From The Pastor's Desk - December 2016

Amnesias… it means to remember in such a way that we relive an experience or event.

This time of year we want to Amnesias our lives as children at Christmas. It is the reason we continue myths about snowmen and elves and we decorate our houses with bright lights and trees. We want to relive Christmas’ past again today. To pour it into our lives and the lives of our children. It is a time of joy where we sing special songs, and eat special foods and drinks. Everyone is a little nicer and, to a large degree, it is because we become a little more like children again. In Luke, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and don’t hinder them, for the kingdom of God is made up of souls like these.” 

Children have their problems, but in many ways they are closer to God than the adults we have become. We stop singing and dancing and playing and believing. When we find some stories are not true, we become jaded and throw out all the stories. Our lives become busy, and anxious, and filled with adult concerns. Then Christmas approaches. And we Amnesias days gone by. We even start attending church more and hear the old stories again. The stories where Christ was born in a stable, and Christ was born in our hearts. Isaiah wrote, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And we smile, and we become nicer, and more loving and put some of the anxieties of life away for a little while. 

God wants you to Amnesias him. Let the God you loved as a child be born once again in your heart. Dance a little, sing a little, enjoy some egg nog, and live into the joy of this season by hearing the old stories at church and lighting a candle at the Christmas Eve service.

See you at church,
Pastor Tom