“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  – John 1:14 

“It was thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away, but it is a visit that for all our madness and cynicism and indifference and despair we have never quite forgotten.  The oxen in their stalls.  The smell of hay.  The shepherds standing around.  That child and that place are somehow the closest of all close encounters, the one we are closest to, the one that brings us closest to something that cannot be told in any other way.  This story that faith tells in the fairytale language of faith is not just that God is, which God knows is a lot to swallow in itself much of the time, but that God comes. Comes here.  ‘In great humility.’  There is nothing much humbler than being born: naked, totally helpless, not much bigger than a loaf of bread.  But with righteousness and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.  And to us came.  Is it true – not just the way fairytales are true but as the truest of truths?  Almighty God, are you true?

“When you are standing up to your neck in darkness, how do you say yes to that question?  You say yes, I suppose, the only way faith can ever say it if it is honest with itself.  You say yes with your fingers crossed.  You say it with your heart in your mouth.  Maybe that way we can say yes.  He visited us.  The world has never been quite the same since.”  (Frederick Buechner, The Clown in the Belfry)

I must admit that even after being taught this story since infancy and hearing its re-telling thousands of times, I still sometimes think it must be a fairytale.  No wonder there are so many cynics, skeptics, non-believers, scoffers, and persecutors.  I stand with them at times; for who in his or her right mind could believe such a thing, that God (if there is one) visited earth, born as an infant like the rest of us, and lived alongside us experiencing everything we humans experience.  It’s outrageous!  Except for this one undeniable historical fact that even the cynics, skeptics, and non-believers cannot dispute.  When “The Word become flesh and made his dwelling among us,” the undeniable fact is, as Buechner points out, “the world has never been quite the same since.”  Fairytales don’t have that kind of impact, only the truest of truths.

As is my custom, this issue number 50 will be the final one for 2023.  May you have a joyful and blessed Christmas season!  Abundant Living will return in January.

“But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 

My neighbor and I were commiserating the other day about the problem we are both experiencing with our newspaper carrier, who is unacceptably inconsistent in delivering the papers on time, or some days not at all.  Yet, the system for reporting such matters only offers two choices, either an automated voice response if you call on the phone, or an automated on-line link.  No option is offered to speak with a live human being.

While I am a huge believer in technology and a supporter of its continued advancement, I also believe there is nothing mankind can ever invent or develop that can replace human contact, including artificial intelligence (AI) that is getting so much press these days.  Technology, after all, even at its best, is merely a human invention.  We humans, though, are created by God in His own image, and there is no way man can out-create God.

Many years ago in my former career there was great fear that technological advancements were going to displace many of our jobs, that clients could access the same information we had and they would be able to transact business without our assistance.  But the CEO of our company reminded us of something I have never forgotten, that is that “people will always be in need of the advice and counsel of a fellow human being.”

Recently an urgent message appeared in my inbox from a client who needed to talk to me right away about a crucial meeting he was about to attend.  He needed some assurance that he was properly prepared in terms of the content for which he was responsible, and “advice and counsel” on the best way to present himself.  In a conversation that lasted no more than ten minutes, all I did was listen and offer encouragement.  Yet, at the end he thanked me profusely, that I had helped him get “his head screwed on straight.”

Being human, something I believe technology can never do even in its highest form, was the missing link with my neighbor and me in our frustration with the newspaper carrier.  It is only our fellow human beings who provide us with companionship and intimacy, and with whom we have relationships.  Let’s face it, we need each other, or as my old boss once said, “people will always be in need of the advice and counsel of a fellow human being.”  “But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

“We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks . . .”  – Psalm 75:1 

“Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us.  We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things.  Amen”  (Book of Common Prayer)

Hope your Thanksgiving has been filled with joy and gratitude!!

 (Updated from 2014) 

“We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”  – Psalm 78:4 

My Grandmother’s Wedding Dress – Part 2

For some reason the harp caught my eye.  Then I remembered what Debbie the antique dealer had told me, that it was a young woman who plays the harp who had purchased my grandmother’s wedding gown.  Could this be her harp, I wondered?  Moments later a charming young woman appeared after taking a short break, and when she noticed me in front of her harp immediately asked, “May I play something for you?”  “Of course,” I replied, “but first may I ask, did you by chance buy an old wedding dress from an antique . . .?”  Before I could finish the sentence she threw her arms around me as if I were a favorite uncle.  “I’ve been dying to meet you!” she squealed, recognizing that I must have been the purveyor of the vintage wedding dress she had purchased.  It was a chance encounter for both of us that Saturday morning where we were shopping for vegetables at the local farmers’ market and she and her harp were entertaining passersby in exchange for an occasional tip.  “I’m Heather,” she said finally, releasing me that huge hug.

Besides being an accomplished harpist, Heather also happens to be a collector of vintage clothing, sometimes modeling the dresses she has collected when she performs.  As it turns out my grandmother’s wedding gown fit her like a glove, and she has since worn it a number of times during performances.  But what made the dress extra special to her was knowing the story about my grandmother, her history, personality, and her character.  And that is what prompted the spontaneous embrace I received from her that day.

Everyone has a story, yet many of us shy away from telling ours because we assume they are of little value.  Being a rather modest person, I suspect my grandmother felt the same way about hers.  And I’m sure in her wildest dreams she would never have imagined her story, as conveyed through her wedding dress, would touch someone’s life generations hence.  When Heather got married a few years ago, while she did not actually wear my grandmother’s dress, according to her it did influence the way she designed her own.  Which is to say, our stories matter, regardless how modest they may seem.  So, let us not hide our stories from the next generations.  We never know the influence they may have.

 Part 1 of a two-part series.   (Reprint from 2014)  

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old – what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.”  – Psalm 78:2-3 

My Grandmother’s Wedding Dress – Part 1

I had never seen my grandmother’s wedding dress, even though it had been in my possession for at least fifteen years; that is, until the day I sold it to a local antique dealer a few years ago.  When it was bequeathed to me in the course of settling my parents’ estate it had long before been carefully packed in a large blue box and sealed with shrink wrap for preservation. I dared not break the seal to take a peek for fear of exposing it to the elements and causing it harm.  So, for years the beautiful, delicate, slightly tattered lace dress my grandmother had worn on her wedding day in 1909 sat tucked away in an airtight box on the top shelf of a rarely used closet in our home.

What should I do with it, I sometimes wondered, for I often felt it was something with which I had been entrusted, something sacred that was not mine to keep?  Yet it just sat there.  Then one day I met Debbie who owned an antique shop in downtown McKinney where we live.  After some conversation I felt Debbie understood my plight and knew exactly what to do.  So the two of us, Debbie and me, carefully unwrapped and unpacked my grandmother’s sweet delicate wedding gown from its sealed wrapper, and I finally laid eyes on it for the first time.  Debbie displayed the dress on a mannequin in her store in a prominent location and attached to it a brief history of the dress along with a short biography of my grandmother I had written so the prospective purchaser would be buying not just the dress, but also the story behind it.

“I will utter hidden things, things from of old – what we have heard and known . . .,” the Psalmist declares.  So it is I am sharing this story about my grandmother and her wedding dress – because her life mattered.  For in her almost ninety-six years she experienced the same ups and downs we all experience, yet faced them all with dignity and grace, supported by her strong faith, a life of prayer, concern for others, and doing the right things. . .  Well, the dress did sell, and when you read Part 2 next week you’ll see how my grandmother’s life still matters to this day, and why yours matters too.