A Christmas Reminder.

Who says it is too early for Christmas carols?

As I sit in front of my laptop, a slice of fresh orange at my fingertips, and Pandora open under the title "Classical Christmas," with the runs of violins, modulations of pianos and clustered harmonies of oratorios and boy choirs streaming through the speakers, I hear not only the beauty of music, but the equally as beautiful messages displayed in their arrangements.

People who love Christmas always wish to keep that same Christmas-ey spirit and feeling, even after the calendar season fades away into New Years resolutions and post-holiday specials. There's a sentimental hope in all of us that wants a good Christmas memory to last a lifetime.

The Christmas I wish to reference is the one that pertains to the birth of a small boy, born in a stable because the inns were all too full, who would one day pay the ransom to save the entire human race from all sin by dying on the cross.

Never is the gospel message of Jesus Christ more openly proclaimed than at Christmas time. Instruments of all kinds pluck, play, and sing joyous melodies of jubilation and gratitude, proclaiming the Savior of the world coming and paying the price: we are now free! So let us sing and dance, and make joyful noise to the Lord in heaven, because hey... nothing else has its grip on us! How can we keep from shouting his praises? This moment in history is pivotal for the salvation of all humans.

For those who grasp the full message and accept it in its entirety, Christmas would be something of a standard by which Christians should worship at all times. Just because time passes does not make the event any less important. Jesus was born, and yes he did die on the cross, and yes, we are now bought by the blood of Jesus the Christ and are free from the grip of the Law of Moses which revealed the sin in everyone's life.

Yet every year, I wish that Christmas would remain with me throughout the year. And still, I move forward, life happens, and before I know it, I am dragging my poor, sorry behind to the holiday season and sometimes barely make it to the finish line for enough joy to celebrate the festivities as joyously as I should. "Should" means to have once grasped the full message and understanding of Jesus' birth and its ethereal truth that warms the soul, yet fail to maintain its brightness due to a shift in character, behavior, or circumstance.

The gospel itself began in a stable, lived in middle to poor socio-economic situations, traveled around with "no place to lay [his] head" during his ministry, died on a cross after unjust judicial sentencing and immense torture, and was laid in some other guy's tomb. I would call that poor circumstances, for sure.

Yet the message of Jesus is not centered around himself, but one of revealing the Kingdom of God, and what that even means for us: living in it, being in it, giving up other things for it, and doing acts based on what it gives us: an eternal life of bliss in a relationship with an unconditionally loving God, Father, Lord, Savior, Teacher, Friend, and Creator who knows us better than we know ourselves and has a plan that surpasses our spectrum of understanding.

The hope we hear in carols and their messages are some to be echoed at all times.

So when someone says, "I wish Christmas could be all year 'round," one could remind them that the hope of Christmas resides within all who believe in the one who came to save the world. So let's blair the music and raise the crescendos of choirs and carols with the truth of Jesus saving the world!

So is it really too early for Christmas carols?

Is it too early for Jesus?

Note: Italics are meant for humorous effect. Please respond accordingly.

Spinning.

Bits and pieces. Spinning and spinning.

Fragments and phrases. Falling and flailing.

Who can determine? Wishing and washing.

What brings God most praises? Slipping and spacing.

Why can't a mind ever make up it's own?

The dream of a balance, one can never hone.

The further one treads down a path that they like,

the better and more acquainted they becomes with the sites.

The grandeur and splendor of honing a craft,

Fine tuning a passion like building a raft,

Is one to be admired. It shows you are true,

In committing to something and following through.

So verily, I question with illness of heart,

Is there such thing as balance? Must I play just one part?

Am I not good enough to live out this life

Exploring my interests, not settling in tight?

I am torn by my loves, so wide and so strong.

They pull me like waves, while I sputter along.

The older I get, the more is demanded.

I've been through so much, but more is commanded!

So where do I go? I don't want to decide!

But if I don't choose, I'll be tossed aside

For someone who'll dedicate their entire life.

To push through the monotony, the toils and strife

Of long-term commitment, at whatever cost.

My confidence draining... I've never felt so lost.

Yet my soul is at rest, in peace through the pain.

I will bury myself is Christ's righteousness.

There's nothing to support me, no nothing at all.

But God and his promise that echos and calls.

I am safe in His arms, forever I will be

In the power and majesty of good company.

So here is my prayer, no matter who taunts.

The Lord is my shepherd, beyond all my wants.

Amen.