Happy Christmas, a little late.
Xss and I had a great time this year and perhaps started our own tradition. We are Christians so to us Christmas has some deeper meaning than a national holiday, and although it's unlikely that Jesus was actually born on this day, its as good as any other to celebrate such an event.
I think its important to remember that although God's benevolence was so great that he gave up someone so precious to him to prove his point, it is also important to remember how great a man Jesus was. One of my favourite verses is from Romans 5:7-8 states, ' It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us - it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!'
Christian or not this is a challenging statement. If there was a little girl standing in the road about to be hit by a car, would you save her and risk dying yourself? probably. What about if there was an adult man? maybe. But what if it was a teenage thug who you implicitly knew that as soon as you had saved him, and lay there dying on the ground, would turn around and shout, 'sucker. idiot. fool.' and continue on his way to rape and pillage, literally. would you die for him, likelihood not. Well, God suggests we should.
Having my sister die at Christmas (Christmas eve) has added a somber element to the season, and since i've gotten over the shock, i just overwhelmingly thankful for the 20 years i did get to spend with her, you've got to focus on the good things not the bad. Who knows how long she would have lived if she didnt die then? If we assume we have nothing, anything you get is a bonus. So turning this around I'm so thankful for everything i have in my life. So greatful, i dont think i need more, and i wouldnt mind dying. I've got stuff to do while I'm here, but if I've gotta go, no sweat. So our new tradition is to spend sometime Christmas morning with each other listing all the stuff we are thankful for, and there's a lot of it. One of them is you.
