Fruit of the Spirit (RTLC 2015)

You are not some special little snowflake. You are not a rose in a field of dandelions. You are not the only one like you in the world. I have heard these things from parents and none of them are true. They aren’t true about you, they aren’t true about me, and they aren’t true about anyone. Except Chris Pratt…. He, He is just great! Now if I were to say anything about individuality and “specialness” it would be this. You are an Aspen Tree. Some are tall, some are short, some are ugly, and some have things carved into them. You are an Aspen Tree, you are different from other aspen trees but only if you look REALLY close. Other wise you are just another tree in the forest.  The reason is because YOU are broken, YOU are imperfect, YOU are damaged goods. You are a MEAT SACK with a stone heart that is crumbling and so is EVERYONE ELSE.

There is good news though we have a specific set of tools to help polish our stone heart.  These Tools are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. Unfortunately, more bad news, your tools are just terrible. They are weak, rusty, and breaking.  Your love will fail the one whom deserves it because of personal resentment. Your Joy will fail you when faced with true devastation. Your peace will fail when the waves of life’s trepidations hit you. Your patience will crumble under the weight of expectations. Your Kindness will last only as long as your love for the person whom is testing you. Your Goodness will disappear when selfish desire arrives.  Your Faithfulness will only last as long as you need it to, and then it will be as fleeting as a summer breeze. Your Gentleness will only last as long as your self control allows. Long story short, your tools are weak and frail.

Here is the Best news. We have a carpenter who has better tools than we do. 2000 years ago our carpenter waded into the river Jordan.  Had hands placed upon him and was plunged into the waters of the river. When he reappeared above the waters the spirit entered him. (Matthew 3:13-17) That same spirit enters us at our baptism gives us the Fruit of the Spirit. That singular fruit has multiple attributes that give us the ultimate tools we need. We gain the ability to tap directly into the bottomless well that is God’s Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control, and in these gifts we will never be left wanting. Christ describes it best in John 14:27

“Peace I leave with you; MY peace if give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

It is God’s gift to us in the Holy Spirit that we can tap into. A love that will never fail or falter  and forgives no matter how many times forgiveness is asked. A joy that surpasses all understanding. A peace that will calm the waves in the middle of a storm. A patience that has waited Three days before reveling to the world the Greatest News of all time. The kindness to those who did not ask for it nor did they deserve it, but instead a kindness that is freely given.  A goodness that will be poured out from the heart of the one who was sent for the world’s sake. A faithfulness in the one who formed your heart from clay and with a snap of his fingers sent that heart into a flutter. Finally, a Gentleness that will be lead by the self control of the man who gave his life for yours.

Now I might be on the wrong side of the cross here, but I started this with the idea that you are not special. We are not pretty flowers in a field of dandelions. Instead I insist that we are all Aspen trees. Aspen trees are diverse and bend to their environment, so none of them look alike. Yet they all have roots that are interconnected. They all have scars caused by someone else. They all have leaves that give comfort to those below. Your story may be hard and painful, but you aren’t the only one who has gone through it. Your story may be weird and privileged, but you’re not the only person who feels conflicted. Your story is not a magic little snowflake, and that is NOT A BAD THING. To think that you are the only one who can understand what you are going through is a LIE. A Lie to yourself and a lie to the world. Until you realize that we are all in this together you won’t be able to get past your brokenness. To dive into the Fruit of the Spirit we are gifted with. The best part about aspen trees is that their roots grow together. Until one tree is actually two. Two trees wrap themselves together to make four. Until the whole forest are many trees with one set of roots. We are rooted in Christ, and that means we are all not that special, but we all receive the gifts. Sorry if you thought you were a butterfly in a pod of caterpillars.

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.” 

The Angry Christian Dilemma

    So I have attempted to write a post when something in the world moved me to post an important opinion. Lately, and by lately I mean the last several months, I have been far too angry at politicians, religious leadership, and in some of the things I hear coming from my own congregation to write a post without it coming off as me “yelling at heathens”. That is my problem i find myself too angry to write something that doesn't come across as finger wagging. I find myself and an ANGRY CHRISTIAN - 

    For Palm Sunday I challenged myself to write a dramatic piece for service instead of a regular sermon. I found myself writing from the view point of two disciples watching Jesus as he goes through the day of Palm Sunday. As I characterized these two disciples I found myself pealing back the layers of the two very distinct sides of my own heart.

