The Gospel of Luke was written sometime in the seventh decade of the first century during the reign of the cruel Caesar Nero. More than thirty-five years had passed since the Lord’s resurrection and ascension into Heaven. In those years, the Church had grown dramatically from its beginnings in Jerusalem, and a strong believing community had emerged in the capital city of Rome.

Nero felt threatened by these followers of Christ who refused to call anyone Lord except Jesus Christ. He severely persecuted believers, blaming them for the fire of Rome in A.D. 64, impelling them on sticks or nailing them to crosses with pitch poured over them and fire set to their bodies to illuminate his gardens at night.

Do you think these early Christians ever wondered where God was in the middle of their suffering?

We are in the most blessed nation of human history and yet people in our community are in need of some of the basics of life. People are estranged from family; others are idly wasting away in nursing homes; and still others have people all around them and feel the isolation of loneliness. People in this area are wondering where God is in the middle of their pain.

The Christmas story provides the answer, for it shows both the power and vulnerability of the Creator.

As to power, think of what it was that brought Mary and Joseph 100 miles out of the small Army town of Nazareth in the hills of Galilee on an arduous trek in the last month of her pregnancy to Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills.

Mary and Joseph did not know the Old Testament prophecy of the Bethlehem birth. They were not on a journey to fulfill God’s plan. It was because of the decree of Caesar Augustus that everyone must go to the town of his birth to be registered for taxation. This is not a pleasure trip, but a forced donkey ride.

During the persecution under Nero, the Christians seemed to know the “inside story”. The Creator had slipped past Caesar’s appointments secretary, secret service, and all his counselors to put an idea in his head: take a census of the whole Roman world. God manifested His power by having Caesar move the whole world because God wanted to move one family out of Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill what had been written in Scripture.

So, the believers in Nero’s time knew for a certainty that there was a Power greater than Caesar, a Power Who controlled human history. But those same believers also knew vulnerability – that God’s powerful hand was gloved by love, that God would not use His power to coerce people to believe in Him.

We have all seen the pictures of hungry children on television, where we are asked to help. Now, we have the plea to help people living in the Holy Land. We have people representing rehab groups asking for our help outside WalMart and the invitation from projects like “Angel Tree” to make life easier for those around us. We are asked to help, but there is no one who is told they must help, or else! We must decide if we are able and willing to go outside our family settings to give to make life better for others.

The late Harry Reasoner said in one of his Christmas messages on “60 Minutes: “Everyone has seen babies, and most people like them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared, He moved correctly here,…for a baby growing up learns all about people. If God wanted to be intimately a part of man, He moved correctly, for the experiences of birth and familyhood are our most intimate and precious experiences. …It is either all falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It is the story of the great innocence of God the Baby – God in the form of man – and has such a dramatic shot toward the heart that if it is not true, for Christians, nothing is true.”

Yes! God was present in both Caesar’s palace and a cave in Bethlehem where the Baby was born in a manger. Christmas tells us He is the God both of power and of love. He chooses Caesar to issue an edict, dispatches angels to sing, and directs shepherds to observe; but He leaves the choice of worship to us.

You decide! Will this be another Christmas where we serve only those of our families, or will it be a time to spread God’s power and love to those outside that circle? I have already given – join me!

A Honor Roll

First Grade: Andrea Hataway, Rhiannon James, Breann Kelley, Trinity Morgan, Edgar Munoz, Jonathan Nguyen, Braeden Ragusin, Sydney Rasmussen, Mia Salazar, Tyler Salinas, Morgan Shannon, Taegan Sanders, Annabelle Thurmann and Natalia Zarate

Second Grade: Keaton Cady, Treston Canales, Creasie Gohlke, Ayden Maddux, Emma McWherter, Mercadee Owen, Jacob Nguyen and Hector Perez

Third Grade: Noah Estrada, Lysette Estrada and Kyler Sanders

Fourth Grade: Andrew Ragusin

Fifth Grade: Ethan Mikolas, Hunter Mitchell and Casey Wooldridge

Sixth Grade: Heather Glover, Karley Gregory, Krislyn Key and Anna Sachtleben

Seventh Grade: Torri Mikolas and Erika Ruiz

Eighth Grade: Seth Bubenik, Walker Canales and Joseph Nguyen

A-B Honor Roll

First Grade: Alissa Blevins, Emily Lowder, Jenna McManus, Athyn Morales, Aaron Rios, Diem Tran and Phillip Vazquez

Second Grade: McKenzie Bierschwale, Arin Cleary, Zayda Estrada, Andromeda Gilliland, Chelby Keel and Desi Miller

Third Grade: Brock Blevins, Destiny Garza, Trenton Goodman, Emily James, Maritza Jaramillo, Terrick Martinez, Ryder Morales, Viviana Munoz, Ethien Nguyen, Jayda Nguyen, Landen Rasmussen, Nataly Rodriguez, Ivin Vazquez and Joel Zarate

Fourth Grade: William Bales, Shelby Cady, Sierra Callaway, Colin Carabajal, Karime Castillo, Shaley Edwards, Katie Frazier, Caleb Gregory, James Hartman, Fernie Mendez, Stormy Mills, Donald Morales, Matthan Morgan, Jason Nguyen, Chris Salinas and Joseph White

