"Let's enjoy all the good things of life now. Let's enjoy creation to the fullest as we did in our youth." Wis.2:6
What a beautiful Christmas reflection this passage is! Taking us back to our childhood years, we can dream about the ornaments carefully placed on the tree with each having a memory. We were not afraid to sing all the Christmas carols, no matter how off key, among our group of friends. We made cards for the family, never replacing “Christ” with an “X.” Never would we miss hearing the holiday bell ringers, playing every Christmas song, listening to them in awe, those hollowed, silent, bells making glorious sounds. Waking up to the glistening snow, we would warmly bundle up to run outside and make snow angels. As we moved our legs and arms in formation and our faces upwards, the continued snowflakes fell upon us. Our eyes and mouths open, we would scream with joy as the cold snow hit our eyelashes and tongues. We would come in with frozen red cheeks, laughing, being greeted with cups of hot chocolate topped with mini-marshmallows, our parents pulling off our coats, boots and hats as we sipped, cookies on the table waiting for us. Waiting, as we are for the birth of the Christ child, thanking God for all of life He has given us!
~Marie T. Morrison~
(CEB-http:CommonEnglishBible.com)-Bible Passage
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
WHAT TO SEEK
"Scatter your seed in the morning,and in the evening don't be idle because you don't know which will succeed, this one or that, or whether both will be equally good.
Sweet is the light,and it's pleasant for the eyes of the sun. Even those who live many years should take pleasure in them all." Ecclesiastes 11:6-8
I am a person wanting to see the positive in everything. It is hard to find it in some situations, but it is there. Turning to God and the angels can help me seek the goodness. That lost seed can turn into something bountiful, bringing fruit to many.
During Advent, I reflect and pray on the goodness of each of my brethren. I am also doing my best to only speak of the goodness of those I know.
~Marie T. Morrison~
Sweet is the light,and it's pleasant for the eyes of the sun. Even those who live many years should take pleasure in them all." Ecclesiastes 11:6-8
I am a person wanting to see the positive in everything. It is hard to find it in some situations, but it is there. Turning to God and the angels can help me seek the goodness. That lost seed can turn into something bountiful, bringing fruit to many.
During Advent, I reflect and pray on the goodness of each of my brethren. I am also doing my best to only speak of the goodness of those I know.
~Marie T. Morrison~
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
THE SHARING
"Among all things, who hasn't known that the LORD's hand did this, In whose grasp is the life of everything, the breath of every person?" Job 12:9-10
Job continues to be an inspiration on what faith is about. No matter how tough life got, he looked at life as something given to him by the Lord's hand. In his own pain, he knows that without God, there would be no air. Without the air, we cannot breathe in God's glory. Without His glory, there could be no excitement and anticipation of His Son birth, bringing a new beginning to the world. Because of His Son's later pain and sacrifice, mankind was saved. Mankind offers us the sharing of God's faith, love, peace, grace, joy and mercy, now and forever.
~Marie T. Morrison~
Job continues to be an inspiration on what faith is about. No matter how tough life got, he looked at life as something given to him by the Lord's hand. In his own pain, he knows that without God, there would be no air. Without the air, we cannot breathe in God's glory. Without His glory, there could be no excitement and anticipation of His Son birth, bringing a new beginning to the world. Because of His Son's later pain and sacrifice, mankind was saved. Mankind offers us the sharing of God's faith, love, peace, grace, joy and mercy, now and forever.
~Marie T. Morrison~
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
FORGIVING THE IN-LAW
FORGIVING THE IN-LAW
ADVENT is to be a time to practice forgiveness. Of course, it is something we should always be doing, but with the upcoming birth of our Christ child, it is a great time to start anew on relationships in our own lives.
Relationships with our own relations can be the hardest to forgive. With former friends, we tend to walk away and erase those people from our lives. The hurt is there, but not seeing them anymore eases the pain. A relative is another matter. There is the constant reminder that happens when family is involved. Take an in-law, for example. More specifically, take the mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law and I did not get along. First, there were the problems in how she raised her son. Of course, I was too blind to see that he was old enough to make his own choices by the time he married me, but I blamed her anyway. In return, she was upset that I did not pamper her son in the way a mother of her generation saw befitting.
That was the only beginning of a rough time, continuing for over twenty years. My cooking was horrendous, the house was not clean enough, my discipline of the children should be more on the spoiling end. In my eyes, all she did was paint her nails, spend her time at the beauty parlor and undo any discipline I had instilled in her grandchildren. Conversations were such a stretch that my eyes would literally be watering, with nothing to say.
