I've made the effort to give free gifts to my friends and online connections during the Christmas season for two or three years now. I pull together a list of some of my most-used apps, websites, and playlists and post one per day during the 12 days leading up to Christmas.
It's fun for me because one my core desired feelings is to be "giving". Doing this helps me share some of the things I've learned about and hopefully help someone in the efforts.
Plus it helps me think about one of my favorite Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol. I love the Ghost of Christmas Present and what he says when he shows up: "Come in, come in and know me better!"
This year I posted my "gifts" to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Gab, Parler, Truth Social, Mastodon, and LinkedIn. This was a little challenging due to the fragmentation of the social media sites but still fun!
My gifts for my 12 Days of Christmas in 2022 were:
- Post-it Note app
https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/app/
- Chick-fil-a app
https://www.chick-fil-a.com/
- Encounter meditation app
https://encounteringpeace.com/
- George Winston playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVqI204q3ewnm2DHIDtKlwHjrFf7A-DrG
- Dynalist app
https://dynalist.io/
- YouTube scenery playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVqI204q3ewk3SQ7Uj5DXRq97hSCwQs0B
- A Postmodern Jukebox Christmas playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL61tvTq899t6fTht5rGc-pfAes9k3WVqK
- The Pause meditation app
https://www.pausemeditation.org/
- The Marco Polo app
https://www.marcopolo.me/
- The Moon+ ebook reader app!
https://www.moondownload.com/
- A Pentatonix Christmas playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaONuT5QUpidKOBovDhtfzfs8XUndW-8J
- The Story of the Bible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_CGP-12AE0
Friday, December 30, 2022
My "12 Days of Christmas" gifts for 2022
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Advent 2022 - Birth
This year I've been thinking about different kingdoms. And how this world was created by God but then corrupted by Satan to become an area in play that will ultimately be destroyed/cleansed to make room for a new heaven and a new earth.
I've been thinking about how Jesus was injected into this world under cover, the ultimate agent sent to help people become part of the kingdom of God. (See the parable of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-40)
God even used different kingdoms here to protect his son. He sent Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to Egypt to get away from the things Herod was doing to try and preserve his kingdom. I think of Egypt as a different spiritual kingdom (Babylon) with a different set of ruling "gods" from whatever Herod was dedicated to. One of the puzzles there that helps me deepen my faith is that despite being the Creator he didn’t just put a bubble around his son to protect him. My thought is that because Jesus was in an area under another’s authority he honored that authority. I’m not sure about that but it helps me.
While not exactly how Bible scholars teach about it I sometimes wonder if the heavenly host that sang announcement praises in front of the shepherds were actually so excited that they just couldn't help singing and rejoicing about the victory the birth of Jesus was and the result that it was leading to.
While our God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent this place we are in right now was created by him but is corrupted and not his kingdom. When we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord we become part of God's kingdom and wherever we go we are foreigners and strangers until his return.
It's a different way to think about the story. But that's what I've been thinking about this year.
I hope you think about Jesus and what he is to so many people this Christmas.
Bonus material:
A Child Is Born - Celtic Worship
Paul Harvey Christmas Story - The Man and the Birds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY2pTAAn9pc
Bible Project video on the New Testament
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0BrP8bqj0c
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Advent 2022 - Hope
One of my struggles is that I tend to look forward to things. I look ahead, I see the possibilities, then I set plans and aim for what I am looking forward to. I become attached to what I’m looking forward to instead of being “here” “now”.
My experience is that to “hope” is to look forward to something with anticipation. “Hope” can also be some relief from a situation that isn’t quite here yet. I know a couple of women named “Hope” but that’s not what I’m talking about.
Hope for me is aiming for a goal. I exercise faith and start doing things that lead to fulfilling the goal. The key tends to be that faith.
In the book of Hebrews in the Bible the writer says that “faith is the evidence of things not seen”. I like the Message transliteration of the Bible for Hebrews 11:1-2: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.” (https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/97/heb.11.MSG)
It’s so hard when we can't see any evidence of God from where we are here in this life. But it helps to put your hope in something. And you will put your hope in something.
