Let them have joy

   This is the time of year that a lot of people start listening to Christmas music, and eying the Christmas decorations in their basement, attic, or shed.  It is also the time of year that people start complaining about those people. 

 It happens every year without fail. "Thanksgiving gets skipped over because we rush Christmas." Sad that other people celebrating Christmas early makes you un-thankful.  "It is too early for Christmas music." According to who? (Or is it whom?)

  Here are a couple of points:

1) We have no idea when Jesus was born, so it should be OK to do Christmas-y stuff any time of the year.

2) We should be thankful 24/7, 365 days a year, 366 on leap year. 

3) Thanksgiving is an American holiday. Being thankful daily is a Biblical thing.
 Christmas is for everyone.

4) The most important event in history was Jesus coming as a baby. Yeah, Easter is important, but you can't have it without the birth of Jesus. And we should only celebrate that event on month of the year? Nah. Belt out Joy to the World in August if you want.

Confession: I actually like All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. The rest of her Christmas CD sucks. And probably all her non-Christmas songs too. Maybe it is weird, but there are singers who I only like one Christmas song by. Except Elvis. I don't like anything by him. 

Serious confession: I deal with depression. It has been really bad lately, even affecting my reading. I am 18 books behind in my reading goal for the year. 18! There have been some things said and that happened that have made it worse, plus I fear SAD is setting in already - Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is a real thing. A lot of people tend to be more depressed during the Fall and Winter months. And yay me! I get that.

There are a lot of sad and hurting people in the world. I believe anyone who struggles much with depression battle thoughts of doing some things they shouldn't do. There are days the ER is flooded with people depressed, suicidal....it crushes me when someone brings in their teen and even younger who is feeling suicidal. And of course, a lot of adults.

Depressed and down people need to do what they can to have joy. One of those things we do is listen to Christmas music early, and even decorating for Christmas early. Another confession: The last few years I had no desire to decorate, but in early November when it really starts getting cold, the urge to decorate hit me, so I did it while I actually felt like it. To be honest, if I waited til the "approved time", I would most likely not do it at all. 

I love Christmas music. I am already listening to it. (I just listened to Mariah's song!)  And who has the right to say I should not? If it is giving me some joy, then who has the right to steal that joy? Should I stop listening to it early, should I not decorate early if the urge hits me, because there are people out there whose Thanksgiving will be ruined because of it? 😀

Seriously, if there is nothing morally wrong, why discourage people from doing things that give them joy?

I love to make people laugh and smile. I enjoy telling jokes to people, and at least making them smile at it. I was helping an elderly couple check in on a kiosk in the ER and something said reminded me of a joke, so I told it to them. I looked over, and my friend Lisa from security was standing in the doors to the back with a wheelchair looking at me. I go "What?" She replied, "Did you just subject those poor people to one of your jokes?"😀
There have been many times people have thanked me for making them smile. And though a lot of my jokes may be groaners, it gives me joy to make people smile. 

So if you are one of those who gets joy from doing Christmas-y things early, go for it and ignore the joy thieves. 

And you scrooges who gets their underwear in a bunch over Christmas rushing in to ruin your Thanksgiving....there really is no polite way to say this: Mind your own business, and stop being a joy thief. Oh, and Merry Christmas!

One of my Facebook friends shared this, and I then shared it. It came from a page titled Vacationland Mama:

If someone’s Christmas lights in October make you mad… maybe the problem isn’t the lights.

Maybe it’s that someone else found joy

in a world that’s made it really hard to feel any.

Because here’s the thing 

some people are just trying to hold it together.

And if hanging a wreath or plugging in twinkle lights helps them breathe a little easier,

who are you to judge that?

You don’t have to understand it.

You just have to let people have their joy.

So yeah, if someone’s blasting Mariah Carey before Halloween, (I did that and Halloween isn't here yet!!)

maybe it’s not that they’re rushing Christmas…

maybe it’s that they finally found a reason to smile again.

Let them glow.

Let them find their light.

Because joy doesn’t need your approval to shine.

Ragamuffins and the power of a story

 

I read a lot. And by a lot, I have hit 600 books plus a few over the last few years. That may sound like it is impossible, but I have no social life, and usually work 3 12 hour days. I don't have any hobbies, and I stay home a lot.

  99.99% of my reading is Christian fiction. I grew up in a church where some of the grey- haired members of the church looked down on the "Christian novel", almost likening it to erotic fiction. Slight exaggeration.

