Parents, My Peace I Give To You!*Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 

Parents, My peace I give to you. When I was growing up near a college campus during the hippy years, many times people wearing hippy cool tie-dyed clothes would hold up two fingers and say “peace man!” Peace signs were drawn on street signs and notebook covers. People carried signs saying, “Peace Now!” Many were in psychedelic colors and designs influenced by the culture of the time. Some peace symbols were superimposed on yellow happy faces. What I knew of peace at that time was playing quietly with a Hot Wheels car, sitting on the hardwood floor with a full tummy, clothes on my body, and not a care in the world. Sunshine streamed in the window with a warm beam that danced when the shadows of the leaves of the large oaks that surrounded my childhood home blew in the early Summer breeze. I was embraced by the warmth of the Sun and the hardwood floor that accepted, then radiated the solar heat like being swaddled in a blanket right out of the dryer. There was a feeling of undisturbed security and safety from whatever dangers were “out there.” Some nights though, I struggled to sleep peacefully and frequently "sleep walked". Once, I went all the way to the car, locked all the doors, ready for a ride to somewhere. My parents, who happened to still be awake, had followed me outside to see where I would go. When my ride was apparently over, I climbed out of the car and went back to my bed. Many mornings I would wake up on a cold couch in the basement rather than the bed I had been tucked into the night before. But on warm, sunshiny, East Tennessee days, I felt it… peace. This peace was temporary though, it was challenged by the circumstances I saw on a black and white TV, the goings on in the world in the 1960’s and 70’s with assassinations, political and racial unrest, Viet Nam, Watergate and the oil crisis… Some days, I was drawn to the television when a North Carolina, Southern speaking preacher named Billy Graham would be broadcast from an evangelistic crusade somewhere. (I even watched a broadcast from my hometown of Knoxville in 1970, in our beloved Neyland Stadium, though apparently Richard Nixon tried to hijack the event for political gain after agreeing to say nothing political)… I sometimes sat and watched the broadcast by myself. There was always a peace that came in Graham’s urging to follow Jesus Christ. He talked about God’s love for us and God’s desire for us to connect our lives with Him. “Just As I Am” would be sung, led by George Beverly Shea and cameras captured thousands of people responding to the Gospel of Peace, the Good News of Jesus Christ. I often responded right then and there in my own house, praying as I watched the television. A sense of love and peace would overwhelm me like the sunshine that streamed into my window, but it embraced me and warmed me deeper than the Sun ever could. That peace, that shalom, remains when I remember that I belong to Jesus, that I am His and He is the Prince of Peace regardless of the unpeaceful things going on around me. Years later, as a pastor in Nashville in 2000, I had the privilege of taking my family and congregation to the Billy Graham crusade to hear Him in person. Once again, thousands responded to God’s Gospel of Peace including my daughter. We were all reminded of that peace on 9/11 the next year.

As we experience the tumult in our world with racial, social, and political unrest, a pandemic crisis and all that goes with it, Jesus reminds us of His perfect peace. He tells those who love Him, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful.” John 14:27 (CSBBible) As Jesus was about to be arrested, beaten, crucified, buried, resurrected and ascend to heaven, He knew the turmoil that His friends left here on earth would experience. He also knew that God the Father, the God of Peace, would give them joy and peace in spite of all that was happening around them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When we are tempted to feel uneasy about the craziness of this world, we gotta remember Who we belong to and the Peace Who is In us. The famous hymn urges us to come to Christ…

“Just as I am, though tossed about

With many a conflict, many a doubt

Fighting and fears within without

O Lamb of God, I come, I come”

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Not my art, but I like it... credit to the artist.

Parents, We're All In This Together! Words From COVID-19 quarantine

 

