What's Your Plan For 2011 . . . I Have A Suggestion

It's New Years Day. Well, it is almost almost New Year's Day. It is also almost my birthday. You see New Year's Day and my birthday are one and the same. Both are great occasions to reflect a little on what has transpired since the last New Year's Day and in my case my last birthday.

I really can't say that anything unusual or particularly exciting occurred. Well, that's not entirely true. After all my youngest daughter presented me with a grandson and that is exciting. In fact he has been pretty much the center of attention these past several months. That by itself makes 2010 a successful year.

Personally I am not to big on reflecting on the past except for nostalgic reasons. The past is just that, the past.

New Year's Day and for me, my birthday, should be spent looking forward. I think it was Beecher who said that "every man should be born again on the first day of January . . . let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front . . ." Or as the great Apostle said, "forgetting those things that are past I press on . . ."

That is what I suggest we all do today. Face the future with a determination to make the year that lies before us as happy and prosperous as possible. To that end I have a suggestion.

Recently I was in conversation with a friend and told him that my father had taught me how to die and that another friend who is now gone taught me the real meaning of giving. His response was, "Isn't that what life really is about . . . giving?"

You know, he is right. The only way to make 2011 really happy and successful is to give of yourself. Scripture is not in error when it says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Let me suggest that you determine that in 2011 you find some way to give of yourself. That may involve making some financial gifts. These will no doubt be needed and are important to meeting some of the human needs around you. More importantly it should involve giving of yourself and that means taking time for others.

Don't waste your time looking for someone worthy of your help. No one is worthy and the truth is neither are you and I. It is not a question of worthiness but of need. God Himself modeled this truth for us when he loved us while we were still sinners and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. He did not give us what our worthiness had earned but rather He gave us what we needed. We are to do likewise. I still hear Jesus' words to the woman caught in adultery, "neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more." Ours is not to pass judgement . . . ours is to offer redemption (the help needed).

Call me deluded call me an idealist I really don't mind because I really do believe that if we would all light one little candle in the darkness that fills so many of our friends and neighbor's lives what a wonderful world this could be.

Some Thoughts on My Christmases

It is the time of year that Paul McCartney calls that "Wonderful Christmas Time" and I agree. For me Christmas has always been a wonderful time.

When I was a child it was a a wonderful time because I was out of school and anticipated a day certain when I would get something special for me. Indeed, I still enjoy viewing the old tattered photos and reliving Christmases past. In fact, I loved Christmas so much that when Susan and I married it was at Christmas time.

It was also a time when I knew we would all gather at my aunt's house as an extended family. Family members would come from all over to be a part. All of my father's brothers and sisters would be there as would all my cousins. As I grew older the gathering grew larger as our children and those of my cousins joined the gathering. We would exchange gifts, sing hymns and carols of the season and end the day with the reading of the Biblical account of the birth of Christ.

It all made for a "Wonderful Christmas Time." For me however, the wonderful part of it all was the coming together of the Appleby clan. It was a recognition that while we all lived our own individual lives and had our own families we were everyone part of a larger family that shared a common heritage of faith and hope. It was a sad day for me when this gathering ended. In a lot of ways I have always hoped for a rebirth of this Appleby Family Tradition.

(Someone recently mentioned to me that maybe in our electronic age we could do the same thing using Skype or some other electronic hook-up. Sorry, it may be the best we can do in our day but it just isn't the same. Reaching out and touching an image on a screen is just not my idea of family.)

When I had children of my own I again relived these childhood days through watching my children come Christmas morning to the tree in anticipation that old Saint Nick had been there and left something special just for them. Christmas seems to bring out the child in all of us and watching my children around the tree Christmas morning searching for gifts with their names on them was like being a child again myself.

Well, the years have come and the years have gone and I have celebrated 63 Christmases and have yet to be disappointed. These days it is not the gifts that come in brightly wrapped packages. In fact I don't believe it ever was about the brightly wrapped packages. It has always been about the people and our relationships . . . family and how important we are to one another.

This Christmas gathering was a reaffirmation that we were Appleby's one and all and that we shared a common Christian heritage that extended back for generations and was to be perpetuated in our own lives and individual families.

Don't get me wrong. I still love Christmas time. Just wish it weren't so much about the gifts. What I really wish is that there was some way to recapture some of what we had back then. I don't really believe that we can recreate the experiences but I do believe we could make a little more effort in providing an environment in which our children and grandchildren can experience something similar to what was such a meaningful influence in our own lives.

With that said, I wish for you and yours a . . .

Very Merry Christmas!

Why I Prefer "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays."

I prefer the greeting "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays." In my judgement "Merry Christmas" more clearly expresses the core meaning of the season we celebrate in December. Now before you jump all over me about swallowing and elephant and straining at a gnat let me explain my thinking.

First let me say that I am very much aware that the term holiday is a contraction between the word holy and the word day and has as its original meaning holy days and as such "Happy Holidays" was a greeting with strong religious undertones. However, the etymology of the word is not as important as its contemporary usage. Today the word "holiday" has virtually no vestiges of its original meaning left. Instead it has become a term used to refer to any and all holidays. President's Day is a "holiday;" Independence Day is a "holiday;" and in my Australian friends refer to their vacations as "being on holiday."

Now Christmas is a holiday but for the Christian it is that and so very much more. It is a holiday that has its roots in the birth of Jesus Christ. Indeed the whole holiday exists because Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Now some might claim that the Christmas holiday season is fraught with elements that have nothing to do with Christ's birth and I would have to agree. Somewhere along the way at various points of history some "pagan" celebrations were baptized and incorporated in the Christmas tradition as we celebrate it today. This includes things such as Christmas trees, yule logs etc. Even more elements (many fictional) were added in the 1800's and early 19thy century.

I am also aware that the Christmas season has become a major part of our economic landscape. Many businesses owe there finical health and some even their survival to the days leading up to and including Christmas. Hence there is an enormous economic element tied to the celebration of Christ's birth in our economy.

I have no major quarrel with any of these but in my mind all of those are irrelevant because they are nothing more than nice addendum to the principle reason for the Christmas season and that is the birth of Jesus. You can strip all of these away an still have Christmas. If you remove the Christian core from the holiday season all you have left is a meaningless commercial event. However, when all these addendum are stripped away the one thing left to be celebrated is the birth of Christ.

It is important to me that the core purpose of the Christmas season and that the word "Christmas" it's self doesn't, as the word holiday has, loose its meaning. Merry Christmas reminds us that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Christ, the son of the Living God and Savior of man. No other seasonal greeting communicates the core meaning of the holiday season.

So with that I say, Merry Christmas to all.