Christmas—the Third Time

The Christmas that the Christian world celebrates, the first Christmas in Bethlehem of Judea, among the little family and the shepherds was just the prelude.  We do not know what Mary and Joseph felt; surely it was relief and gratitude, as at all births, when the mother and child survived the ordeal and were found healthy.  The heavenly hosts were demonstrably jubilant for they knew something that hadn’t penetrated the minds and hearts of those yet mortal. The shepherds were ‘sore afraid’ and then curious, and then, finally, worshipful.  But the people?  The people who received the report of the shepherds, the record tells us, just ‘wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.’

And later as the years wore on and the land was still occupied by the Romans and the people were still not delivered and the messiah, as they perceived he would be, had not made an appearance as they thought, I suspect they ‘wondered’ even less. 

Of course there were those who had witnessed, for themselves, for a period of about three years the power of healing and spirituality by this itinerate preacher, this man named Jesus of Nazareth.  Surely some were changed forever by their experience.  But what of the others—those who had not seen the light, who had not been touched by this man’s hand or had felt the power of his word sink deep into their hearts or who had rejected the witnesses?  They went on in darkness, largely as before, perhaps hearing of some strange happenings among a small group of ‘disciples’ of this man Jesus, but in practice discounting the reports and thus sinking further into ennui and apostasy and even despair. 

But then, in the springtime of about the year 30 an event happened that could not be ignored.  In addition to the Passover which was being ritualistically celebrated came news, and then the frightening geo-physical phenomena of earthquake and thunder, that this man Jesus had been apprehended, ‘tried’ for sedition (what else could it be—He had rejected their whole way of life!) and was crucified. 

When the ground stopped shaking, and the ‘storm’ passed and the ‘passover’ passed over and people returned to their homes, it was over, so they thought. 

 

But then came the third day—the ‘Second Christmas,’ as it were, the day we call Easter. It started with the first resurrection in the history of mankind.  Indeed, it started again with Jesus. Instead of coming to a grotto in Bethlehem, He came from another grotto, a tomb in Jerusalem.  This 'Second Christmas' season continued with the little band of disciples;  it continued for the next 40 days. It was a time of great rejoicing—among a few.

The evidence was incontrovertible but there were still those “foolish people . . . without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not . . . [and who] hath a revolting and a rebellious heart”  (Jeremiah 5:19-25).

The groundwork had been completed!  But still the darkened world of the minds and hearts of the generality of men would not comprehend the message, the invitation, and the reality. They rejected even this.

Graves were opened and a resurrection had begun on this earth (still among a relative few) as a second prelude to the greater celebration which was begun in heaven.  For there the captives had been liberated, their Savior had returned home, and their resurrection, so long looked forward to, could now come to fruition. 

But with this victory over death, this victory of victories, came the great division.  ‘For (as the song says) hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth—good will toward men.’ 

That ‘peace on earth—good will toward men,’ unfortunately, will not commence (neither was it promised) until the ‘third Christmas,’ as it were, comes as the great Millennial Day dawns and Jesus comes, this time, with the hosts of heaven as the veritable Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

And this time the world will take notice. 

Hallelujah!  Come Jesus!

Christmas -- the Rest of the Story (part 1)

My last posting, Christmas Story, was a prose-poem outlining the basic elements –the persons and places—of the Christmas story as the gospel writers Matthew and Luke recorded it.  A little more background adds meaning to this great event. 

 

Foremost is the doctrine taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that there is a ‘pre-existence,’ or better, a pre-mortal existence (a heaven, if you will) –a place of our spirits who reside in the presence of God, our Father.  That would explain where the angel (a spirit person with divine authority) in the person of Gabriel came from and from where came the angelic host who appeared to the ‘shepherds, abiding in their fields by night’ . . . ‘praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest , and on earth peace, good will toward men.’

The superlative message of Gabriel to Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth and Zacharias, as well as to the angelic choir came by way of assignment from God the Father.

