December 30, 2014 · 10:35 am

Ringing in the New Year

The world has changed a lot since I was a kid. It’s the new year, and specifically “New Years” that makes me think of this. A family tradition of several years running in my growing up days was to attend the New Year’s Eve Watch Service at church. What’s that? It’s where you gather with folks at church to “watch” the new year come in.

Our celebrations were often filled with food, games and conversation in the church basement. I faintly remember one year when Father Time and Baby New Year made an appearance in some kind of dramatic presentation. I think this was imprinted on me as some adult relative played the part of Baby New Year, clad in nothing but a cloth diaper!

As the hands on the clock crept ever closer to midnight Continue reading →

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December 19, 2014 · 4:17 pm

The Electric Color Wheel Christmas Tree

The Electric Color Wheel Christmas Tree

When I was a kid Christmas night meant a trip to my maternal Grandpa’s home for the Cunningham Christmas. A day that usually began well before the sun came up was extended to well after dusk with food, games and gifts as relatives gathered in the farmhouse Grandpa called home.

I had been in this house many times and often our visits took place in the combination dining and living room. Grandpa dwelt there, where his easy chair sat; the television on the opposite wall, a dining table to one side, with a stairway to the upper floor tucked away in the room’s corner. It was in this space that we visited, ate, and shared time with Grandpa – here, and outdoors on the farm itself. But not on Christmas! No, on Christmas we were fancy. This meant we went into the home’s front room, a room largely unknown to my siblings, cousins and I, and gathered round Grandpa’s spectacular aluminum Christmas tree. Continue reading →

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December 4, 2014 · 2:08 pm

Lo, Woe, Go . . . a Response of Advent

During these early days of Advent, as Thanksgiving has given way to Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, ushering in the secular season of sales and anxious economic forecasts; one is left to ponder another response. Rather than unleash the credit or debit card, joining the throngs of holiday consumers, why not recover a little of the spiritual side of the season?

This season of waiting, expecting and hoping is pregnant with promise. It draws us to the nativity story and its fascinating cast of characters. Among them we find the shepherds, the true working men of this tale. They, like the other characters, have a story to tell, and a particular angle from which to tell it. Do you remember the shepherds? These character actors are discovered in Luke 2 between verses 8 and 20. A description of their brief foray unto the Nativity stage might be summarized in the words “lo”, “woe” and “go”.

Having drawn our attention to these shepherds abiding, Luke, Continue reading →

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November 22, 2014 · 2:24 pm

It’s not Thanksgiving without . . .

So what’s your Thanksgiving dinner “must have”? What do you look forward to more than any other menu item in your annual Thanksgiving feast? Turkey? Dressing? Ham? Sweet potatoes? What leaves you saying, “It just isn’t Thanksgiving without . . .”?

I’ve used that question as a conversation starter with folks before. It helps if you are in the season of Thanksgiving. They don’t look at you quite as perplexed as they would in the middle of July. I like the question because 1) it makes people think (usually about something that makes them smile), and 2) it often produces not just an answer but a story. As in, “this is my favorite Thanksgiving food, and let me tell you why.” Sure to follow are tales of Grandma’s favorite recipe for a cherished dish, or a family tradition of feasting that goes back generations. Continue reading →

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November 19, 2014 · 4:37 pm

Contentment

Ask an average group of people what it would take, financially or materially, for them to feel content and you are likely to get a wide range of answers. Some would probably indicate a salary figure or set of material assets that is somewhat beyond their current reality. Bigger house, larger paycheck, better benefits = contentment. Others might talk in terms of paying off debt or having a steady job. Still others might be in a place where they are able to say, “I am content. I want for nothing.” The point is that financial contentment is a very subjective thing, often defined by personal circumstances and histories.

When my wife and I were first married we were poor college students. Continue reading →

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