Leftovers

The meals associated with holiday celebrations traditionally have leftovers. Leftovers may consist of anything... turkey, ham, dressing, veggies or perhaps Aunt Bethany's cat food salad. Turkey carcasses yield the bits of turkey close to the bones. The unenviable task of separating edible meat from the bones usually falls to the cook. These deft fingers pull off small pieces of turkey that become the basis for soups, salads, and hashes cleverly disguised to hide the fact that they were presented as the main course of a feast that happened a day or so ago. Ham bones become seasoning for a plethora of similar dishes. The experienced cook finds a use for just about all of the meat. The veggies, breads, and "special recipes" that were presented with fanfare at the celebration meal become suitable side dishes for the rerun. There always seems to be an abundance of leftover desserts. We are a society addicted to sugar and holidays are a chance to feed the addiction. The most memorable part of a holiday meal is the desserts whose recipes have been passed from generation to generation.

In addition to the edible leftovers there are some unpalatable leftovers. A hurtful remark, a senseless argument or a verbal slap seem to find their way into our pile of leftovers. Certainly there are pleasant memories that bring laughter and stories of "funny" things that happened that produce guffaws and belly laughs. What we never know is when the laughter at someone's expense becomes ridicule or an affront. Issues of self-esteem may become tantamount to the laughter and inner feelings may be adversely affected. These become the unpalatable leftovers that we "burp" again and again. In solitude they may become our demons. We can take a slight to unfathomable depths, they become so pronounced that they affect us for months, perhaps years. A precursory look at a smiling face may never uncover the scars of past remarks. An uncomfortable chuckle may be eclipsed by the raucous howls of the group. These leftovers have long ago become tasteless and unappealing.

Lord, how can we deal with these unpalatable leftovers? How can we lessen the sting of thoughtless remarks? How do we cope when memories become unbearable? Jesus, In Matthew 44, says, "but what I tell you is this, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, only so you can be children of your Heavenly Father, who causes rain on the innocent and the wicked".
Have a forgiving heart. Love one another. Love God. Be grateful.

Gifts

Have you noticed the relative importance of gifts in our society? Has the quest for gifts come down to, "I just don't know what to buy for you". For the next few days there will be a frantic effort to find the perfect gift for someone special or someone not so special to whom we feel obligated to give a gift. The retail establishment is built largely on this frantic search. The advertising agencies make products glow with appeal for the gift giver and receiver. We have decided that without that special gift we cannot possibly be happy. Credit cards have allowed people who couldn't afford "have-to-have luxuries" to be able to purchase them and spend their hard earned sustenance dollars paying for that special gift for months or years. Children have developed techniques to get the gift they want. The technique quickly grows very tiresome when it extends beyond one gift to an everyday tirade in every store. Sadly we live in a world of excess whereby we want all that the world has to offer and we obsess over the "newest gotta-have thing". We have assessed a personal worth to the gifts we give and receive. Having to give something special to show "how much we love a person" is a bit absurd yet the mindset is common. If we give and receive gifts using this mindset has anyone ever loved you that much? Has any gift made you so utterly happy that you always remember it as the perfect gift? O. Henry in his short story, Gift of the Magi, has a unique take on gift giving and love whereby a young couple are in a quandary to be able to afford what they consider the "perfect" gift for one another.
Perhaps that's where it all started; Magi, the wise men, came bearing exotic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for the baby Jesus. They came to pay homage to the Christ child. In Matthew 2:11, Today there has been born to you in the city of David a deliverer-the Messiah, the Lord."; God provided the "perfect" Gift, a Gift that can never be equaled. In relative terms this Gift is truly unforgettable. Although we try to obscure the true meaning of Christmas with the mindset of gift giving and all that it entails; the truth cannot be obscured. We celebrate Christmas to honor the "perfect gift", Jesus Christ our Saviour. Christmas is all about Love, the simplicity of Love, our greatest gift to one another should be Love. This Christmas have a grateful heart for the best Gift of all, Jesus Christ.

A certain look of sadness

Have you noticed that there is a certain look of sadness that has pervaded the sea of faces that we experience? Have you noticed how difficult it is to coax a smile from folks these days? Where has our happiness gone? Especially at Christmas where joy reigns. The music brings us joy. The 'magic" brings us joy. Has our daily life consumed our feelings of joy? Hard questions for a hard world.
Comedians are hard pressed to bring raucous laughter to a world in need of a good laugh. Many resort to jokes laced with distasteful inferences and verbal assaults on our civility to get a laugh. Others attempt to lessen the burdens of daily woes by pointing out the absurdities. Even smiles are not forthcoming because we perceive we have nothing to smile about in our day to day lives.

We are well into the celebration of Christmas. A celebration that brings joy to the world. The simplicity of the celebration has been lost to the materialistic world in which we live. We are bombarded by the stress of gift giving. The joy of Christmas is knowing that we have a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. The joy of Christmas is knowing that it is all about Love. God's supreme Love for mankind that sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to save us from it.

Can you conjure a memory of the joys of Christmas that is special to you? Can you remember a special feeling of joy that made you tingle with excitement and anticipation? If you can that should make you smile. Are there Christmas songs that "get stuck in your head" and you find yourself humming, whistling or singing? That should make you smile. When you think of the true meaning of Christmas, that should certainly make you smile!

When we love God, we smile. When we love one another, we smile. Have a grateful heart! Try to overcome that certain look of sadness, SMILE!!