  The Christian fiction market has exploded in the last 20 years or so. When I first started reading Christian fiction, there were not many choices of books and authors. Now there are so many authors out there it is almost impossible to list them all. And there is also a wife variety of sub genre's and types of books out there. There is suspense/mystery/thrillers - my favorite, legal thrillers, romance, historical fiction/romance, rom-coms, science fiction, etc. There are some with a lot of fluff, some that have you laughing out loud, some that are serious and sobering, and many where the author does not shy away from packing the Gospel and Biblical truths into their books.

One recent one was the newest release by one of my favorite authors, Kimberley Woodhouse. She wrote a fictional novel set during the horrible reign of Hitler that was a great but sobering read.

  My faith was shattered in 2016 and the years following. I won't go into all the whys, as this post is not about politics....but it was because of MAGA politics and so many Christians in that crowd. I actually gave up on being a Christian, and have really struggled. I lost faith in the Republican party, my church, Christianity, and even God Himself.....which isn't really fair to Him as I have only recently realized. On my worst days, I questioned God's existence, and even if there are other gods, and this God was not telling the truth. I am being completely serious and honest. The things Christians in my own church and life have said to me, and the crap I have gotten because I voted how I still believe God wanted me to vote....it knocked me off my moorings completely.

During those years, I still had two of my greatest loves: Southern Gospel music and Christian fiction. There were years I didn't read anything in the Bible other than the daily verse I started getting a few years ago.

And what I was getting reading all those Christian fiction books.

Such as in Now or Never, #14 in the Brand of Justice Series by another favorite author, Lisa Phillips. I recently read an advance eBook copy of the book, due out next month

 The main character of the series is private investigator Kenna Bradbury, Kenna Jaxton as of book 11 when she married FBI Special Agent In Charge Oliver Jaxton (Jax). It is an awesome series, and I won't give too many spoiler details, but things happened in book #13 that pretty much wiped out Kenna's faith. A fairly new Christian, she just lost her faith completely due to what happened to her.

At one point in this book, Kenna's husband takes her to visit a friend of his, Jesse. Jesse runs some kind of rescue mission type place. He is in a wheelchair because he is missing both legs. Ironically, while an FBI agent, Jax had arrested Jesse and ended up leading him to Jesus. Jesse ends up preaching Kenna a little sermon that helps get her back on track.

But here is the kicker: it was something I needed. My faith has been in shambles due to politics and political Christians. I foolishly let things said to  me not just shatter my faith in my church, Christians, and Christianity....but in God also. It does not make sense. I voted how I believe He wanted me to vote.

There is something that has always been murky to me. I do not believe in Calvinism, and believe so much of the TULIP is opposite of the Bible, especially the once saved always saved. The idea that once you are a Christian, you cannot NOT sin, and that no matter what you do, you will still go to Heaven.....but on the other hand, so many preachers I heard over the years have made it sound to me like it is really difficult to make it into Heaven, and one little mess up will drop you into hell.

In the book, Jesse tells Kenna, "When we sin, it on us to repent. Whether Jax and I believe your lost faith is your fault or not, if you're looking for a turnaround in your heart and mind, confess and believe. That's how you got saved, and that's how you get back on track."

(Kenna) "It wasn't a once and for all thing?"

Jesse, "In a way, yes. But we drift. We forget. Or we mess up. Returning to the Lord can be a daily thing, or every minute. Not necessarily saying a 'sinner's prayer' every time, but the act of praying your way back to that close relationship might be something you need to do constantly for a while. As a reminder to you that you need to keep Him close."

There was a little more to it, but that is the gist. I immediately messaged the author and told her I so needed to hear that. And man, did I ever." (And I have permission to share that part of the book).

I am reminded of something comedian Chonda Pierce said once.  She was raised Nazarene, and her husband Baptist. She said he got saved once, and she got saved - she used a big exaggerated number, I think 300 and some times.

So I really like what Phillips wrote in her book in the conversation between three fictional characters. It really made me think, and was something I needed. And I got it from a Christian fiction novel.

My church had revival services this past week. The only service I was in was the Sunday morning service. I had never heard of the preacher, but he preached a great sermon on the prodigal son. He could have trimmed the length a bit, but it was still a great sermon. I was already thinking about this blog post, and as he preached, something came to my mind that I read in one of the greatest non-fiction books I ever read, The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning.