    First we have Andrew, who heard Christ’s call to humility and service. Seeing Christ as humbling; riding on an ass, healing the sickest in the community, and calling for the children to come and listen. Clearly as a youth director I like the last bit the most but it all comes down to service. A King who made himself a slave for the sake of the world. My heart yearns to be that kind of servant. One who gives all that he has for the sake of the world, and for no greater goal than to make the world better with nothing more than my actions and heart. Yet what Andrew missed was a great fire inside him. He didn’t dare take any radical action, to say or do anything that might alienate anyone in anyway. For lack of better words, this side of my heart is kind of a wimp.

    Second we have Peter, you might now him as the man who cut off a roman centurion’s ear in the garden of Gethsemane.  He was on the “road to revolution” bandwagon. You might even say he was the one who was driving it. He wanted a KINGDOM for Jesus and not just a church to rise around him. He wanted to fight and over turn what he saw as a corrupt church and government. He wanted radical action for a radical leader like Jesus. He was ready to take drastic measures no matter the cost; who it hurt, who would die, what would be the consequence. This is why when I wrote about Peter he was most excited when Jesus TOSSED TABLES and WHIPPED BANKERS. He saw people manipulating the faith for personal gain and want to burn those responsible to the ground. This side of my heart is HUNGER for action, and to invoke change in a very real way in the world! This side of my heart wants Preachers who ask their congregations for Multimillion dollar jets to be dragged into the street and flogged. This side of my heart wants politicians who say when a woman has her baby cut from her womb that is was “God’s wrath for allowing abortions in America” to be publicly stoned for their ridiculous blasphemy.  I want most of the Indiana house of representatives to realize they are not CHRISTIANS. They are, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, fearful hate filled bigots that remind me of what a human would look like if God made us from SNAKE SHIT instead of mud. 

     So I look at these two disciples that I found inside my own heart and have only one questions. Can I be an ANGRY CHRISTIAN? Can I be a follower of Christ, a follower who is called to preach the gospel at all times, forgive abundantly, love joyfully, live hopefully, and serve endlessly? Can I be Angry with those who take the word of God and distort it to be used as a tool of discrimination, those who use the joy God gives as a wealth acquiring industry, or worst of all saying that when horrendous things happen it is God’s perfect justice?

So here I kneel, on the wrong side of the cross, and I look to my lord and a pray. Dear savior let my heart be ever focused on your service. Let my words be as light, shining into the dark places of the world bringing encouragement, hope, and safety. Let my actions reflect those of the lamb whom sacrificed everything for this world. Let me learn patients when I see your love being twisted. Patients to help those who are more confused than encouraged. Patients to walk the gospel journey and not just preach it. Patients to wait upon the lord.  When all of my words fall on the rocks and break, let me take heart in the words from Galatians 6. 1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5for each one should carry their own load.6Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

As I speak to my God, who is a paradox, I find understanding in the paradox of my heart. That I should be set on fire and passionately live an outspoken gospel, while making sure my actions match my beliefs. I can be an angry Christian. Christ was outraged in Matt. 21:12-13 I can be outraged when people use God to make money in illegitimate ways, but it is more important to remember the next moment in Matt21:14-16 that while he was Tossing tables of the greedy and wicked, he turned to those who need healing and cured them. The children who cried out hosanna were a blessing and not a nuisance but the most joyous of praise. For my wrath will never turn a human heart but will only allow myself to be tempted. For if someone is preaching an impostors gospel they only deceive themselves. God cannot be mocked and men reap what they sow. I have to SOW love, joy, peace, patients, and let God’s spirit correct those who have strayed from his path. I can be angry, but I should never let that anger control me. So to answer the question that started these ramblings, NO, I cannot be an angry Christian. An angry Christian is someone who allows their emotions to control them and not the holy spirit. Yet I can, and actively find myself, a Christian who gets angry, but as Galatians reminds me, that is my load to carry and not a burden to put on others. We have to remember above all the Hate we see, above all the greed, above all the bigotry, we must correct this world GENTLY. We reap what we sow, what have you been sowing?

