Christmas Eve, 2017

Christmas Eve, 2017

 

When I wrote this, I opened my computer software to type it out. Its called Word. So here is a Word.

Its been a crazy year, that 2017. And reminiscing about it can be left for next week. But as we sit in the darkness of Christmas Eve, I look back on this year. Some of it good, some of it not so much. Some of it was dark. Very dark. But there was always a light. Sometimes it was the sun, rising up in the morning. Sometimes it was a mechanical light, glowing in the dark of night, because we were kept up. Sometimes it was daytime, but a light showed up anyway because that was what was needed.

I have written in the past on this Eve about the starry host of angels proclaiming the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. But tonight, the focus is on the source of the Light. John 1 talks about how the Word was with God, became flesh, was life, and the life became the Light of men. The Light shined in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Note the change to present tense.

Christmas Eve has almost as much meaning to me as Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is quiet, kinda solemn, and the preparation for the big day. Very Peaceful. For those of us who celebrate Advent, it is the final day of that period. It is a preparation period, and tonight is the last of it. There is some Joy and celebration, but the best is yet to come. And we anticipate it with great Hope. This year, Christmas Eve happens to fall on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Its theme is Love. If you were in the Greater Houston area over the past few months, you experienced and/or gave love. I saw it; I experienced it. It was reported on the news, but nothing like you felt if you were here. Probably also in Florida, California, and other places.  Love is like light. It pierces the bad, damage, catastrophe, loss. But it does it in a way we don’t expect, can’t always comprehend, and can’t do ourselves. That’s because love is a divine concept. It was first shown to us by God the Father, who sent His Son here, and who ultimately was killed on a tree, for nothing He did, but for ALL of what we did. Regardless of what it was.

The Bible gives us some detail about the birth of Jesus. Alot of it is common knowledge. No room in the inn. Stayed in a stable with the animals, Born and placed in a manger in swaddling cloths, not a cute onesie. But have you thought of this? What did Joseph think of all this. What did the innkeeper think? How did they find the stable? Did it all work out. Yes. The way Joseph thought? No. But God spoke to him through an angel to give him a heads up. So there was some direction. A light. The shepherds saw a bunch of lights. And a single star that lead them to the place where Jesus lay. And it was all working out the way God intended. Not in our time, in His. Not by our means, by His.

Jesus grew up to be a man. He experienced everything that we have, except sin. We have experienced that. And if we were to stop and think about it, we might come across the idea that perhaps there is another way to do this. Whatever “this” is. Could it be that there is more to this life than what we know, more than what we see? If Christmas is anything to those who believe, it is an example of things happening that are not what we expect. If Christmas is anything for those who don’t believe, perhaps it is a Word that pierces the darkness, a Light that shines and clarifies. Provides some answers or some new perspective.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

November 22, 1963. And 2017

It is November 2017. The year has seemed to quickly trudge and stammer by. Quickly, because it seems like it just started. Trudge and stammer because there have been a few events or circumstances that took a toll on us. Especially in Houston, where we live, and where Hurricane Harvey visited for 4 dark days. The holidays are just days away, if like me, you don’t start counting until Thanksgiving Day. But another memorable day in history is coming even sooner.

At the end of September, my wife Beth and I took a trip to Boston to celebrate our 26th anniversary. First time for both of us. We picked the dates to coincide with the Houston Astros final series of the year with the Red Sox. But before we got to Fenway, we visited the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. I am a big fan of history, and I was excited to visit his library. 

Little did I know.

 

November 22, 1963.

I was just young enough to remember bits and pieces of this in real life. Most of what I know I found out later, but I still remember the day the principal came on the intercom, announced that the President had been shot, and piped in the radio reports to us. I was in first grade. I was in a Catholic school in suburban Milwaukee Wisconsin. We went to the church to pray.

As I walked the dimly lit halls of the museum, a theme was developing in my head. This sounds and looks familiar. The dates, names, and some locations have changed, but this is happening all over again.

• Kennedy won Presidency with a popular vote of 49.7%

• Old tv sets with scary looking cameras

• A mockup of a stage where the first televised debate was held

• Walter Cronkite’s anchor desk for the election

• Cold War with Soviet Union intensifying

• Cuban Missile Crisis- bringing the USA and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.

• Recession in US economy

• Segregation still prominent; right to vote still denied to blacks

• Racial turbulence spread to the North

We seem to have our own parallel universe of events and conditions in 2017.

Kennedy launched programs and initiatives. Challenged us to go to the moon. And saw that journey start with the Mercury and Gemini programs. He worked hard to get to a peace with the Russians instead of world annihilation. In a speech in West Berlin just after the Berlin wall was erected, Kennedy said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (I am a Berliner). He said all free men are citizens of Berlin. He was verbalizing US support of West Germany, messaging the Communists of our attitude and intentions.

We landed on the moon. The Berlin Wall came down.

Technology back then was a manual typewriter and a teletype machine that used Morse code and a spool of paper tape. But it was state of the art at the time and was used to connect Washington DC and Moscow for the first time. Kennedy arranged this and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with Nikita Khruhschev.

Then I came upon one of the most personally chilling parts of the museum. In a mockup of brother Bobby Kennedy’s office as Attorney General was an original letter sitting on the desk written by James Meredith. Meredith was a black student at the University of Mississippi. The first black student to be admitted to the largely upper class, traditional white southern state university. It took about a year and a half to get him in. JFK and RFK were personally involved in this fight. And a fight it was. First with words, threats, demonstrations. Then force.  JFK’s determination and RFKs leadership in a time of caustic hatred, manipulative deceit, and forces of good vs evil, were two key forces that finally, after bloodshed, death and demonstrations, brought peace, calm, and a settlement that started American education, and America, on a better road.