The timing of the birth event, as the Latter-day Saints believe, occurred  in the springtime, not in the cold of winter. (Celebration of Christ’s birth in the winter is a vestige of an earlier pagan worship of Mithra, ‘god’ of light, and later by the Romans of Sol, their sun ‘god.’)  That is why the shepherds were so attentive to their sheep—even at night.  It was birthing time.  They were watching for the firstborn of each pair of twins (the sheep frequently had twins), and if it was an unblemished male it would be chosen for the Passover sacrifice which was also at that time of year.  It was, indeed, Jesus, the unblemished male, of whom the lambs were but symbols, who would be the real sacrifice for Israel and all mankind thirty-three years later.

Crowds of faithful Jews came to the Holy City of Jerusalem, in the purlieu of the temple, to celebrate the Passover at this time of year.  Bethlehem, the ancient City of David, the king from long before, was only six miles from Jerusalem and so tried to accommodate the overflow crowds.  And Bethlehem (house of bread—from which would come Jesus, the ‘bread of life’) was the place of ancestry of both Mary and Joseph (who were both of the royal Davidic line) to which they would travel to register for their census taking.

And the wise men from the east?  They came months later in response to the star they followed and the ancient prophesies that they had read and believed in.  Prophets of much earlier times, on both hemispheres, had prophesied of the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem of Judea.  The costly gifts they brought the new-born king probably supplied means for the little family to escape jealous Herod’s wrath by a sojourn in Egypt until they could safely return to Nazareth, in the north, from which Mary and Joseph had come. 

 

But all the drama and pathos of this story of nativity is only prelude to the transcendent  reason the babe of Bethlehem came to this earth a little over 2000 years ago.  This story of Jesus thirty-three years later eclipses even the miracles surrounding  His birth, the first Christmas.

We will speak of this on my next posting; we will pick up yet more golden threads of the tapestry of ‘the rest of the story.’

May Christmas have more meaning to you this year than ever before as Christ is restored to the center of your celebration.

Christmas Story

Some Christians at Christmas

Follow custom, 
          and I am one,

Accede to gifts and Christmas cheer.

But deep inside my true devotion

Thinks most of Jesus, my Redeemer

And thanks God our Father

For the present of His Firstborn
          Savior-Son.

Luke and Matthew tell the story

Of Mary, Joseph, Gabriel,

Of donkey, journey, star and manger,

Anthems from the heavenly host

And  functions of the Holy Ghost.

Of witness of some watchful shepherds

Of Jesus Christ’s most humble birth.

Nazareth and Bethlehem are in the story

As are wise men from the east,

A Jewish priest named Zacharias

With his good wife Elizabeth.

Jealous Herod, death of infants,

Simeon, Anna at the Temple 
          Service for Messiah give,

Naming  John and infant Jesus

Rounding out the Christmas story

Of stirring events in old Judea

            Begun that all mankind might live. 

Two New Poems

Settling for less

I see among me restless ones,

Discontent        

Yet sometimes seeking.

Not quite homeless

Not quite hungry

Not at home

          in their own pantry

in their own skin.

Who will not settle for themselves

          nor embrace the truth

nor receive hope offered

But still will take a mess of pottage

And settle for less.

Belly full but

empty-souled and empty- handed.   

Will You Be Willing?

Will you be willing to follow

the tug of your heart

to  go where it beckons you?

Even if it asks you to leave a life

That has nurtured you

In a world you have come to love?

Will you be willing to commit your step

To a path that requires you to again become naked

And walk past the tree of knowledge of good and evil

To the tree of Life?

Will you be willing to take your kite

And allow yourself to be pulled upward beyond the clouds?

To float across the veil that separates the world of light

from your familiar and comfortable footing?

Will you be willing?

Nay, will you be ready

To let go of this life and come to God?

Healthcare Cost's Biggest Contributor

 This posting is, in fact, an article I had written under a different title and was published in a local newspaper some years ago.  I have hesitated in republishing it because I know it did and will offend many people and probably not do a thing to help change things.  But it needs, again, and alas, to be said.

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           The fattening of America is a national disgrace. This surely has become, as Newsweek  a decade ago (03 July 2000) termed it, “Generation XXL.” 

