[Oe List ...] For Christmas Eve

[Nancy Lanphear]

I remember several years ago, I was finding angel figurines at thrift store
and bringing them home.  Some were brass,some wood, others glass, some were
candle holders, some just stand alone.  The theme of Christmas time for me
that year was, "Fear not", or "don't be afraid".  I thank you, Suzii Paynter
for bringing that theme forward this year.  It could be a mantra that helps
us to continue to hold the faith in these difficult times.

In community,

Nancy

2010/12/24 George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net>

> We got this Christmas letter from a Baptist preacher's wife, Suzii Paynter,
> who is the Director of the Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission, and
> with whom Wanda has worked for several years, and it struck me as something
> worth passing on.
>
>   "The most common greeting of the first Christmas was not 'Merry
> Christmas' it was 'Don't be afraid!' It took real courage and perseverance
> to be at the manger - Mary's courage, Joseph's commitment to Mary, the
> awestruck obedience of shepherds and the politically threatening courage of
> the Magi to rebuke Herod.  The gift of God's son to a hostile and dangerous
> world is a story full of risk and adventurous obedience.
>   Christmas means turning the world order on its head through love.  Jesus,
> echoing Isaiah, said of his own mission, that he had been 'anointed to
> preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach
> deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at
> liberty them that are bruised." (Luke 4 & Isaiah61)
>
> From Mowanjum to Kawangware, and all the place in between, Merry
> Christmas.
>
>
> George Holcombe
> 14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
> Austin, TX 78728
> Mobile 512/252-2756
> geowanda at earthlink.net
>
> ‎“...we have the choice: we can gratefully cultivate the relationships that
> make us part of a vast network, or we can take them for granted and allow
> them to wither and die.”  Brother David Steindl-Rast, Deeper than Words
>
>
>
>
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>
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