Smile

It is as true honor to be called upon to offer a Children's Sermon during the church service. This tradition of providing a segue from the formal church service to the less formal and more entertaining Children's Church has come into prominence in many churches. The subject matter must be sufficient to hold the interest of children of all ages as well as the congregation. It can be tied to the sermon or lectionary or it can simply be inspired by God. One of the sermons was based loosely on a small mirrored picture that inspired the following:

Good Morning! Who here likes to go to Grandma's house? Here's a memory of going to my Grandma's house. In her bedroom hung a small mirrored plaque or picture on the wall. Inscribed on the mirror was a short poem by an anonymous author. It said:

Smile

The world is like a mirror
reflecting what we do.
And if you face it smiling
it smiles right back at you.

So what do you think this little poem means? (Hopefully a response or two) That's absolutely right, when we smile at someone or a group you will see them smiling right back at you. Let's try it! Everyone stand up and face the congregation. Now let's see your best smile. (The variety of smiles should be enough to elicit the proper response) See, it appears the little poem is right, looks like the congregation, our world is smiling right back at you!! Thanks, you can be seated again. What do you think would happen if we made it a special point to smile at someone as often as we could? Do you think that we could get the world to smile right back at us? Let's try it this week. Every time you get the chance let's smile. When you're looking out the window at the car next to you in traffic. When you're passing people in the hall at school. When you catch Mom or Dad looking at you. As many times as you can, put on a great big smile just like we did this morning. We can try to get our world to reflect what we do by smiling. God loves it when you smile. It shows that you love one another. It tells Him that you are joyful. So let's try our joyful smiles this week. When you come back next week, we'll talk about how it worked. Let's pray.

The best part of the Children's Sermon was the smiles of the children. Some were missing front teeth, some smiles were very distinct, some smiles were very sweet. The congregation couldn't help but smile because these were our very best smiles. God makes us all smile. A smile is a depiction of our internal joy and happiness. Never let a day go by without a smile. Have a grateful heart for God loves you. Show that you love one another. Smile!!

Church Memories

We all have memories of Sunday School and church from our youth. These are the happy times that bring you back to church. Many of us go to church every time the door opens when we are young. Sunday School, church services, choir practice, youth fellowship are a few of the reasons that we frequent the church as we are growing up. Then comes that time when we leave home to attend college or begin a career and we seldom darken the door of a church. As life would have it, we marry and children come along; we feel compelled to give them proper exposure to the church. If our experiences at church have been positive and long lasting, we will seek that same experience for our kids. Often it may not be forthcoming but we seem to get around to it, God is very patient.
Take time to recapture those early experiences of Sunday School and church. A great memory was the felt storyboard in the Primary Department at Sunday School. The story of Joseph and his coat of many colors was especially poignant in that it afforded the opportunity to dress Joseph in his coat. The narrative of the story layered the storyboard with Joseph's brothers, some sheep, a palm tree or two, Joseph and finally his coat. Songs were sung about Zacchaeus, a wee little man who climbed a tree to see Jesus and a climb up Sunshine Mountain faces all aglow topped off the class.
Dad was an elder in the church and responsible for preparation of the sacraments for the Lord's Supper. We went into the church kitchen early on Sunday morning to prepare. The tiny glasses (real glass) had to be checked for chips and cleaned. The loaves of white bread had to have the crusts cut off and sliced into individual cubes and placed on the silver plates. The grape juice was squeezed from a plastic bottle with a long tip into the tiny glasses and placed in the silver racks. A chalice was also prepared and a small loaf of bread placed on an individual silver plate. When all was ready it was transported to the sanctuary. The altar table was covered with a white linen tablecloth and the silver plates and racks were also covered with a tablecloth. Taking communion now has a double remembrance.
Children's church was convened in the basement gym of the church. Traumatic memories of a candlelight procession emerge; the procession required lit candles held in a foil protector. The flame of the candle was mesmerizing and hairspray was quite flammable. Lit candles and combustible hairspray were not a safe combination and as the procession made it way up the aisle, a candle got too close to a little girl's hair and it flamed up momentarily; a nearby teacher smothered the flaming hair. There's just something about the odor of burning hair...
Family night suppers were always a fun fellowship especially with all the great covered dishes. If memory serves there were certain dishes that appeared at each supper that were tried and true gourmet delights for a 10 year old. There was a special meatloaf, some very tasty baked beans, potato salad and a great chocolate cake. The entertainment for the suppers were varied but Ed the Magician was a favorite that drew large numbers of young participants.
Sunday night youth fellowship usually included a rousing romp of Capture the Flag in the city park across the street. The skittles game and ping pong were always fun. The tasty fare of Sloppy Joes, chili or hot dogs was always welcome. At Christmas, the youth made bus trips to sing Christmas caroles in local rest homes. the trip was usually accompanied by raucous laughter en route from one facility to another. Shouts of "We are the Presbyterian kids, that's our name too; Whenever we go out, the people always shout,'There go the Presbyterian kids!'" could be heard.
Friday afternoon choir practice was necessary for the children's choir. It was fun and seldom very difficult. The choir's accompanist had a special way of applying lipstick above her lip that formed lasting memories.
Sunday mornings were chaotic at times. Often the latecomers were relegated to the balcony. This was not always the best alternative as it was not carpeted and the click-clack of little patent leather shoes was disruptive. In the event you happened to be seated near the front of the sanctuary there were hand receivers for the hearing-impaired that provided a diversion for youngsters.
The stained glass windows and the huge murals of Jesus the Shepard and Jesus at the Well were a lovely focal point while little minds wandered. Watching choir members mouth instructions to their children was also entertaining.
All these memories made a wonderful reminder of the church and God. Along with the faint odor of Murphy's Oil Soap these became indelible mental images of the good times spent in the presence of God. Have a grateful heart for precious memories. Love God. Love one another.