          Sixty-one percent of  Americans are now overweight or obese. But statistics, being impersonal, seem to do little to motivate people to change.  Neither, surprisingly, does a long hard look in the mirror at one’s grossly distorted over-fat version of himself or herself seem to do the trick.  We seem to have become a generation where repulsion no longer motivates to change.

          This must turn around.  But there are reasons for change far more compelling than just aesthetic. Becoming over-fat is not just a personal choice – or a personal problem.  It affects others.  Family members, compassionate friends and those in healthcare occupations who must physically move and support these people when they become incapacitated are put at risk. Healthcare costs, born by all who have or who are now compelled to purchase health insurance, are driven up by healthcare needs of overweight and obese people more than by any other single cause.         

 Consideration for the proximate public should also be part of the over-fat person’s awareness.  The unfortunate and unpleasant experience of having to sit next to an obese person on an airplane or bus and having them spill over onto the space you paid for causes resentment.  Right or wrong, like it or not, over-fat people are viewed negatively by the more fit. 

          Furthermore, there is subtle discrimination in the workplace against the over-fat.   Employers are often leery of hiring the over-fat who they anticipate may be a potential workers-compensation claim or who they feel will be less effective than those of more normal weight. In short, one’s paycheck or livelihood is affected by how one looks.

Even the influence for good of an over-fat person is often less than for a comparably qualified fit person. Fat people are not taken as credibly as their more slender peers.  Sociologists have known for years that selection for executive and upper managerial positions more often go to the more slender than to overweight persons.   

          In the schoolyard the over-fat youngster is at an unquestioned disadvantage. He or she simply cannot compete in active sports on an equal footing with the more lithe schoolmate.  Exclusion and dislike for activity is often the outcome of obesity. Even 20-30 minutes of daily physical education activity time cannot compensate for the sheer volume of calories many of today’s youngsters are consuming.  Physical fitness scores in California schools are currently at the lowest level they have ever been since the President’s Council on Physical Fitness began keeping records in the early 1960’s.

          So, where do we start to remedy the situation?   I submit that a good place to start is with the children—before they develop the adolescent-onset fat cells that will stay with them the rest of their lives. 

          I place the blame for childhood obesity squarely on parents and school officials.  Most children do not have the knowledge or maturity to make wise food choices. The food that our children buy or is provided at school and in many homes is a national disgrace. Soda pop, French fried potatoes and chips, pizza, and pastries have been for years the norm in our schools.  Concerned school officials could remedy that but they haven’t.   And at home, with the demise of home-cooking in favor of fast food and take-out meals, children are bombarded daily with processed and packaged food high in fat and sugar content. Parents must get the junk food out of the house and demand it be taken out of the schools. 

Parents, teachers, coaches, and school administrators must also recognize their responsibility to their youth by being the role models children need of healthful living practices. The adults who are in children’s lives must shape-up themselves.

          What else can we do?  Notwithstanding all the hype, the great majority of over-fat people don’t need a health club membership; they don’t need to waste their money buying into commercial diet plans or products or take food supplements; they don’t need drug therapy; and they don’t need to purchase expensive exercise equipment.

 The answer is very simple. The answer is to alter the balance-of -energy equation. Do not take in more calories than you burn off. Cut back on the size of portions and/or eliminate seconds at meals and especially limit desserts. But keep in mind, too drastic a change in food selection is doomed to failure.  When you snack, eat fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water instead of taking in processed foods and soda pop.

 Secondly, one must increase the time spent in physical activity. Diet alone will not do it. Most people who fail to achieve an appropriate body mass do so because they fail to increase their physical activity.  Thirty minutes of brisk walking a day would do wonders. Having an exercise or walking partner is a great help for many people. Sadly, though, hoping for a quick fix most over-fat people give up too soon.  Losing 1 ½ pounds per week (which works out to 500 calories/day) is all most people can safely and reasonably hope for. On the other hand, think of how would you would look and feel six months from now 36 pounds lighter?  

The solution to the problem of the fattening of America is within the grasp of almost everyone.  But again, perhaps the solution is too simple.