Hope is like a chair. You can see the chair, see how it’s built, touch it to know it’s real. You hope it will hold you up.
But faith is like sitting in the chair. Until you actually let the chair support your weight you haven't really put any faith into believing it will hold you up.
Because of our instant feedback/instant access/instant gratification nowadays I find it challenging to exercise faith today. I choose over and over to put my faith in God. I hope you do, too.
Bonus material:
Pentatonix "Mary Did You Know"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE
Bible Project video on hope
YouVersion Bible app
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Advent 2022 - Peace
My music tastes have changed. I used to be the one playing loud music as I pulled up in my car, speakers blaring. Some sort of rock and roll, pop, or dance music, never country or metal (except for Quiet Riot, they were fun!).
As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that I still prefer to have music going, but not the loud stuff. I don’t like saying “What?” all the time when someone tries to talk over the music, and the beat tends to get me closer to that anger trigger point I’m trying to avoid, so I’ve turned the music down and changed what I listen to.
But when I'm talking with someone I still like to have background instrumental music going. Less distracting than the loud music yet it still helps me not hear them breathing and making other bodily noises.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that habitual actions bring me peace. You could call them “rituals” if you want to use that word, though I tend to shy away from that characterization of what I do.
Action stacks is something one of my online gurus used to talk about in his posts. He encouraged people to make checklists and use them even if you “knew’ how to do something so that you would hopefully not waste time solving the same problems over and over and become more successful.
I find comfort in the known steps. Almost like grooves in my head smoothed out over time as I repeat those steps again and again. Less like a record player, more like a path through the woods.
I wonder how much peace Jesus had as a baby? If he was fully God and fully man did he have to learn to control the tendency to just make things like milk and food?
I imagine he was comforted by the repeated love and care his family gave him.
I pray that you find peace during this Advent season.
Bonus material:
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - The Piano Guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc
Bible Project video on Peace
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Advent 2022 - Joy
I love to read! My mother instilled that in me at an early age by reading bedtime stories to me and my brother and by encouraging me to keep a book with me whenever I could.
I try to read a little every night before going to sleep. I’m not always successful (married), but I enjoy mysteries and adventure books at night, self-help/improvement and history books during the day (not a lot of history, sometimes it’s just not fun :-), and of course current events/informative books by conservative authors. Although I do mix in more liberal authors to stay in touch with what they’re saying.
One of my favorite authors for the past several years has been Mary Roach. She was a “science reporter” for some newspaper out there and wrote books with catchy titles about offbeat subjects that I’ve wondered about but never wanted to spend the time researching. “Gulp” was a favorite - it was about how the digestive tract works and the history of learning these things, which was a fun romp through lots of history.
Another favorite of mine has been Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher series of books. Jack Reacher is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time! Lee Child seems to be handing the series off to his brother, which brings a different style, but it’s a fun series of books that I’ve enjoyed.
What I’ve learned is that sharing things enhances the joy, even deepens it. But others are not always ready to receive what I’m trying to share :-)
It's challenging to relate all of this to the Bible, but here goes:
The wise men as well as every practicing Jewish person had read or heard the stories of the coming of the Messiah.
The joy they must have felt when they thought about what was coming must have been amazing! But also very different from our joy about Jesus. For us it seems like just a tired old story that needs some modern glitz to make it attractive. But I still find it a compelling story when I look past the glitz and hype.
The angels that announced Jesus' birth must have been singing from joy. They knew him already, had spent so much "time" singing and praising about him and with him that it spilled over into the sky on the night of his birth!
To me they were sharing the joy they felt about who Jesus is/was/would be.
I hope you find joy in this season as we prepare for the birth celebration.
Bonus stuff:
Pentatonix - Joy to the World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXAWz1jwCow
Bible Project video on Joy
https://youtu.be/qvOhQTuD2e0
Gulp by Mary Roach
https://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventures-Alimentary-Mary-Roach-ebook/dp/B00AN86JZ4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KCXP0G0KX7KJ&keywords=gulp+mary+roach+book+kindle&qid=1670079850&sprefix=gulp+mary+roach%2Caps%2C1093&sr=8-1