Merry Christmas!

He Shall Direct Thy Paths

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October, excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc., and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days . On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,and not knowing what else to do but to postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors, and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus, 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. "Pastor,"she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. Thewoman explained that before the war, she and her husband had been well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island, and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house -cleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, thepastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety. How he was supposed to follow her, but he had been arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door, and there he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine, as the man and his wife were reunited after thirty-five years!

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Proverbs 3:6 KJV

Just An Old Fashioned Christmas

I know that I have, recently, written about a wonderful memory of Christmas past, and I'm sure that most of us do have those fond memories. We long for things to be that way again, and wish that we could see through the eyes of a child again, where everything is good, and right with the world. We all long for just an old fashioned Christmas.

I have my precious memories, but now, as I write this, I just cannot get into the "spirit of Christmas" that everyone speaks of, and longs for, because try as I may, I can't get into that state of "willing suspension of disbelief"-- a semi-concious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the movie you're watching, or the story you're reading--because this is real life, with real people, with real emotions, and I am acutely aware of the pain which exists all around me.

This is the time of year when people try to achieve a level of perfection, which in most cases, just does not exist. They long for the perfect life, the perfect family, perfect kids. They think of peace on earth, and good will toward all men--that does not exist, either, and I can't pretend it does, because I can't forget that there are children going to bed hungry, that there are old people who are sick, and alone, and cold because they can't pay a heating bill and a prescription bill, too.

I am aware that there are young mothers, struggling to make a living for their children, yearning for some kind of normalcy in their lives, but knowing that it is pretty much a lost cause. I am aware that there are whole families who are next to being homeless, through no fault of their own, with no way out of their hopelessness.

I am aware that people are fighting, and killing each other, for no reason other than self-gratification, and I can't forget that there are wars where people are killing and being killed for the sake of peace.

I can't pretend that all of that is not happening. I can't close my eyes to reality and and pretend that this is a season when everyone is happy and satisfied, and loving his fellow man. I wish that were true, but I know that it is what it is, and I can't change it.

I am so thankful for what I have, and for anything that I am able to do to make things better for others, and I will never, ever, take that for granted.

My heartfelt wish is that all of you will have peace of mind, love in your hearts, and peace in your homes during this Christmas and Holiday Season. May it continue long after the season is past.