I struggled for years to believe anyone liked me, and even worse, to believe God loves me. There was more than one thing that helped shatter that struggle about believing God loves me, but one of the biggest or most memorable was what I read in Manning's best selling book. This is a quote from the book, and a few thoughts from a blog post I did 11 years ago about finally coming to believe God loves me:

"While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). I am moved that the [prodigal son's] father didn’t cross-examine the boy, bully him, lecture him on ingratitude, or insist on any high motivation. He was so overjoyed at the sight of his son that he ignored all the canons of prudence and parental discretion and simply welcomed him home. The father took him back just as he was . . . We don’t have to sift our hearts and analyze our intentions before returning home. Abba just wants us to show up . . . we don’t have to be perfect or even very good before God will accept us . . . Even if we come back because we couldn’t make it on our own, God will welcome us. He will seek no explanations about our sudden appearance. He is glad we are there . . . [He will say, like the prodigal's father,] “Hush, child. I don’t need to know where you’ve been or what you’ve been up to.”

  Manning also pointed out that the father didn't wait for the son to say all of the right words. He ran to meet him and embraced him before he could say anything. It was a simple truth, but it sure hit home with me.

  Manning, and others have said, the story isn't really about the son. We make it about the son, and I have heard many sermons and lessons on the son. The story is about the father. His love, and how eager he was to forgive his son and welcome him back.

No matter how far and long we wandered, God is always eager to take us back. I used to think I had to say the right words, pray a certain way and length, and beg Him to take me back.

But that isn't the case.

I'll close with the lines from a favorite song by the Booth Brothers, When He Saved Me:

I don’t believe He’s sitting up in Heaven

Evaluating sinners by their scars

But I see Him excited to forgive us

And it’s not at all in spite of who we are

Chorus:

When He saved me He knew

What I had done, what I would do

He looked beyond the worst in me

And saw not what I was, He saw what I could be

Invisible

    I had an interesting experience this week while vacationing in  Ohio's Amish country. I stayed Tuesday-Thursday, and came home late Thursday afternoon. 

  Tuesday was a rainy dreary day, and I spent most of it going to the several thrift stores i the area. There are at least twelve, including a Goodwill. I went to nine of them on Tuesday.

 On Wednesday, I mainly went to souvenir and touristy shops. When the weather is nice - which it was - I like to park my car at one end of Berlin, Ohio and just walk the main street, checking out the stores. 

 After checking into my second place I stayed at - I couldn't get the same place for two nights - I decided to got to the thrift store that is out of the way in Wilmot, OH. There is a restaurant there, The Amish Door, that I ate at a couple times a few years back. They closed, but reopened in a bigger building in the same lot. I decided to go there for supper. 

I walked in, was seated right away and given a menu. The place is huge. I was seated at a table in the one section of the restaurant that had booths and tables, mostly filled. And I sat. And sat. There were waiters and waitresses walking past my table, and no one acknowledged me. There was a waiter that stopped a couple of times at the table beside me that I figured was my waiter, but he never even looked at me.

Finally after at least twelve minutes, I chased down an employee at the salad bar who looked annoyed to be bothered. I told her I had been waiting over ten minutes with no one taking my order,  and asked if I had a waiter or waitress. After checking where I was seated, she headed off. A couple of minutes later, the guy I assumed was my waiter came to my table and apologized for not noticing me. I got the buffet/salad bar, and had mediocre service from him.

While eating my first plate of food, I bumped my glass of pop, knocking it over. I tried to get the attention of a couple of staff walking by, but they just kept walking. So I mopped up the mess as best as I could with napkins, pushing the ice cubes on the table onto my empty salad plate, and kicking the ones on the floor under the table. The same girl I had bugged earlier went by busing tables, and dropped one of her cloths and it caught under the wheel of her cart. I tried to get her attention to tell her, but she just kept going.

I felt invisible for most of my time in that restaurant. I am not exaggerating. It was as if the staff couldn't even see me sitting there, even when I made a mess. I was embarrassed, but no one even seemed to notice. 

I used to feel weird about eating out on my own, especially when asked "Just one?" But I got to the point it doesn't bother me. Much. I tip well for good service, and don't camp out at a table. But sometimes I do feel like I am being an inconvenience since I am just one person eating out. 

But this experience...ugh. I am guessing that if I had three people with me at the table for four, or even one or two, I would have been noticed faster. Maybe.

It seriously was a weird experience. I have never felt so un-noticed and invisible in my life. Oh, I am sure there were other times, but this was on steroids. 

It made me think. 

Years ago when I worked at the Christian bookstore in Salem, OH, the owners had a speaker come to talk about customer service. They treated us to supper, then the guy spoke. He told a true story that has stuck with me about a young man who committed suicide. I can't remember if the speaker gave many details about what was going on in this guy's life, but this is what I do remember:

In his his suicide note, he said how lonely he was, and how invisible. He walked into a Christian bookstore hoping someone would approach him. No one did. No one even asked him if he needed help. He went home, wrote a suicide note, and killed himself. 