Parents, “we’re all in this together!” Imagine me singing this to my family with my best Troy Bolton voice and dance moves, but with a bent over hacking cough, and groan, mid phrase. Yep! The family brought each other the gift of COVID-19 for Christmas 2020! I guess the percentages finally caught up with us. We all remained masked and socially distant from others when in public and the people we were around were diligent in trying to keep others safe too, but these measures obviously aren’t impervious to this tiny airborne virus. Somehow 6 of 8 us tested positive for the presence of this nasty present. We’re praying that the other two never get this thing, but we are assuming they have it. We are not a week into this thing, but it came as advertised… aches, fever, cough, chest tightness, headache, back pain, lethargy, and some of us lost taste! It feels like we’re running in a pool full of molasses. Makes us want to stay in bed or rest most of the time. My heart aches for those who have lost jobs, income, family, friends, health, funerals, weddings, graduations, all because of this heinous pathogen. My prayers continue for those suffering from all the effects of Coronavirus; physical, emotional, financial, etc, and especially for the healthcare workers who are exhausted from saving the lives of those who are so very sick. This is one of those world-wide re-centering events that has the attention of people all around the globe… it transcends any arbitrary boundaries we put up. In its short existence, this awful scourge has impacted so many things we hold in such high regard, like entertainment, sports, education, travel, food, celebrity, politics, hobbies, physical fitness, even church services. It forces us to evaluate what is most important. Though these other things I may have valued are either gone or far from normal, I realize that God has never abandoned me, His loving presence has never lessened. As a matter of fact He seems closer than ever. His “no matter what”, unending love seems to be more recognizably present than any other time in my life. Though I don’t always understand His silence, His mercy, love and provision continue. Even though He is allowing me to experience this illness, He still stays close and reassures me like a doting parent with a sick child. Even in death, His provision is there… He has planned for our eternity to be spent with Him and those He loves where there is no Coronavirus or sickness or dying, not even tears as we connect with Him in Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah got a reminder from God about His great love for His people regardless of the scary things that could be happening around them. He tells us even if the world seems to be falling apart, God never abandons those he loves. He says, “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:10 (NLT2) I hope you have not had to endure this COVID thing and I pray for complete restoration for those of you who have. My greatest prayer is that while many of life’s distractions are lessened, that we will recognize God’s never ending, never abandoning love for us and realize that His relationship is more important than anything else, anywhere, anytime. My hope is that Christmas 2020 brings the blessing of strengthened faith in Christ, regardless of whatever else we bring each other.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all.

Parents, How Do You Treat Weakness!** Words From COVID 19 quarantine.

Parents, how do you treat weakness, in others? Enjoy the photo. Don’t know what my Mom was thinking dressing me like this, I think it came with a permanent placard on the back with the words “kick me” with a smiley face. I wasn’t a Trekky, however I was a regular watcher of Lost In Space, the cheesy mid-1960’s SciFi TV series. It was set in the year 1997, haha! The evil Dr. Smith was the cowardly villain, who was the reason they were actually “lost in space.” Smith, the unintentional stowaway, who was trapped with the victims whose mission he had intended to destroy, was constantly trying to save his own skin at the expense and danger of the Robinson family, “the first family in space.” The Robinson family always forgave the perpetual antagonist. The son, Will Robinson, actually liked and trusted Smith, though Smith’s actions never proved worthy of anyone’s admiration or trust. Crew members, The Robot and Major Don West, never trusted Smith, but tolerated him in deference to the Robinson's grace toward him. The Robot often warned “Danger Will Robinson,” as he flailed his dryer hose arms with hooked-pincher-hands when Dr. Smith was leading him into hazardous situations. As I see it, we all have a choice, we can exploit the weaknesses of others like Dr. Smith, trying to somehow gain the upper hand, taking advantage of those around us, or we can believe the best about others, being gentle with their weakness, giving them the benefit of the doubt. I prefer a story like the Grinch, in which the good-hearted Whos of Whoville, changed the character of the oft abused and then abusive Grinch. His heart grew three sizes in one day. But Dr. Smith, unlike the Grinch, seemed to never change, always manipulating the situation to his benefit and preying upon the presumed weaknesses of his ship-wrecked colleagues. The good news is he couldn’t change the goodness of the Robinsons either, they always chose to believe Smith was doing the best he could do and chose to give grace.