Throughout this time, I was always the devout Christian, going to Church weekly, teaching religion classes and talking about what was in the Bible to different groups. I prayed daily, had endless conversations with God and had many calling me a spiritual person, an inspiration. In the back of my mind, though, I had a big, dark, problem; my mother-in-law. Here I was, being quite pious, but not so with a person who had given birth to my husband and was the grandmother of my children. I said “The Lord’s Prayer” daily, about forgiving others, yet I was going against these very words. Basically, I was a fraud.
I knew I had to change this. What could I do? Dialing her phone number, I rang her up to say hello. She was suspicious, a tone of questioning in her voice why I was calling; I would be too, if she had called me out of the blue. It was a short, but polite visit. I called her again the next day. Again, there was a bit of doubt in her voice. I remained friendly, telling her something about one of her grandchildren. I called the next, the day after that, and the day after that. Soon, the visits lengthened in time. Maybe we were on the phone forty-five minutes, maybe longer; we would lose complete track of time. Her daughters would tell me if they were over visiting and the phone rang, she would call out, “If that is Marie, give me the phone! Anyone else, say I am not here!” They were ignored as we visited away.
Two years later, she became very ill, unable to visit as before while in the hospital. She never returned home. Before she passed, she handed me her beautiful ring, wanting me to wear it. Overcome with emotion, I said it needed to go to her daughters. They all said no, I was to have it, that is what she wanted. I wear it thinking of our good visits in those years we did have together, not dwelling on the wasted time of the past.
I miss her so, especially this time of year, a season she loved. As I write this, I have a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes. This is the time of day I usually picked up the phone for our afternoon visit, where we would talk about anything and everything.
We did not have to say “I forgive you.” We knew it. Our words and love for one another said it all.
~Marie T. Morrison~
ADVENT is to be a time to practice forgiveness. Of course, it is something we should always be doing, but with the upcoming birth of our Christ child, it is a great time to start anew on relationships in our own lives.
Relationships with our own relations can be the hardest to forgive. With former friends, we tend to walk away and erase those people from our lives. The hurt is there, but not seeing them anymore eases the pain. A relative is another matter. There is the constant reminder that happens when family is involved. Take an in-law, for example. More specifically, take the mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law and I did not get along. First, there were the problems in how she raised her son. Of course, I was too blind to see that he was old enough to make his own choices by the time he married me, but I blamed her anyway. In return, she was upset that I did not pamper her son in the way a mother of her generation saw befitting.
That was the only beginning of a rough time, continuing for over twenty years. My cooking was horrendous, the house was not clean enough, my discipline of the children should be more on the spoiling end. In my eyes, all she did was paint her nails, spend her time at the beauty parlor and undo any discipline I had instilled in her grandchildren. Conversations were such a stretch that my eyes would literally be watering, with nothing to say.
Throughout this time, I was always the devout Christian, going to Church weekly, teaching religion classes and talking about what was in the Bible to different groups. I prayed daily, had endless conversations with God and had many calling me a spiritual person, an inspiration. In the back of my mind, though, I had a big, dark, problem; my mother-in-law. Here I was, being quite pious, but not so with a person who had given birth to my husband and was the grandmother of my children. I said “The Lord’s Prayer” daily, about forgiving others, yet I was going against these very words. Basically, I was a fraud.
I knew I had to change this. What could I do? Dialing her phone number, I rang her up to say hello. She was suspicious, a tone of questioning in her voice why I was calling; I would be too, if she had called me out of the blue. It was a short, but polite visit. I called her again the next day. Again, there was a bit of doubt in her voice. I remained friendly, telling her something about one of her grandchildren. I called the next, the day after that, and the day after that. Soon, the visits lengthened in time. Maybe we were on the phone forty-five minutes, maybe longer; we would lose complete track of time. Her daughters would tell me if they were over visiting and the phone rang, she would call out, “If that is Marie, give me the phone! Anyone else, say I am not here!” They were ignored as we visited away.
Two years later, she became very ill, unable to visit as before while in the hospital. She never returned home. Before she passed, she handed me her beautiful ring, wanting me to wear it. Overcome with emotion, I said it needed to go to her daughters. They all said no, I was to have it, that is what she wanted. I wear it thinking of our good visits in those years we did have together, not dwelling on the wasted time of the past.
I miss her so, especially this time of year, a season she loved. As I write this, I have a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes. This is the time of day I usually picked up the phone for our afternoon visit, where we would talk about anything and everything.
We did not have to say “I forgive you.” We knew it. Our words and love for one another said it all.
~Marie T. Morrison~
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