My Wonderful White Christmas, in Photos and Scripture

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

(John 1:5)

"Be still and know that I am God.  I will be exalted in the nations.  I will be exalted in the earth." 

(Psalm 46:10)

 

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." 

(2 Thessalonians 3:16)

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." 

(Isaiah 55:12)

Merry Christmas, friends.  I hope yours was filled with peace, love, and joy.

(And snow!)

On Being People Who Will Give an Account

These days, I'm all riled up. 

The American political process, the church's reaction to terrorism and immigration, the plight of Middle Eastern refugees... These things fill me with Opinions.  And when I have Opinions, I want you all to listen to them, doggone it!  And agree with them!  And then act on them!

I've written half a dozen blog posts in my head.

There's the Fiery Orator Post: 

"Are we Christians, or are we cowards?!"

There's the Logical Fallacies Post:

"And so we can see by looking at these two premises that they do not naturally lead to the stated conclusion.  What's more, Premise #2 is a false premise, rendering the conclusion invalid.  By applying the rules of logic, we can see that Mr. So-and-So's argument about the benefits of keeping refugees OUT of America does not hold up."

There's the Lincoln Versus Trump Post:

Donald Trump:  "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."   And,

"When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting."

Abraham Lincoln: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Anyway, you get the idea.  I've got Opinions.  And as much as I want to persuade you to adopt my views on politics, immigration, compassion, and the church, I don't think I'm up to the task.  So instead I'll tell a short story.
  
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in O'Hare airport waiting on a delayed flight.  Another waiting passenger, an Irish guy in his early 20s, struck up a conversation about the Bible I was reading.

Soon we were discussing questions such as these:

What's the difference between being religious and being spiritual?

Does the Bible have any relevance for modern life?

What's the point of following all these ancient rules?

As the conversation went on, it became apparent that he believed that the good life is found in enjoying time with friends, being grateful for one's family, and having fun.  And I believed the good life is found in Jesus.

He kept asking me if I didn't feel like I was missing out on life by spending time at church, forgoing the party scene, and trying to follow the Bible.  He asked if anything in the world would change if I stopped doing everything I now do, and just went and had a little fun.

I said, "You're asking if what I have is worth it, or if there's something better."

He said, "Yes, exactly."

I said, "That's a great question.  And I'm asking you the same thing."

We parted ways shortly after, both believing we had found the good life and the other person was missing it.

But man, what good questions.  Is the life you're living worth it, or is there something better?  If you disappeared right now, would anything change?  Would the world be a darker place without your light?

I'm reminded of Romans 14:12:

So then, each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

How I live, what I say, how I vote, how I serve... These things matter.  Someday, you and I will both stand before God and have to account for what we did and didn't do.  (Sobering thought.)

You don't have to agree with me on any of my Opinions, because you don't answer to me.  You also don't answer to a political candidate or a political party.  You don't answer to hate.  You don't answer to fear.  You don't get to say, "I chose not to love my neighbor, because I was afraid."

You answer to God, so choose your path in accordance with what you know about His character, His calling, His commands, and His promises.  If you don't know Him, get to know Him.

Romans 14:12 comes in the middle of a passage that talks about the freedom that Christians have.  We are free to follow our own consciences and convictions in matters that are not directly addressed in God's word.  Because of this, I fully expect that there will be many Christians who disagree with me on all my Opinions, and that's okay!  There is freedom in Christ.

I am not trying to imply by this post that your freedom of conscience should lead you to act and think just as I do.  I sure that I'm wrong in many of my beliefs and actions.  My point is that we are far too prone to base our beliefs and actions on considerations other than God.

So in all things, let's be people who remember that we will stand before God and give an account for our actions.  With that in mind, let's try to err on the side of love.

Your Annual Holiday Letter: A Tutorial for Singles

First of all, thank you for making my Singles' Holiday Guide one of my most-read posts.  It is indeed a comfort that our collective holiday happiness is such an important topic for you, perhaps even more important than all of the Issues On Which I Have Opinions or my collection of Truly Mediocre Poetry.

It has come to my attention that I neglected to give any advice on a very important topic: The Annual Holiday Letter.  A brief review of my own files shows that I started sending out Christmas cards in 2008 and continued until... let's see... 2008.  Based on this experience, I've put together the following tutorial for singles to craft the perfect Christmas letter.

The Annual Holiday Letter includes three essential components:

1.  Photos
2.  Dependents
3.  Accomplishments and Adventures

Let's start with photos.  Holiday letters need to have a certain joie de vivre (French for "joy of vivre"), so your photos should connote happiness and enthusiasm.

WRONG:

RIGHT:

See how much happier that looks?  Another benefit of choice #2 is that it effectively communicates both "single" and "ready to mingle."  Here are some other outfits I considered for my Christmas card photo:

It's bold. I love it. (But not as much as I love myself.)

Indeed, this is not subtle.

A cat muumuu.  The proper attire for all single ladies of a certain age.

Speaking of cats, let's move on to the next part of your letter: dependents.   You may have noticed that most holiday letters focus as little as possible on the writer.  They say things like,  "This year was an exciting year for the Ribalski family!  In January I won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but enough about me.  Quentin continues to be the line leader every other Thursday at his preschool and has only led the line down the wrong hallway twice!"  This should, of course, be followed by a photo of Quentin in his line leader hat.

So you're going to need a child, or at least a pet, to feature in your Christmas letter.  I am going to use as my featured dependent a stuffed cat that was given to me a couple years ago by a friend who knew how much I like cats (and how much my housemates don't).

I've never named this little guy, but for the purpose of this letter, let's call him "Geoff." Geoff isn't a line leader, but he's done a pretty good job holding down those books for the last year and a half.

Once you have both a photo and a dependent to feature, it's time to get to the "meat" of your letter.  Here you will describe the accomplishments and adventures of the last year.  Remember to make them upbeat!

WRONG:  "I tried baking an apple pie last week, but the inside didn't turn out.  So I made another one, but then the outside didn't turn out."

RIGHT:  "This year I baked infinitely more apple pies than last year, each one just as good as the last."

Perhaps you are one of those intrepid singles who has bought a house (bless you).  You can describe your many accomplishments as a solo homeowner, such as the time you installed a dimmer switch by yourself, or that time you mowed the lawn.  My own major accomplishment of 2015 was taking my lunch to work instead of buying it every day.

As a single person, you may find the "dependents" and "accomplishments" section of your letter a bit difficult, but never fear.  You have something married parents of young children can only dream of: You have adventures.  Talk about your travels!  If you haven't had any, make some up; your friends will never know.

Here I'll include some helpful travel photo templates for your letter.  Just insert a picture of your face, and the "adventures and accomplishments" section of your letter will be complete.

"My Trip To New York"

"Hosting Saturday Night Live"

"Jamming with friends in the UK"

As you can see, once you know the three essential components to the perfect Annual Holiday Letter, it basically writes itself.  Hope you had a wonderful 2015, and I can't wait to hear about it!