Since my daughter is a recent graduate of Ole Miss, I have spent a considerable amount of time on campus in Oxford. I have stood on the steps of the Lyceum, one of the original buildings on campus that had weathered years of use, the Civil War, was a hospital for troops on both sides, and was now the scene of one of the ugliest and most hate-filled confrontations in American history. I stood in the center of the memorial structure that commemorates that event. I stood next to the statue of Meredith. If it is life size, he is a man of maybe average height. But his memoir (A Mission from God, A Memoir and Challenge for America, Meredith with William Doyle) recounts a man of towering determination, focused actions, and Divine inspiration. From the potentially worst possible outcome came a turning point in America that only we could present. Because America is an idea, not a place.

“We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and as clear as the America Constitution.”

-President John F Kennedy, June 11, 1963. Report to the American People on Civil Rights

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” 

         -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

After that, we enjoyed Boston. Fenway twice (the Astros won twice), historical sights on the Freedom trail, the USS Constitution – the oldest active warship in the Navy fleet- and ate a lot of fantastic food. We were kindly treated by the people in Boston. They showed genuine concern for us when the found out that we were from Harvey-stricken Houston.

Later, back home, Houston recovers from Harvey. There are lots of stories, most of them uplifting, encouraging, an example of what can come of people when they think of others. An appropriate sign of the times was when the city rode the wave of the Houston Astros Postseason. Especially the World Series. The Astros fought long and hard to bring that trophy home. No one could have been prouder than its residents.

I spoke to one of the managers of the Library as we departed. I mentioned that the things I saw seemed to be reappearing in current life. He said, Yes, that’s why its so important to come here. 

History repeats itself. I hope and pray that it repeats itself again, all the way through. God help us.

Kennedy was flawed. He had his detractors. So do we all. But his contribution is notable, and noteworthy for our time and for all time.

“We in this country, in this generation, are – by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility – that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint – and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of ‘peace on earth, good will toward men.’ That must always be our goal – and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: ‘except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.’"

-from President John F. Kennedy’s undelivered remarks prepared for the Dallas Trade Mart, November 22, 1963

Quotes from the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts

The Tale of Harvey, one week in

Been awhile, right? But if ever there was a time to get back on the blog, this is it. Our windy wet mess Harvey did it.

Other than the death of loved ones, this has been the most excruciating and emotionally painful 7 days of my life. 42 inches of rain coming down on top of my neighborhood. Wondering if we are going to flood. Wondering if we should get out before it does. Seeing people say its never flooded here before but it did this time, and wondering if we are next. Calls and emails from clients with questions I can't answer. Calls and emails from clients with the one question I can answer but don't want to (no, you don't have flood insurance). Feeling for thousands of fellow Houstonians who lost much or all, and are functionally homeless. Knowing what is ahead for our region.

 

And yet, seeing, feeling, experiencing the Human Condition. Love, patience, goodness mercy, joy, kindness. Recognize this list? People taking it upon themselves to help each other, some at personal risk of life. I am proud to be a Texan, Houstonian, Believer. Everything dissolved into the least common denominator. The Human Condition. And its contradictions. Our differences went down the drain before any of the water did. It started 7 days ago tonight, and will be going for 7 months plus. 30+ people died. That's incredibly sad. The whole city was shut down, and will be crippled for months. But there is another page to this story. And its built by people. People who are made Good. And He is fine using us as his tools for The Good.

 

If this had been made as a movie, we would have said, that's cool, but it can't happen. Eau contraire.

 

Its not over, but the storm has not defined us. It has exposed us and refined us. Psalm 46 tells us of God's mighty strength, our refuge. our protection. His power and majesty. The river of foam and roaring, the river of peace, gladness, protection. Water is very dangerous. We have seen it destroy and kill this week. But He lifts His voice, and the earth melts. He tells us to be still. Know. I am God. Is that good enough for us? Can we use this to His Glory? Can we be good to others as He is good to us?  Can we make that last longer than a few months or a year? Maybe we can. Bigger question, bigger challenge. Can we spread it beyond our own hurricane ravaged slice of earth? Actually no, we can't. But we can sing a song, cry a cry.  And be still, for the God of Jacob is our fortress. What have we learned in the past 7 days? In 365 days, we will have at least something of an answer.

Today is Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. Christians remember (not celebrate) this day when Jesus was put to death by the Romans. Everybody knows about that. Most know that He was called King of the Jews. Jesus is certainly a King, but not of the Jews. Jesus' kingdom is not of this world. That's why the bindings of this world could not contain Him. Its not a trick, or magic, or anything like what those pesky Pharisees were always trying to pull off.

We think our world today is full of conspiracy, lies, manipulation. In Jesus' day, and particularly this week, He was subjected to that in a far worse way than we will ever experience. Barabbas was let go, though he was guilty. Jesus was kept, beaten, and eventually crucified. A far more painful death than we use now for the death penalty. He was not guilty. But there was a bigger plan. He knew it, and let it happen anyway.

There is a Bigger Plan. It doesn't work how we want it to. Trust me. I've tried; complained about it, thought I could make a good plan. God's Plan, including the events of today 2000+ years ago will work. It takes a different attitude.You know if its there. You can sense it. If you can't; keep looking. It'll find you if you let it.