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The Ghost of Christmas Present

From Charles Dickens we received the classic story of A Christmas Carol in December of 1843. We watch the movie still, a movie “improved” in sound and script but sadly lacking in the original message. 

Christmas 2022 has now passed. It is Christmas Past. Nothing more to do, or undo. I pray it has departed gracefully, leaving memories –  mainly joyful – for you, as it does for us. Today we find ourselves facing a new year – 2023 – the Present.

Windmills high on the island of PATMOS, Greece.

Heavenly Father, in the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus the Christ, I claim this Scripture. It was written through the power of the Holy Spirit, by the hand of John, right on this island, high above and overcoming all the heartbreak, sin, and brokenness grasping at the hearts of believing, and unbelieving, people. We are Your people, called by Your name.

No Soul

The sparrow enjoying the water provided by a city fountain bathing delightedly.
The sparrow drinking deeply from the bubbling valve provided for man’s visual enjoyment, assisting sparrow’s survival.
The sparrow whose every lifting and falling is recorded by the Invisible Divine Eye. Alas, no soul?
But great Love.

Affliction

The ploughed road along the Pick farm in Minnesota. Mid-November. Bitterly cold day saved by the weakened, hopeful sunshine of late afternoon. The slicing wind has ceased, leaving its witness in the grasses which took captive the wild snow as it passed. Waves of white, as one might see in the swirling waves on the sea in a storm. Except these peaks are stilled even as they move, during an icy blast, and a temperature that takes their forward progress prisoner.

Passages

“Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions. They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’””