Let your words be LIGHT – shining in the darkness.

A Finger Pointing Society

I don't know if it is the political discourse our country is pissed at, or the fact i was yelling at terrible referees at the Highlands Ranch soccer game, or the Anti-abortion bumper sticker next to the Beer is Freedom bumper sticker i saw this morning that set me off but i have come to a concrete conclusion. As a people we are doing far to much finger pointing and not enough self evaluating.

We do it every day if we mean to or not. When you are driving down the road mumbling, "this moron is going to slow!" or "look how fast that MANIAC is driving!". If you are arguing who's fault the shutdown is, or who is to blame for the education system in this country for being a steaming pile of crap. Someone else is to blame because obviously you have all the answers. FUN FACT - YOU DO NOT! Ever person does have the right answers for themselves. unfortunately we live in a world of diversity and individuality. No person will learn, speak, sing, dance, play, write, cry, or fart like anyone else on this planet. Christ knew this and made sure everyone he talked to knew about it. "When you pray  do it in a dark room so it is between you and your father in heaven" He knew life is about personal relationships not outspoken acts of self righteousness. Lives are changed in the quiet moments when relationship is valued over righteousness.

I guess what really got my goat this morning was the Anti-Abortion bumper sticker. It stated - If your fetus isn't a baby then you ain't a mother. i laughed first at the Ain't because using that kind of verbiage on such a sensitive issue made the driver not only seem like a moron but also someone who deserves no voice in such an intimate and personal issue, and the fact there was a BEER IS FREEDOM bumper sticker makes me think, "before you talk about someone else "murdering a baby" maybe you should work on your alcoholism and domestic violence issues." But what do i know, i am not in their life, or do i know the circumstance of the placement of that bumper sticker. Just like owner of the sticker has NO IDEA what a woman having to make such a difficult decision has to go through.

So here i am standing on the wrong side of the cross asking Christ what are we to do about things we truly and deeply believe in! The answer is simple, LIVE THEM OUT. Christ calls us to lives of actions not lives fighting against others, instead an internal struggle of self improvement. Not an external struggle of "BE LIKE ME OR GO TO HELL" because if i had to be like you i would hate myself, mainly because i hate assholes. We are to reflect and judge our own actions, because those are the only actions we can change. Looking down at others and judging them creates division when we should have celebrations. If you think you are ok judging because you got it right, remember what Christ said in Matthew. "Judge not lest ye' be... justified by something said earlier in this book, I'm not sure, i didn't read the whole thing its really long, but is probably in there somewhere, look in Leviticus."

Here is what the solution to our finger pointing society boils down to -
1) Stop thinking your way is always right, because you will always be wrong about that.
2) When you love one another as Christ loves us, we don't always have to like each other and that's OK .
3) If you believe in Anti or Pro something then live it out in your own life, and support those making difficult decisions without passing judgment. Because in those moments you can be Christ for someone else. Yelling at someone because you think YOU ARE God's voice is a disgrace.

The Well Dressed Misunderstanding

Driving to work this morning I was listening to k-love and a listener wrote  a question that really awoke something from my past. The person who wrote to the radio station was new to the faith. A person who was just begging their walk with Christ and had a little bit of a problem with something they were told at their new church. So their question was, “Why do people think that I have to dress really nice for church? I mean I though God wanted a relationship with the inward me and not the person I look like on the outside?” That hit me pretty hard and brought up an experience had in Pennsylvania.

When I was younger I was also confused about why people wore such nice cloths to church, or why we had church clothes all together. I finally got an answer from one of the older congregational members. He simply responded, “We are always supposed to bring our best before god. Do you think a t-shirt and shorts is really your best?” He was right, we are supposed to bring our best before God, and even though his comment about "is a t-shirt and shorts really your best'' was supposed to be condescending, that is, and most likely will be my best for a very long time.