Gentleness toward weakness, it’s what makes Jesus followers different from the rest of the world. The world sees weakness and exploits it, Christ and those who are connected with Him see weakness and they protect it, handle it with care and are gentle toward the ones who are weak. James, the half-brother of Jesus, reminds the early church and us, that God’s people deal with other’s weaknesses differently than other earthlings. He says, ”Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” James 3:13-16 (NIV) In the midst of our seemingly mounting challenges of COVID, will we succumb to fear and the “survival of the fittest” mentality preying on the weaknesses of others, taking advantage of them for our own gain as worldly “wisdom” mandates? Or will we surrender to love, see the weakness of others, have compassion for them, protect them, and give grace as Jesus does? We can be kind to those who are unkind without letting them influence us toward their "wisdom." Who knows maybe their hearts will grow three sizes in one day or at least wonder the Reason for our acting differently than the rest of the planet. You can be like Will Robinson or Dr. Smith... choose wisely.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, It's A Snow Day 2!* Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, It’s a snow day 2. On the occasion that East Tennessee had a snow cancellations that lasted more than one day, the neighborhood kids escalated the creativity, competition, and often danger in how they enjoyed the sledding opportunities. One year I joined some friends on a new street in “the Hills” that was paved but had no houses yet. It was perfect for downhill sledding with little chance of cars coming. The fun and adventure was accelerated when the downhill runs became all out races. Friendly races became competitive races among friends, as is sometimes the case with eager-to-prove-themselves-and-fearful-of-not-fitting-in adolescent boys. I watched the first race, and laughed with nervous excitement as I saw all the competitors grapple and wrestle each other all the way down while still on their sleds. It was like the winter middle school version of Ben Hur’s chariot race (you youngsters can Google it; it was a classic before my time too), though it usually ended up in a spectacular crash and a laugh-talking rehash with color commentary about the whole race top to bottom. Occasionally there was someone who managed to make it down unchallenged, but usually only one race as they became the target of everyone the next time down with the words “get him!”. It was like Rollerball on ice (Rollerball a dystopian Sci/Fi Action film released in 1975, set in the year 2018, in which large corporations, not countries, actually ruled the world… interesting concept isn’t it?). It was like a funner more humane Hunger Games, where the winner gets bragging rights and maybe the validating attention of some neighborhood girls. As I jumped in on the next race, I was quickly tackled, coated in snow, and was unable to finish. The next few times down, I discovered that if I grabbed the back of someone’s sled and gave it a yank, gravity and centripetal forces did all the work and their sled would swerve off and hit the curb or better yet take out other competitors, and sometimes it would even flip the sled causing riders and sleds to snowball down the hill in an avalanche with attached human appendages sticking out. It was like a Law Enforcement PIT maneuver (Police Intervention Technique), when the officer uses the front of his vehicle to tap the rear side panel of the fleeing vehicle, causing them to lose control and the officer can apprehend a fleeing suspect. PAT worked to my advantage, winning a few Alpine ice war competitions, until others caught on to my game, then I was frequently the one rolling down the hill in an uncontrolled burrito spin, laughing and recounting the details of the spectacular snow spraying crash to anyone who would listen on the walk back up. Once I was flipped and the metal runner hit me, cutting my face, just below my eye leaving a patch of red snow at the scene of the incident. I applied direct pressure, as our health teacher had instructed us, with snow and a glove and began the long walk, dragging a sled back home. The intensity always seemed to escalate, but we were back together the next day, having fun. The games continued sans the snow with BB gun wars (“you’ll put your eye out”)… yeah, not the smartest of games, but we managed to escalate that too, to air rifles! Great times in the Hills of Lakemoor!

Just as the fun and competition always escalated among the boys in the hood, the emotional intensity could escalate too, and while this makes for a fun day for middle school boys and often subsides the next, it doesn’t always give us a great foundation to handle real-life conflict in a mature way that benefits the relationships around us. When I have the great privilege of counseling pre-marriage couples, we explore the best ways to handle inevitable conflict in our relationships. One of the worst ways to handle conflict is to escalate it. What begins as a simple misunderstanding, escalates to a shouting match, tossing verbal grenades at each other with increasing defensiveness and volatility, or stonewalling, just refusing to communicate at all, or patronizing criticism of our partner, or even outright contempt for the one we have connected our life with. In the long run no one wins and relationships avalanche downhill into anger and bitterness. We may win the day’s battle, but lose the relationship. James, the half brother of Jesus, reminds us that right relationships with God and others are most important even when emotions become intense. He gives us some good tools to help us stay relational and humble when things begin to escalate emotionally, “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness.” James 1:19-20 (CSBBible) Often, when I feel threatened, I am quick to defend myself, quit listening, and start escalating. I become motivated by fear rather than love and begin to find ways to WIN. We are designed for relationship and when I seek to understand the person I’m in conflict with, it is an opportunity to enrich the relationship rather than destroy it. That way we both win. We seem to be living in a world driven by fear and divisiveness rather than love, forgiveness and understanding. We would all do well to be quicker to listen and understand, slower to speak, escalate, and become angry.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

