May
the blessings of the Christ Child be yours this day
and may the peace of God rest upon all who mourn the deaths
of loved ones this season.
Hope
The Season of Christmas
lasts for twelve days and on this first Sunday of the season we join with Anna
and Simeon in praising God for the long-awaited gift of Jesus. In welcoming
infant Jesus as the hoped-for Messiah, Simeon and Anna proclaim God's saving
love and care, and God's ongoing promise to reshape and restore our
lives. Luke 2;22-40
Lord
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.
Simeon's
Song of Praise
Aert de
GELDER
c.
1700
Mauritshuis,
the Hague, Netherlands
Hope is the physician of each misery.
~ Irish Proverb
You must learn to look at the world twice
if you wish to see all there is to see.
*
~ Jamake
Hightower
We had
a very heart wrenching Christmas this year ...
In
Loving Memory
Angel Love
Hall
was struck by
a car and died in Vicki's arms on Christmas Eve day.
September 16,
2002 ~ December 24, 2008
The
tears of despair were somewhat appeased
by tears
of celebration ...
Vicki adopted JAK
JAK Ala
Kazander
December 26,
2008
... and has
been busy telling him about his sister
as Vicki
and JAK become acquainted!!!
JAK is one
year and one month old.
(We
think.)
The week
prior to Christmas was a busy one.
CV and Gary
had a delicious party!
Bob, CV, and
Bill (with Jill's hand)
Gary is on
the right
CV and
Carolyn
Pat gave a
fascinating demonstration to our Painted Toe group on
Monday.
Tye came with
his grandmother, Terrey ...
... but
enjoyed painting more than watching the
demonstration.
Of course, we
also ate! (I included this for you, Joyce!)
Trish is
showing her latest painting at Wednesday breakfast.
WOW!!!
You are growing by leaps and bounds, Trish!!!
In the
background, you can see Gail Frasier. Gail and her husband are home
for two
weeks from their Peace Corps
stint in Jamaica.
Linda's
mother is visiting her for Christmas!
Sylvia,
Vicki, and I had a quiet Christmas dinner.
Of course,
the next day Vicki found JAK!
Right now,
his hair is very short.
She plans to
let his top knot,
ears, and
facial hair grow out.
What
will I do with the piece of history in which I live?
Enable
doors to be closed or opened?
... I
am a "hinge of history."
~ Emily Dickinson
December 28,
2008 First Sunday After Christmas
Previous OPQs may be found
at:
* Jamake Hightower, a Blackfoot Indian author, has described
how,
in the Native American tradition, great effort is taken
to
embrace new spiritual understanding and
revelation.
This is
done, according to Hightower, by "looking twice" at the world.
He says,
"We (Native Americans) must bring our eyes together in
front so that we
notice every drop of dew in the grass, the steam
rising from damp
anthills in the sunshine."
Then, he says, we must look again,
"directing our gaze at the
very edge of what is visible so that we see
visions, cloud
people, animals that hurry past us in the
dark."
Summarizing
his thought, he states, "You must learn to look at the world twice if
you
wish to see all there is to see."
Isaiah
61:10-62:3
Psalm 148:1-14
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke
2:22-40
