I prefer " Merry Christmas"

                                                 I prefer " Merry Christmas "...

                    The silly season will soon be upon us and once again, so much of it will be a distraction, bedazzled and sponsored by Ronco.

                                                    Have a Merry Wal-Mart...

                               Thanksgiving is over a month away and Christmas trees already are planning their devious attack, sneaking out ever earlier from the warehouse lockers that cage them during the brief seven month reprieve they are not filling the aisles, at a superstore near you...

                                      This isn't about the commercial takeover of Jesus's birthday. That train had left the station decades ago, and just like rising health insurance premiums, it will never return to the previous, reasonable state.

                                 What I'm referring to is the several million Christian/ Atheist/ Non- Christian Facebook posting deluge coming, about just what we should call December 25th and how much that argument matters.

                                                Can of worms, officially open...

                           

                                                    I prefer " Merry Christmas "...

                             I can diatribe all night long as to why I'm feeling that way and although my feelings and preferences are wanting to justify and validate my opinion, I still need to ask myself if the battle I'm preparing to wage over the Name of Jesus's birthday is one He would want me to fight?

                                                    Is it a Crusade worth taking?

                                                   You remember The Crusades?

                    Not one of Christs Bride's best moments. I think we won. A period of unparalleled brutality that converted hundreds of thousands to our viewpoint by the fear of death and torture. In our insistence, we made that world a much better and kinder place, didn't we?

                                                                 Maybe not...

                                          We crucified His Spirit again, with that debacle.

                                                   And maybe in the winning, we lost...

                                   A lot of Non-Christians and used- to-be Christians bring that one up a lot, when someone speaks about the Love of God.

                                               " Explain that!" they rightfully exclaim...

                                                                  I never can. 

                                                      Guess they win that round...

                                        I'm not thinking that Jesus would be making a big deal over His own birthday party, especially two thousand years into it... I am thinking He might wish us to live His spirit instead of battling for recognition. It has taken a long time for me to realize that God does not need my defense fund. What I think is desired, in this instance, is not semantic debate for His honor but open display of His values...

                                    When Jesus is attacked, His meaning and purpose and Sacrafice for our Salvation, I will always, always at least make a statement to defend Him and my God. I will offer a simple truthful defense, to let those listening know that there is a truth that is real and complete, whether acknowledged or not.

                                                      Then usually, I let it go.

                                   Those willing to consider the words, will consider it, and those unwilling to, won't, and the addition of any other arguments by me,  have never in my experience, changed the percentages on either side. The Holy Spirit finds a crack or begins one, independent of me...

                                       Mostly, our job, as Christians is to attract people to want to find out what we have been Graced with. More often than not I find our arguments or actions, not His message, will be what pushes them away...

                         So as a wise dude once said, perhaps it is best to carefully choose the battles we take, in His name.

                           Maybe I'm a bad Christian if I'm not offended by "Happy Holidays".

                        Maybe I have my spiritual priorities inverted from how they should be...

                                                           I'm not thinking so.

                               An action of love done in His Spirit but not defined by His name will always touch hearts more than verbal diatribes using His name...

                                   So " Happy Hollidays" or " Seasons Greetings" won't offend me, this year. I will accept all wishes gratefully and hopefully, gracefully.

                                             But I do prefer " Merry Christmas".

                                                        Yes, I certainly do...

Lions, tigers and bears...

                         I've shared before, about my youngest McMonkeys near constant companion, his stuffed blue teddy bear...

                                                 To be proper, I should call him by name.

                                                                  " Baby Bear"

                                      Countless discussions have taken place over the last three or four years, pondering ways that my Wonderful Wife and I could get Jacob to give him up. 

     Bribery, threats and punishments never worked; frustrated, we were the ones who gave up completely, for a while...

                                         About a year ago, the Wonderful Wife decreed to my youngest bub that his bear was forthwith to stay upstairs, in his room, unless he was spending the night at a friends, uncles or grandmas house. Surprisingly, Jake was OK with that. Unlike Calvin and his Tiger, Hobbs, my mini-McMonkey gently acquiesced...

                       Since then, I have found him ( the bear) in the upstairs hallway, the landing at the bottom of the stairs, and a few times, in the bathroom cabinet, ...but for the most part, this approach has worked well.

                   Sometimes Jacob will still run inside, scamper up the stairs and sprint to his bed, just to give " Baby" a quick hug, and then, in a blur, like Dash from "The Incredibles", swooshes thru the house and back out the front door...

                                  Early on, he did resist a bit. I remember asking Jake to hand Bear to me before he left the living room , telling him that I would put Bear on his bed , as he ran outside...

                             ( I did see him sneak upstairs a few minutes later, to make sure that I really had put Bear there...)

                                He doesn't do that, anymore. He'll hand him to me and disappear.

                                                         No question asked...

                             The bag of stuffed animals in his room gets emptied, now and then, and the stuffed lion and monkey still go on safari with Jake and friends. His giant stuffed dog does maintain a place in our living room;

                                        Jake sits on him, on the floor, on movie nights.

                                          But the bear does stay upstairs, on his bed.

                                       Parents learn to take any win that they get...

                                 

                         In watching Jacobs journey thru this, I can't help but notice the stark similarities in how he transitions forward, is nearly identical to the way I do...

                                 The biggest difference is our choice in "cuddlies".

                                          His are fluffy, soft and comforting.

                               Like many adults, the things I hold close and resist putting down are quite a bit different...

                                                  Worries, fears and grief...

                                    They are the companions I tend to carry with me...

                                    

                      The letting go process, though, is remarkably similar, between my son and I....

                              

                       For years, God has guided me to leave these struggles with Him, yet I continued to rebel, clutching tighter, fearful of the loss of control. His rewards in every other area of my life didn't change my reaction... Stresses and health threats made no progress or influence, in a timely release...

                                                           These were mine...

                                           So He stepped  back and gave me space and time. 

                     Eventually, He did tell me, in His own special way, that now was the time for me to put what I'd fearfully clutched into His hands, assuring me, as I did Jacob, that what I handed Him would be safe...

                                          Like Jake, I " snuck upstairs" and checked...

                                                              He understood.

                      And today, for the most part, I am OK with my " snugglies" being placed upstairs, on my bed, in the care of God...

                                           Accomplished thru His Love, and not my Faith...

                                    The Faith is there now, but it was created by Him, in me.

                                                  Funny how it usually works that way.

                                             As difficult as the struggles always are, I sometimes wonder how people that don't believe in God get thru them?

                                        Who do they hand this "stuff" to?

                     When they worry about those they love, where do they place their fear?

                                                      Do they ever let it go?

                        I sit here Graced in my incompetence and Blessed in my ineptitude, because I have Someone Who can handle it all, for me...

                                       I may choose to fight until I am exhausted, like a little child, but when I'm done, my Loving Father will carry me upstairs and put away all my " snugglies"...

                                    Lions, tigers and bears, oh my...