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Parents, It's A Snow Day!* Words from COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, it’s a snow day! As December 2020 arrives wrapped in a blanket of snow, I’m reminded of snow adventures of my youth. As a kid, I lived in Lakemoor Hills. In the summer we loved the “Lake” part of the neighborhood for fishing and the escape to the aesthetic beauty of the water that could wash over you like a warm healing anointing of peace. In the fall the "moor, (defined as "uncultivated upland" by the Oxford Dictionary) we loved the brilliant leaf colors and the crunch of leaves under our feet. In the winter, on the somewhat rare Southern-climated occasion that it snowed, it was the “Hills” part of the neighborhood that we loved. When it snowed overnight, we got up and watched the TV and listened for the magic words “school closed.” Exuberant shouts of joy went up to the heavens as we put on our long-johns, jeans, boots, coat, gloves and hats ready for a day of sledding and building snow people. My sister, the artist, once sculpted Mt. Rushmore at the foot of our long sloping yard. She rolled 4 giant snowballs from the top and then made Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Jefferson for the neighbors to enjoy. I was always ready to find the best sledding hill where all the kids were. Because Lakemoor Hills had lots of trees, the best sledding was on the roads and because we were in the South and there were no snow plows. Most people just stayed home, leaving the streets open for early adolescent sledding chaos. One street called Timberlake Drive was a great sloping curvy hill, but it was a little narrow for kids sledding down and walking back up for the next long ride back down. My sister happened to be finished with whatever snow sculpture she was doing that day and was ready to join the sledding fun. The challenge was we only had two sleds, my dad’s boyhood, old faithful, an old fashioned, wooden, metal railed, steerable sled, and the other a round disc (think Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation). For a ride downhill on a curvy road, only a steerable sled would do. We tried towing the round disc behind the steerable, but it never worked. So, we both sat on the steerable sled and headed down the hill. As we picked up speed and began navigating the blind curve, steering the sled with my feet, we rounded the turn to see a classmate trying to protect everyone by standing in the middle of the road, waving his arms wildly, yelling, “a Jeep is coming up the hill.” The problem was there were only three options for the dozen or so kids flying down the hill like Susie Chapstick in the Olympic Giant Slalom: 1. Stay on the road and hit the classmate and possibly hit the uphill bound Jeep head on, 2. go left and fly off the side of the road and down a steep ravine including unavoidable impact with one of the many trees, or 3. crash into the car, abandoned because of the treacherously slick conditions on the right side in the ditch, against the embankment. Because of where we were in the pack of snow crazed sled riders, our choice was made for us… crash into the ditched car! The bumper hit me at about 20 MPH, right in the chest, our legs and the sled continued their downhill trajectory and we were wedged like a doorstop under the Olds 98. Other kids were flying off the side of the embankment grabbing trees, letting sleds crash below, and my classmate was dodging everyone he could, but finally, he was taken out at the shins by a shiny new Radio Flyer and a wide eyed, tobogganed, tobogganer! Fortunately, no one was hit by the Jeep... My sister and I struggled to free ourselves like two grease monkeys on a creeper (the little wheeled sled that is intended to take mechanics under a car) squeezed under the heavy metal of the late 1960’s era muscle sedan like mice in a trap, which would have been worse had the sled not impacted the tire and prevented us from being stuck further under the overpowered Sunday cruiser. We managed to get down the hill to a wonderful neighbor at the bottom. She was the snow Mom in the ‘hood who always took care of our gang on snow days. She would fix something Hot Chocolate and Cider, have enough snacks to fill up several snow-hungry preteens, have a fire going and she would put jackets, jeans, socks and gloves into the dryer until all of us were rewarmed. Before long, the long-john clad, snow warriors were ready to suit up and go out again for more snow adventures.