Not saying that those are my best cloths, but they are what I can do my best in. I will even take it a step further. If God wants my very best to show up on Sundays I will arrive as I have for years.

1)Chaco Sandals

2)Funny T-shirt

3)Athletic shorts.

4)Baseball Hat

Now for the Suit and Tie crew this might seem completely unreasonable but allow me to explain. The Chaco Sandals are because I will be able to travel anywhere I need. I will be as comfortable on trail talking to a youth as I am enjoying a coffee with a concerned parent. The Funny T-shirt makes me approachable and allows me to speak freely about any topic I wish including, but not limited to my faith journey and my relationship with Christ. The athletic shorts will allow me to PLAY and PLAY HARD! For when we can drop the façade of being adults all the time and play something amazing happens. We become most like the people God wants us to be, Joy filled vessels of love. Finally a Baseball Hat because half way through the year my hair gets pretty long.

When someone asks me am I bringing my Best before God. I can smile and say yes without a single moment of hesitation.  Bringing your best before God will never have anything to do with what you wear. As batman says, it’s not who I am, but what I do that defines me.

Now I do believe we a have a responsibility when it comes to our clothing in church. For example we should always keep what we wear in the construct of living a Christly life. For example Modesty/Humility should be considered when dressing. We aren't at church to show off the Guns (boys) and we aren't at church to pick up a boy with a high/low cut shirt (Ladies).  We shouldn't dress with flash and expensive jewelry that shows wealth and success. We shouldn't wear something dirty and three days old. There is a proper amount of respect to be given to God’s houses.

Yet I stand here on the wrong side of the cross looking up at a man who wore sack cloth and sandals. I look at the ideas he stood for and the life we hear preached. I believe it can all come down to this. When we start focusing on Rules over Relationships we have missed the point. If our lives are truly focused on relationships the rules fall into place. When focusing on loving our neighbor as our selves the rules are fulfilled. But when you use the rules to lord over someone else’s head you have sacrificed relationship. So I pray for those of you who are reading this that you wear bright Hawaiian shirts, Shorts, Jeans, polo’s, suit and tie, or whatever you feel helps you bring the Best of what you have to God. Never forget that we are nothing more than Shadows and Dust. Vessels of the pure love of God, and that we can do no great things without the help and love of God. Dress for your journey and not the journey of someone else knowing God loves the heart that beats inside the shirt and not the s

My Maundy Thursday Moment

So I was headed to Maundy Thursday service excited to watch a couple of my youth read the gospel to our congregation. Jokingly I walked into the narthex talking to the kids about how they should read their roles. They young man reading the part of Jesus thought I would be a good idea to do it with a Middle Eastern accent, the only flaw in that plan was that he sounded like he was from India and was more Apu than A Jew.

Yet I digress, the reason my heart called me to write was during service we had a moment were our community washed each other’s feet. A remembrance of the moment Christ knelt before his disciples and in the second greatest act of humility was a servant. Showing the world that, though he was the king of kings and lord of lords, he must serve before all the world. My heart yearns to do exactly as Christ asks me, but I don’t always remember that.

So as I was preparing to serve someone by washing their feet a little hand grabbed mine.  A blond haired pastors daughter looked up at me and smiled. I gestured towards the chair and said, “Would you like to have a seat?” She shrugged her shoulders and hopped into the chair with a thud. As I knelt on one knee and slowly poured the warm water over her tiny feet I felt my heart jump. I living the life God called me to through the gifts he gave me. This moment was perfect. I am called to serve the youth of my congregation and the world. In this moment I felt complete, I felt whole. When God has strengthened you with gifts, no one can feel complete or whole  until you actively use those gifts to better the world.

That wasn't even the best part. After taking the beige towel and drying her little feet something unexpected happened. She jumped up out of the chair with a big toothy smile and said, “your turn”.  I have to admit I was caught off guard. I wasn't expecting these little tiny hands that gripped mine only moments ago to attempt to lift my giant, pro basketball-esk, feet and pour water over them. Yet that is exactly what happened. I sat in the chair watching these tiny hands lift me up and wash the feet of the one who thought he was called to serve. It is a very powerful moment when a servant is treated like a king by those whom they love and adore. The moment hit me in the chest like a cinder-block.

