Nothing is more adorable than a new born baby especially when the child is our own. As proud parents, we start to plan a successful pathway into the future for our baby. The possibilities are unlimited.
When Mary accepts God’s invitation to be the mother of Jesus, she is overjoyed with thoughts of greatness for herself and for Jesus. The visits of the shepherds only reinforce these beliefs. But Mary soon learns when she presents the baby Jesus in the Temple that her dreams are a mirage. Simeon, an old man who believed he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah, takes Jesus into his arms and thanks God for letting him see the salvation of the world. Then he says to Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:34-35)
No mother, however insensitive, wants to hear the future of her precious child to be tragic. Yet Jesus is a gift to her and to the world. Among the many gifts we give to each other at Christmas, the most important one is the gift of Jesus. Many do not open or accept this gift. Why? Continue reading The Gift of Life
One morning as I was preparing my breakfast, I looked out of my kitchen window to see a doe and a fawn grazing on my lawn— a normal occurrence. Then out of nowhere, I noticed the doe’s other fawn near my neighbors’ 10’ deer fence which stretched along my property line. 
Are many of our religious organizations and institutions morally and spiritually corrupt and bankrupt? Are they only interested in protecting themselves from their misdeeds and a public outcry for accountability? If so, they should no longer be able to hide and coverup their evil deeds. Power, greed, and lust are the emotional center of predators. Because of their self-centeredness, they hurt others and themselves. Love of God and of humanity is absent in their lives even though they publicly pretend to be holy. To protect the vulnerable and the innocent, the hiddenness of predatory behavior needs to be exposed and legal measures be put in place so as to charge and convict all predators. 
Because of our human limitations, God can only be partially known. And only that which God wishes to reveal to us.Christians and Jews believe God lacks physicality and is an eternal spirit or force and creator of all that exists both visible and invisible. God has no beginning and no end. God is beyond the physical universe yet somehow is present to us. God is all knowing and from whom we cannot hide. God rules the universe yet places limitations on Godself so that we may have the freedom to accept or reject God’s sovereignty and to work out our own salvation. God can and does change God’s mind. Nothing is programmed and nothing is pre-determined by God. God grants us self-determination and input into the way our universe is managed be it according to God’s moral order or grasping possessiveness, power grabs, and narcissistic hedonism. 
Egoist and those who hold themselves in high esteem want the world to acknowledge their worthiness. Therefore, any flaws in their character or mistakes made by them are denied and blamed on another person, group, or tribe. This behavior existed in Jesus’ time and exists in our time. 
A seedling from a Japanese red maple was carried by the wind and landed among a group of azaleas. The soil was rich and it took root. It grew for many years in this spot. The gardener thought she needed to transplant this beautiful little tree away from the foundation of the house into a special spot where a similar tree once grew. 
When we read to young children an illustrated children’s book or Bible story, they are not so concerned about what we read as they are by the pictures they see. They see things in the illustrations that we would never observe. They will put their fingers on the pictures. If the book has a little fuzzy and/or anything tactile they will touch it. Vicariously, children will jump into the illustrations in order to explore that world on the page before them. Give them all the time in the world to wonder, wander, and use their imaginations in this way. 
Children see things we cannot see. When they are young, they are closer to the ground and have not trained their minds as most adults have to shut out observations and appreciation of parts of the universe. Children, if they have not been anesthetized by television, iPad, iPhone, and other media, spend much of their time in wonder. They see their world as one big place for exploring, to roam through without any pressure of time, to jump from one interesting observation and thing to another. Their growing muscles keep their bodies on the move. They are in perpetual motion. Their minds are creating universes that exist partly in this world and partly in another world.