There was always a brief moment in the morning, before the excited snow crunching steps and much anticipated snowplay, that I would walk out the door, take a deep breath and admire the beauty, peace, quietness, and purity of the fresh blanket of snow. It was not yet marred by our footprints or sled tracks and it covered over the dead winter grass and muddy imperfections of the ground… everything seemed to be okay amidst the angst filled days of tweenagedom. When King David had muddied his life by gazing himself into adultery with Bathsheba and stained himself with blood by murdering her husband Uriah, God sent Nathan to confront his hypocrisy and remind him his actions weren't those of... "a man after God’s own heart. David, in his remorse and repentance, returns to God saying, ”Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. Then I will teach the rebellious your ways, and sinners will return to you.” Psalm 51:6-13 (CSBBible) David tells us that the fresh unscarred, undirtied snow can be a reminder of God’s restoration and reconnection when we confess our shortcomings, sins, and backsliding ways. We are assured that God always disciplines the errant children He loves (see Hebrews 12:6) to turn us back to Himself, but He can also restore and heal the other broken relationships that are always the victims of our disconnection with God and His pure ways. God is always glad to be with us, but His boundaries keep us in right relationship with Him and keep us from disastrous collisions from destructive choices. When we see fresh snow, we can rest in the promise of the restored joy of our salvation as we are washed by God’s Word.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!

Parents, Make the Most of Time!* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, make the most of time. In middle school, my mother decided she needed to be very intentional about family time together. We all had our evening meals together and Sunday after church family lunches when my father didn’t have hospital rounds, but that was about to change with our rehearsals and practices and all the things that begin to require time away from home about that age. Mom enrolled us all in weekly snow ski lessons through a local community college. The lessons, equipment, and lift tickets were all much cheaper than what the ski mountains charged and so it was not too expensive for a family of four. So, for 6-8 weeks each winter for 4 winters we took off Tuesday nights after school and put on our warm clothes. In the beginning, we felt like Ralphie’s little brother Randy in the movie “A Christmas Story,” overstuffed into too many layers of warm clothes…”I can’t put my arms down..” Though we soon learned how warm you can get while wrestling a pair of skis, gripping a tow rope and trying to avoid the ankle biters that point their little skis down hill and take a straight line down with Kamikaze abandon. We went to the Rolf Lanz Ski School in Gatlinburg the first year. Rolf wanted more and more people to enjoy his favorite sport even in the South. He would come out and say something funny in his Swiss broken English and we would all laugh, pretending we actually understood him. He encouraged us and sent us out with his Ski School instructors. The college changed the classes to Cataloochee Ski Mountain the next few years. It was less than 2 hours drive each way and we skied the night session from 6-10. You definitely didn’t want to fall near the snow making machines or you would be flash frozen like meat and coated in wet ice. One year we added some cousins from Morristown to our snow family. We carpooled with them from a stop on the interstate. This was Southern Appalachian mountain skiing at its best, with man-made snow, lots of icy patches and long lift lines, but we had a blast… we all eagerly learned a new sport together as a family. This was an “US” experience that we got to enjoy together, making lifelong memories of what it meant to be a part of our family. We talked excitedly on the way about what we hoped to learn that night, spoke about how many inches the base snow may be, and teased each other about who would fall first. My mom always had a great sandwich dinner, snacks and hot chocolate for the trip, though we still all got a little hungry when the instructor told us to put our skis in the “pizza slice” position so we could turn and stop easier, later we learned the “French fry” position when we learned to turn with our skis parallel. When we arrived on the mountain we got some equipment and learned to put on our boots and skis… they wisely gave us no poles for fear of impalement of self and shish kebobbing of other skiers in uncontrolled falls. Skis could also be feared projectiles if they came off in this pre-ski-brake era of the 1970’s; my sister was a victim of a runaway ski and had to be taken to the ski patrol first aid room for evaluation… she was fine, more scared than scarred. After skiing, in tired amusement, we drove home and laughed with each other about falling as we got our glove pulled off on the tow rope, or experienced the T-bar that hit you in the butt and dragged you up the hill as you sat on it and hoped you got off before being whipped around the pole at the top and dragged back down the hill, or when we locked our skis with someone in line, falling into a frozen game of Twister, which other beginners often joined as they were unable to avoid the human avalanche that moved at a glacier pace down the bunny hill. We arrived home very late, fell into bed happily exhausted, and had no trouble sleeping a little before the school bus arrived the next morning. By the end of the first season, we had become novice skiers, we had graduated from beginners and were on our way next year toward intermediate and the actual ski lift. We also learned a little more about each other on the rides back and forth. The next day at school we were a little tired, but it was all worth it for some fun and intentional family time.