So here I stand, simply at the foot of the cross. Remembering the King, who washed the feet of those whom he loved. I can only imagine what must have been going through the hearts of those who were being served in such a humble way, by the lord our God. There are very few things in this world that can change a heart. A sunrise upon a mountain top, finding forgiveness for a grieves offence, but of all the moments of this world. Finding one who is King, whom is worshiped, looked up to, idolized, powerful, and willing to kneel before others, is the most powerful person on the planet. Christ is the standard to which we attempt to live a full life. If this is truly a calling then we are all called to serve, to give of ourselves to the world that may not thank us, may not accept us, or even respect us. In turn we also have to allow ourselves the humility to let others serve us. When our feet are dirty, when our heart is breaking, when our will power is not enough, allow the lord and his servants help. Allow yourself to need someone else. It is not weakness to be served, it is weakness to deny that you need help. So when I saw those little hands lift my feet I was reminded that no hand is too small to serve and no person is too big to be humbled. 

The Facebook Privacy Delusion

So I have noticed a trend on facebook lately that has mostly gone unnoticed by myself until a conversation with a concerned mother. The fear I see running around facebook and through the heads of many parents is, “My privacy is ultimately important and I don’t want anyone seeing my facebook pictures, updates, ect. That I don’t know, and somehow using those against me at work, church, ect.” I have seen updates saying please switch your privacy settings, and please don’t like or comment on my statuses because I don’t want other peoples friends to see them. Well after the onslaught of these things I have come to a very important conclusion.

PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU!  (Pardon my French)

Listen, If you find yourself worrying that one of your friends, friends, friends might see a picture of yours or an update you put on facebook and that might embarrass you, then you need to re-evaluate your ENTIRE LIFE. If you are putting something onto facebook that you would be ashamed if someone you didn’t know would read or see, then it is something you should be ashamed you did or said in the first place. Also, if you have an EGO that is so large that you believe complete strangers or “friends of friends” really care about you, your picture, your life moments, you are WRONG. I have seen in my feed people I don’t know because my friends are tagged in their pictures. Like most of you I see my friend, say “that’s nice” and move on without a second look at anyone else in the picture. I am sorry to burst your bubble but unless it is your friend, no one cares about what you look like or have to say. You need a big cup of Humility and a second helping of humble pie.

MORE IMPORTANTLY…

I am an Evangelical Christian. I believe my life should be a testament to my faith and my God. There for I would want the whole world to see my updates and my photos. I don’t care who likes, comments, shares, or tolls my postings. The more recognition the better. If I spur conversation about the validity of creationism v. evolution v. inelegant design I am doing something right. If I am presenting the message of Christ which is love your God and love your neighbor, I am doing something right. It was St. Francis of Assisi who said preach the gospel at all times and use words only when necessary. Since facebook is mostly words I think we could amend it to say Facebook the Gospel at all times and use verses when necessary.

That is what we are called to. Using any means to preach the gospel. Facebook is an amazing way to show how the gospel is alive and life changing. So for me the idea that “anyone can get to my updates or pictures” isn’t really inciting fear but opportunity. It is a way to show how my personal relationship with Jesus Christ has changed who I am in a very real way. I have heard “what if you’re a role model for young kids and there are pictures of you smoking and drinking”… Well I am a role model for kids, and If you look back in my facebook, which you are free to do, you will see in the past I have picture of my socially drinking with large groups of people, the hip would call it a party. How can I justify trying to be a “role model” and be ok with pictures of DRINKING! Because I am not a hypocritical tool box who thinks the only way to help kids is to show a holier than thou life style. I will give you a minute get some water for that burn, it’s cool I’ll wait!

