In-between

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Troll the ancient Yule tide carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

See the blazing Yule before us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Follow me in merry measure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
While I tell of Yule tide treasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Sing we joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

"Deck The Halls", originally called, "Deck The Hall", is a Christmas Carol, that is for New Year's Eve.  The idea that Christmas hails the new year, is brought to light in this song.  It was originally a Welsh po…

Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! the savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, wonders, of his love.

-Isaac Watts, Psalms of David Imitated (1719) under the heading “The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom.”

This magnificent hymn, which is popularly sung at Christmas time, is about King Jesus and the kingdom of God.

The echo is …

Be angry and do not sin; on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still.
Selah
-Psalm 4:4
The Psalms are the Bible's book of prayers.  The Psalms teach us that God listens and we need to learn listening.  And the Psalms ask us to be brutally honest with God.
These are three things I have learned recently about the Psalms, the Psalms of David particularly.
Blessed rest and sweet sleep are connected to not sinning in our anger, open-hearted hurt process, living 'honest to God', and being in union with God, no matter what.
Psalm 4 has some advice about silence and anger.  When we are angry, we want to vent it out and a common way of venting is with words.
First of all, anger is not taboo.  We are allowed to be angry.  But be angry and do not sin.
Things like being abusive or destructive, being vengeful or vituperative, and just punishing others because you are angry, is wrong.  Anger is a secondary emotion.  We get angry when we suffer a loss.
Beneath the anger is hurt and…

Celebrate always, pray constantly, and give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.  (This is God’s will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed.)
-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (The Voice)

Someone lost her adult son this week.  Someone else has a son with stage four cancer.  Someone else I closely know had the anniversary of losing his young son this week.  I also know someone else who's husband left her and their kids.  I know someone who's romantic relationship has broken up after a hopeful year.  And I know several women who lost their husbands in the past 15 months, who are grieving.  We also said goodbye to my neighbors of over twenty years, yesterday, who are moving away, to be closer to their family.

The gospel of Jesus, the good news of the kingdom, is that God has come and rescued us for time and eternity.  Jesus is emmanuel, God with us.  Jesus saves and Jesus is with us.

He promised he would always be with us and would send the Holy Spirit, who is…

There is a proverb that says, 'a stitch in time saves nine'.  It means that it is better to act on or deal with problems immediately, because if you wait and deal with them later, things will get worse and the problems will take longer to deal with.  That is what the Cambridge Dictionary says.

Here are some other phrases that describe what 'a stitch in time saves nine' means:

Sort out problems that arise immediately and it will save you a lot of extra work later.Sew one stitch now, so you won't have to sew nine stitches later.A little effort expended sooner to fix a small problem prevents it from becoming a larger problem requiring more effort to fix later. A little preparation can eliminate the need for repairs later.If you sort out a problem immediately it may save extra work later.It is better to deal with problems immediately rather than later as things will worsen and take longer to amend.If you fix a small problem right away, it will not become a bigger probl…

Like yanking the ears of a dog, so is one who passes by and gets involved in another person’s fight. -Proverbs 26:17 (CEB)

Recently, I got more involved in social media.  It is hard for me, because of the fighting.  I want to be involved but not feel beat up, nor ever be unkind to others.
I believe in civil discourse.  I believe in conversations, discussions and even debates.  But I worry that we, myself included, often have a listening deficit.  
Because of this, we sometimes have 'dialogues of the deaf'.  We just do not hear each other.  But hearing is loving.  Even if we do not understand, listening is the loving start to authentic relating.
I saw the Barna report, that was released a week ago, Why People Fight Online.  It seeks answers to some of the same questions I have and might be helpful to you.
Years ago, for the first time, I heard a Christian leader use cuss words in a dark parking lot where he had to know that other Christians were also on their way to their cars…