hillside with last week’s shepherds. On page 4, the call resounds: Hark! That word means stop what you are doing, straighten up and pay attention. This whole announcement is for YOU! Don’t miss it! The tone of voice is that used by a mother standing in front of her child and saying, “Look me in the eye!”

The music in 4/4 time moves quickly, so you may gloss over the import of the deliverers. Only one is chosen to give the obligatory, “Don’t be afraid!” This speaker delivers all the salient points of the message: what, where, who. We have no idea how many angels are in heaven, but instead of one, a host of angels flows past overhead, undulating in a forward moving stream over your blinking eyes. They are a multitude with a fixed purpose. They are Heralds, messengers sent by the king with a pronouncement. In case you slid over the words in verse 1, your part is repeated at the end of verse 2 and 3. Sing it out! Glory to the new-born King!

 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:14 KJV (Because that’s what I first learned)

The Christmas season is always rushed. By Mid-November, one can buy a Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas decorations in the same store. Through the five years I have written, I’ve tried to focus these four Advent offerings on words or actions or Biblical passages to move the season out of the commercial realm. Be warned, this year I am traveling through Epiphany focusing on five songs that set the time for me. Feel free to substitute

Since the time of creation, God had been dropping hints that one more step needed to be taken to have a perfect man to God connection. Prophecies that were clear and some that maybe were not so understandable. Then that long time of silence. Wrapping up provided a carpenter and a teen-age bride who will be a family. Throw in a king who decides to move players like chessmen to be at the appropriate place pre-mentioned. One waits for babies to be born and eventually the waiting is over. Who gets the good news? It’s not the most well know carol, yet it’s meaningful to me for one line. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks. Then that picture setting moment…all sitting on the ground.

They are not the most important people in town, certainly are not the high priest. I like to see them sprawled out in their costume -like brown tunics talking quietly, so they won’t upset the sheep. If they were men I grew up with they would be smoking a pipe and one maybe scratching a dog behind his ear. Then the news breaks out and all they need to know is told by a calming angel. (More about that next week) For now this is the information and they are the first to know. The babe is born in David’s town, wrapped in swaddling clothes and in a manger laid. The music never gets louder or faster, just spins out the word we hold true to this day, Good will henceforth from heav’n to men ,begin and never cease!” Pay attention, you may be given the news.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Luke 2:10