A TIME FOR NEW BEGINNING

You haven’t heard from me in a while. For a handful of you, that may have been disappointing. Many may not even have noticed that it’s been six months of silence. You have priorities. I understand that reading what one individual thinks about things is not at the top of that list.

However, for those who were used to reading what I wrote and might still desire to do so, we’re back. This brand new website is still being constructed, but it’s at the point where we can begin adding content. So, I say it again – We’re back.

Perhaps many who used to read these weekly essays by now have stopped looking for them. I hope somehow they will relocate me. If you’re reading this, then clearly you already have. So, let me ask a favor of you: If whatever I write helps you now and then, or if it stimulates you to give serious thought to a variety of ideas, then tell somebody else. Or, post it online. A new community will begin to grow.

We are midway through the season of Advent. Shops and malls are filled with folks paying money they don’t always have for gifts others don’t always need. But, let’s not allow that to cause us to devalue Christmas shopping. That’s because each purchase is more than a present. It’s a symbol. If you’re the receiver, the tie or apron or book or CD or tin of Moravian sugar cake you were given says that you matter to someone, and that is a gift that transcends whatever you found in the package. 

I looked at Billboard’s Hot 100 records chart last week. “And what to my wondering eyes should appear” than names like Perry Como, Brenda Lee, Bing Crosby, Darlene Love, Burl Ives, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and a host of other oldies singing Christmas songs and carols – music of hope and happiness. For the most part (if you ignore X, Tribel, and Linked In for a while), people have risen above our election season hatefulness and are being kind and cordial again, at least for a month. There’s something decent and lovely in the air.

Church attendance is on the rise. So is charitable giving. So are get-togethers with families and friends. (Admittedly, gluttony is on the rise, as well, but we can talk about New Year’s resolutions to diet and exercise when January rolls around.) Decorations and cards and smiling faces and warm best wishes make us think Andy Williams was right when he sang It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It certainly is a time of the year when life begins to resemble what we wish it would look like for the other eleven months.

So, what better time for you and me to resume our online friendship than now – the end of a year that inherently brings a chance for new beginnings?

For those who used to read my blogs, you recall that I closed every one with the phrase “Give it some thought.” I’ve missed writing these. I’ve missed you. Give that some thought.