I am not excusing his suicide. I know in my personal experience of dealing with depression that there are all kinds of thoughts and feelings one deals with. There are times I am lonely, but a lot of the time I enjoy solitude and enjoy staying home avoiding people. I have battled bad thoughts, but know what the answers are and are not. 

But how many people are out there feeling invisible. Lonely. Unnoticed. I think my church does pretty well with visitors. They all aren't like me, who rarely approaches non-family members, and escapes the church as soon as the song leader stops holding us hostage after church is over. (I might explain that at the end😀) There are cards to fill out, and I know my pastor and assistant pastor go out of their way to speak to visitors and even visit if they leave information.

I am sure though, that there are many churches where someone could slip in and out without people noticing them and speaking to them.

And not just churches. Everywhere there are people who go un-noticed. They are invisible, maybe because of their appearance, or maybe they stink, or have other issues that make people avoid them.

There is a shirt I have seen on line, and one came up for review on Amazon that I missed out on recently, so I bought one and have been wearing it. I have a couple of hoodies coming that say the same thing. (Got a fairly good deal on one, then they popped up an offer to get a second one cheaper. The shirt says on the front: You are enough. The back says "Dear person behind me....." The company that started it advertise them as a suicide deterrent, and have testimonials. Could a shirt like that deter suicide? I guess it is possible. I wore mine Tuesday when I was on my trip, and had a few positive comments. The first took me aback a bit. I was looking at clearance books in a thrift store, and a guy probably a little older than me fist bumped me. I was wondering "what on earth", then he said "Thanks for making me smile with the message on the back of your shirt." Hmm. Cool. 

When I am out in public, despite wanting to avoid people, I try to smile at people and say hi or good morning if they make eye contact. Who knows what people are going through. Maybe they feel invisible, un-noticed, unloved. It might not make a difference in their life....but what if it does?

Jesus noticed people. There are a couple of Bible stories that stand out to me regarding that:

1) The woman with the issue of blood. I won't go into the whys, but she was a social outcast because of her issue. She was untouched. People avoided her. But she thought if she could just touch the hem of his garment, she might be healed. I am sure she thought she'd touch it, then scurry away without being noticed. She never was, so why would this time be any different.

But oh, how wrong she was. Jesus immediately asked "Who touched me?" He knew who had, but He wanted her to voice it and why. Maybe He wanted her to feel noticed. His disciples told Jesus someone in the crowd probably bumped into her, but He persisted. So this woman spoke up and admitted it was her. Then Jesus told her that her faith had made her well, and to go in peace. 

Thread of Hope by one of my favorite groups puts it like this:

The woman needed healing of that dreaded disease
Her money brought physicians but only Jesus could bring relief
And though her last thread of hope was worn down to a strand
Her heart held onto faith til she could touch him with her hand 

Cause when you're hanging by a thread 
Still you can climb life's mountain
Though the cliffs are rough and jagged you can cope
If you should slip and reach ropes end
You'll find the hem of his garment
So don't let go of that last thread of hope

2) The woman at the well. This one really gets to me, in a good way. Jesus told His disciples that He needed to go through Samaria. A people looked down on by the Jews. There's a song Karen Peck and New River recorded several years ago. The first verse talks about her:

She could not believe
He would come to her city
Come to a Samaritan well
But He offered and got her
To drink livin' water
Now she's got a story to tell

To make a way
He went out of His way
Came to me
Left Heaven one day
He took a journey alone
Left a Father and home
To make a way
He went out of His way

The Jews just did not like the Samaritans, yet here is Jesus going out of His way to see a woman that was a social outcast even among her people. She had had five husbands, and was shacking up with at least a sixth guy. But Jesus asked her for a drink. Her response was "The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”  (John 4:9 ESV) She was shocked that He noticed her, and would ask someone like her for water. But He went out of His way to let her know she was seen, noticed, loved, and in need of a Savior who loved even her. 

Jesus always sees us. Notices us. Loves us. No matter how invisible we are or feel we are, He always sees us. And may all who claim to be followers of Him do the same.

In closing....

The hostage thing. Several years ago, they started something at my church. After the closing prayer was said, the song leader would sing lead out in a chorus to give my pastor time to get back to the door to shake hands with people as they leave. For several years, we were in a rut and did the Doxology. Now, the song leader picks a song or chorus that has something to do with the sermon. Here's the thing: Church is over. I want to leave, but I have to stand there while we sing. And sometimes all the verses of the song, or repeat verses and the chorus. So I kind of view it as being held hostage. 😃

Secondly, I absolutely do not recommend the mentioned restaurant. The food on the bar wasn't that great. I am guessing it is under new management. 

Now go out and do your best to make sure anyone crossing your part does not feel invisible.