My mother understood that fun time together as a family was important and she planned to make it happen, but she also understood that time with God and His people was also important making sure we made it to church each week. She even gave us Bibles with daily readings. Connections with God and people take time and time is a limited commodity. When the Apostle Paul was talking to the church family at Ephesus, He reminded them that God’s people use their time wisely doing stuff that pleases God, like valuing other people and living unselfishly. He tells them, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Ephesians 5:15-17 (CSBBible) During these crazy COVID times, we may needta make more special plans with those we are staying at home with, to capture this time and make it special and to value those relationships even more. Time with God and His people takes some initiative too as gathering can put people at greater risk, but there are ways to do it wisely.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Good Tidings of Great Joy!* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

 Parents, Good tidings of Great Joy. I was reminded of a wonderful childhood Christmas season memory, as I was preparing to lead a responsive reading from Luke 2 in a pre-Christmas event at my church last night. At the event, called A Family Adventure: One Christmas, our international pastors read some Christmas scripture in two languages and pastor J.D. Davis explained many of the traditions of Christmas and how these symbols point us to the Gospel of Christ. Every year my family eagerly awaited the announcement about when the Charlie Brown Christmas would air. We would take our bath earlier than usual that night, put on our red footed pajamas and gather around the tiny black and white TV that Dad had built a shelf for in the kitchen. (Why it was in the kitchen, I don’t know, but it was a place we liked to gather together for a meal, the day’s news, and shows like Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett, Lawrence Welk, or Andy Williams that entertained us before bed). The 4 of us would congregate in the breakfast area around the white round formica table and sit in the mid-mod, black vinyl “spinny” chairs (that we would sometimes spin round and round in until we were so dizzy we couldn’t walk). For the Peanut Special, Mom would pop some popcorn and make some hot chocolate with marshmallows and we would watch intently. Charlie Brown was tasked with doing a Christmas play about the true meaning of Christmas as well as finding a Christmas Tree to decorate the stage. As all the peanuts characters revealed their reasons for Christmas, Charlie Brown, depressed as he was, though he couldn’t put his finger on it, knew something just wasn’t right. As he looked for a tree, all he could find was a pitiful, scraggly little hopeless looking live tree that was losing its needles and it could only hold one little ornament that he took from Snoopy’s award winning decorations. Charlie’s sister Lucy would say, “you’re such a blockhead Charlie Brown.” Charlie Brown raises his voice and asks in exasperation, “does anyone know what Christmas is all about?” And Linus says he does and he recites the Christmas narrative from Luke 2, then uses his blanket to prop up the hopeless little tree as the other Peanuts characters, whose hearts are also changed, come together around the tree, that miraculously emerges as a new beautiful tree. The kids sing “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” What a picture this is of Christ's work in our lives, we are hopeless and pitiful, incapable of bringing much joy to anyone and Jesus’ Advent into this world brings “Good tidings of Great Joy” as He moves into our lives and changes us and makes us whole spiritually. How joyful to know that God loves us so much and wants to be with us so much that He sent Immanuel, God-with-us, God Incarnate, to earth to connect with us and make us a new creation so we can share His great joy back to Him and with others.

Linus quotes Dr. Luke's Gospel as he recites, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Luke 2:8-16 (KJV) The Charlie Brown Christmas had no “laugh tracks” or complex animation, yet its simple message was a beautiful reminder to us all about the true meaning of Christmas. As we enjoy Thanksgiving and enter into the Christmas season, we can bring joy to those around us. The definition of joy is when someone is glad to be with us. The coming of Christ brings good tidings of great joy, because God is glad to be with us, Immanuel. We can return that gladness to be with God as we worship Him this season and we can pour out that joy on those around us as we are glad to be with them. Unfortunately, the COVID circumstances may keep us from bringing joy up close in person, but we can still express our gladness to be with those we love even if it is virtual. We can also bring assistance and joy to someone who may need our help. Someone may really need to experience the true meaning of Christmas this year.

BTW This year, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air for the first time ever on PBS and PBS Kids on Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will also air for free on Apple TV+ December 11-13.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!