In those pictures I was 21, in a social setting, and drinking responsibly. Three things I would hope to instill in my kids. Knowing there is a time to party and celebrate, but God calls us to lives of moderation. Moderation in drinking, moderation in language, moderation in everything except love. So instead of asking who can see your facebook, maybe you should be saying what am I saying with facebook. Once our hearts are turned to what we are saying, that questions changes. It changes to I wonder who else can see my facebook? Or Who else can gain from my facebook?

So here I stand, on the wrong side of the cross wondering if I am shouting God’s word loud enough. Am I a big enough mirror shining light into the darkness? Am I a bright enough candle flickering against the imposing and overwhelming shadow? If I can take anything away from peoples fear about who can see their facebook information it I would be this. First, Less people want to know about you than you think. Second, Maybe you should refocus what you are putting into the world as life giving so that people should care about what you say and do. Finally, If we are truly living the life God calls us to then we should not be afraid of someone finding out who we used to be, because the person we are now is a reflection of Christ in the world, and that should not be hidden like candle under a basket but put on a stool to give light to the whole room. Mathew 5: 14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;15nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.16“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Why does God let bad things happen?

I took some time after the tragedy in Connecticut before wanting to write something about it. Now that my heart has had time to calm and refocus on the truly important I found a couple incredible voices poking through the fog of anger and hostility.

The voices I heard were that of anger, and more specify anger towards “why would God let this happen”? This question has always troubled me. I feel that it has become a scapegoat to the real problem in the world. Humans are predisposed with the urge to be evil. If you think that isn't true than I am sorry to say you are wrong. People are born with the animalistic nature to survive and in that desire comes the ability to do unthinkable evil for self preservation. Yet it is because of society and, in my opinion, religion that we have gained an understanding that we can grow as a community through positive means and collaboration. Unfortunately because this evil still remains in humans it (the evil) sometimes gets the better of our weaker citizens. And yes I do mean weaker; weaker mentally, weaker physically, weaker emotionally. And because this evil can take over they make the choice to give into this evil inside them. It is this choice that makes the shadows cover our world. It is this choice that makes horror, fear, and sadness sweep across nation. God doesn't let things happen. We are not this Sims where God starts a kitchen fire and deletes the door. God has created us with free will for the purpose of not being in control. If God was in control then our Worship would be irrelevant. It would be the dull tones of a compliant robot. We, as humans, have free will and because of that our evil hurts the world.

Yet in the same stroke when people choice evil it makes, even more so, the choice to be heroic and good shine brighter; the teachers who bravely stood between evil and the innocent, the first responders who ran towards the sound of malevolence, and the out pour of prayers and concern for those who have paid the ultimate cost.

We, as humans, have been given the ultimate weapon. Choice. People then have the challenge of seeing and making the right choices. God doesn't let bad things happen, God simply watches bad things happen with hurt on his heart, just like the rest of us. If you ever ask “why does God let bad things happen?” please take a moment and ask yourself “Why do I let bad things happen?” the answer is the same.  Because you do not control the actions of anyone but yourself.

Having said that do I believe that God tried to put people in the way of this terror? Yes. Was there an attempt to sway the heart of that young man? Yes. Did God put into place everything to change the choice this young man made? Yes. Do I believe God wants the power to change the world with his cosmic powers? NO. God doesn't want to change the world God wants Us to make the choices that change the world. He controlled everything long before we were ever here. To be honest, I think with that kind of control and understanding he could see everything that was going to happen. With humans and the insertion of free will the foresight was gone. After careful consideration I don’t think God can see past decisions not yet made. Much like in the matrix, no one can see past a decision they don’t understand.

So here I stand on the wrong side of the cross asking does God let bad things happen? Yes, because he doesn't control those who choose evil. Yet the more uplifting thought should be that when evil/darkness/gnashing of teeth comes to the world is when good/Light/comfort are reveled to not only be in greater multitude but has greater impact. Yes bad things happen, but you can’t enjoy the sunny days without the understanding of the rainy days.

May God Bless you and your family this holiday season. Hug the ones you love that much closer as winter drapes over our land. Smile a little more as darkness seams to linger a little longer this winter solstice. Love a little bit easier as there seems to be more anger in the world. Live like today is the most important day you have, because we don’t know when today will be our last.