Christmas is exceptionally different and extremely difficult for most! I love going to the Mall during the rush, but only once and that for only a couple hours. I most often will purchase nothing but some food court items. I will find me a place to sit so I can watch the frazzled as they hurry from store to store looking for that just right item. I wonder what I will do when I get old and mail order has replaced brick and mortar?

Having been confined to my recliner for the past two months due to pneumonia, I better understand the isolation many feel even at this festive time of the year! I have a lot of contacts by phone and many have been adventurous enough to climb these 17 steps to my quarters. But, there are many right here in Port O’Connor who sit alone for days without anyone. Some have family but because of past hurts, relationships have fractured. Some are sick and the fears of the virus keeps them lonely!

I can see that our town is much like Bethlehem! We all here feel the pain of taxes and that was the reason Joseph and Mary traveled there! When the couple arrived, they found a town much like this one on most holiday weekends – without desirable lodging! The guests they had smelled like sheep and we often have the fragrance of “Ode de Fish” splashed on us! And we too have the star, which for me is the hope that our churches shine over our community!

The one thing that grieves me most is that like Bethlehem, POC is not changed much by the coming Christ! We are busy with our lives and some impressive projects, but The Reason of the Season is often not only failed to bring worship but fails to even be noticed!

Why don’t we recreate our activities! Why doesn’t each gathering include the reading of the Christmas story? We all know where to find it recorded in Luke’s Gospel! A fresh hearing of the simplicity of God’s love for us can make an eternal difference!

Merry Christmas!