Fifth Grade: Emily Cain, Alexia Gilliland, Rebecca Mendez, Madison Bierschwale, Amber Rodriguez, Michael Sachtleben, Liliana Torres, Abigail Vallejo and Jasmine Wooldridge

Sixth Grade: Kellie Blevins, Andrew Chavez, Cierra Harper, Coy Harris, Ahniwake James, Daniel Martinez, Danielle Morales, Enrique Torres and Chloe White

Seventh Grade: Layne Blevins, Gage Deforest, Shelby Deforest, Sean Estes, Victoria Gilliland, Joseph Morales, Abigail Morgan, Dustin Nguyen, Carlos Pena, Kelsey Vannoy, Jordan Williams and Ethan Wooldridge

Eighth Grade: Trey Allen, Hannah Bales, Ty Boedeker, Mason Clark, Gage Daniel, Matthew Frazier, Victoria Frazier, Alexandra Martinez, Trent Martinez, Joseph Mayorga, Samantha Mendez, Matthew Stringham, Amethyst Wall and Mariah Wilson

Holiday Spirit

As the Christmas holiday quickly approaches, thoughts will be turning to happiness, love and family.

Before we actually get around to celebrating Christmas, we must first navigate the weeks leading up to the 25th and all of the hype and sales as well.

When I was younger, the Christmas season did not really properly start until the day after Thanksgiving.

Back then it was an exciting month for a kid, especially a kid who had visions of being off of school and presents.

However, what I took for granted when I was young began to disappear around the age of ten or so.

Around that time my mom was diagnosed with the disease that would take her life nine years later.
And that brings me to the point of this column.

I want you to appreciate Christmas if you are lucky enough to have presents, family and friends.

In case, like me, you are lonely and at times feel left out in the cold on the holidays, remember the true meaning of the day.

What is the true meaning of Christmas?

If we remove the cliche TV movie static and focus on spirit rather then religion, then what remains is purely the holidays.

Love rather then hate, feeling in tune with the world around us and really giving thought to how much each of us can do to improve mankind. This does not have to be something that is hard to do, and it is something that should not only be done at this time of year.

Basically, I want to encourage people to treasure what they have and to look out for those that might have considerably less then them. I should almost come naturally if we try, as the holiday conjures up words such as “peace”, “joy” and “merry.”

This would seem to be a simple task, but the world has placed a lot of commercialism on Christmas and in the process Christmas Day becomes an event where baubles and presents and the like are placed ahead of values and looking out for your fellow man.

Just ask Charles Dickens about it, I believe he wrote some sort of story about the merits of the spirit of Christmas…I think there is even a version with a talking Scottish duck.

On a personal note, I hope there is one person like me reading this, one person who has spent way too many Christmases alone or at work, watching others carry on and be merry.

The reason I hope that there is one person like that reading this column is that I want to tell them that it is possible to find balance with the holidays even when you are down. Just focus on the good that comes from it and try and find ways to honor the holidays that are all your own.

Recently I found myself in a very bad patch where my whole life got tossed like a Caesar’s salad and still this will be my most peaceful Christmas yet, a testament to how much we can grow if only we try.

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you and I wish us all the best as well in the new year!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, that’s a Christmas song most of us know about, even those who are not too good at singing Carols. If you get a translation of the phrase Tannenbaum it is most likely Christmas tree. More literally it is Fir tree. We who celebrate the arrival of the Germans among others at the Indianola Port might even accept that basically the Germans invented the Christmas tree. Those who live in Germany certainly think they started that tradition.

When one studies the history of such trees it is generally conceded that Germany, or what is now Germany (it was a group of several Duchies for a long time) was very likely where it was invented. And the song sprang up in the early 1800’s there. However, there are many other stories or beliefs about what is the exact actual beginning of this late winter tree thing. Many go back way before the Christmas event was even started. The early Egyptians, Chinese and Hebrews have evidence of using evergreen trees and foliage in the late December and Early New Year to recognize that life was everlasting. They decorated their houses and barns (maybe even stables) to help bring that message in those dark cold days and nights.

Then there is the Story that St Boniface from England while teaching Christianity in Germany saw the fir tree and used its triangular shape in teaching those folks about the three points of the Holy trinity. There are tales to that effect. Early decorations included hanging apples on the branches and calling it a Paradise tree.

The decorated Christmas tree became popular in England during the reign of Queen Victoria. Her German husband Prince Albert brought the German tradition to the English palace and when the British saw pictures of the decorated tree and his and the queens children celebrating around it the idea became quite popular.

My favorite story of the decoration involves Martin Luther. The story goes that one winter night as he was walking home he spied the starlit sky through the branches of a fir tree and he was struck by the beauty of the sight of glowing stars around the branches.. When he arrived home he assembled candles on the branches of the fir tree to show his children how the stars shined through the trees. Thus a tradition was born.

There is no hard evidence that any story above is wholly true. But all are good stories and do describe a little of the magic of the season. That after all is what is important isn’t it. We all need a little magic as our year dwindles down and we are about to embark on a new years journey.

The Seadrift Lions donated a swing for children and adults with special needs to the City of Seadrift. It has been installed in the Children’s Memorial Park in Seadrift. It is available for use during park hours.

This swing is the first of its kind in Calhoun County that is available for public use. Previously, the nearest swing like this was in Victoria.

-Peggy Gaines