Eric Suddoth's Blog, page 26

Merry & Bright – It’s Not Always

I hope each and every one of you have had a very Merry Christmas. But I know there are some of you who have struggled emotionally, physically and financially. This may have been the worst Christmas in your memory and I am truly sorry.

I wish I could strip away the pain that has left you Sorrowful and Dark this holiday and let you experience the Merry and Bright.

In the last month I have been reading many Christmas Carols and I have noticed that many of them had a depressing tone. We don’t always hear the sadness in the lyrics when we are singing the carols with the radio and many renditions do not include all the lines.

If you are grieving this Christmas, you are not alone.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day sings, “And in despair I bowed my head.”

If you are in despair, you are not alone. Sometimes you need a good cry. But you are not crying alone. You may be crying in your pillow of an empty bed wanting a body beside you. You may be weeping watching a love one suffer or thinking of someone who has passed. You may be wondering what the next day has in store and where your next meal will be from.

But you are not alone. No matter how alone you feel, God is with you.

That is the glorious news of Christmas that Christ is with us.

He is with us in the gloomy December’s, in the tear drenched nights, in the hauntingly silent nights. He is with us.

He doesn’t pick and choose when to make an appearance. He doesn’t look at a naughty list. He doesn’t give lumps of coal for bad decisions. He offers grace, mercy, compassion, forgiveness and love.

I wish I could put a smile on everyone’s face, but I have learned that it is okay to cry. Sometimes when you are at your lowest, you can feel God the most.

I hope you feel Him because He is with you now.

So during this season of peace on earth, I hope you do find some peace in the arms of a God who loves you.

Peace

Christmas Is a Coming

Christmas is just a few days away. It is coming whether you are ready or not. This has been a rough year with everything, but you can still make this the best Christmas ever.

You just have to decide that it’s going to be the best.

Self-fulfilling prophecies…it’s not that you are a psychic, but if you tend to think something is going to be bad – it’s going to end up being bad. It’s a fact.

Think of first impressions. It is said that you judge someone after just 10 seconds and that will determine if you will pursue a friendship, offer a job, take their medical advice or see wedding bells in your future.

It is not your first 10 seconds is wrong, but once you made up your mind, it is so hard to change it.

How many times have you said you don’t like a certain food and then try it later to find out that it’s not bad after all?

Many people will not give it another chance even years later, but taste buds change, the recipe you had years ago may have been awful, you might have gotten a rotten apple.

I used to hate cream cheese. I couldn’t stand the thought of cheese cake. And seeing people eat the slice made me curl my nose up in disgust.

But after years of saying I didn’t like it, it tried it again with lots of caramel and chocolate and I found out that I could actually swallow a bite. It’s not something I want to eat often. But if I cover it with enough Oreos, I can eat a dozen Oreo balls without thinking there is cream cheese in it.

My mom would try to fool me years ago. She would make a cake or side dish and ask me, “How does it taste?”

Sometimes I would say, “There is something funny about it.”

Then she would tell me, “There’s cream cheese in it.”

But then she found a few recipes that had so much sweetness that I couldn’t taste the cream cheese. I think she started to look for recipes just to test me. But now I can eat her peanut butter pie with cream cheese.

You may wonder, what is the point?

The point is, I used to think cream cheese was from the devil and I would never touch it. But now I’ve realized that if I eat it with other sweet items it’s not that bad.

The same with 2020. You might think this year has been horrible, but try to mix in a few sweet spots in with the drama. The moments of gathering around the dinner table like a picture perfect family and not rushing to 3 different things in one night. The time spent around a puzzle with your kids that they thought was old school last year. The smiling faces of cabin fever and the pranks and jokes people played on one another. The shopping sprees to Walmart for the necessities as if we were having a blizzard and that feeling when you squeezed the toilet paper in your hands.

This has been a rough year, but there are so many things to be grateful for.

2020 may be like a spoonful of cream cheese for me, but I’ve learned to sprinkle some Reese’s Pieces with it and it’s going to be okay.

So, Merry Christmas!

It’s going to be a great one!

What Child is This?

The Virgin sings her lullaby

Have you ever truly thought, “What made Jesus so special?” We read the Bible and we see the miracles He performed and the amazing acts of love and grace He displayed, but so often we decompartmentalize the God incarnate with the baby Jesus. But they were the same person. Little six second old baby Jesus was the same one who died on the cross for your sins.

I know when I read the Bible so often I read the scriptures for the religious meanings and context, but the book is also a book of history. I’ve heard people say, “Bible characters” all the time and when I hear that I instantly think of other books that are fictional. When you read a biography, do you call the people in there characters? When you watch a documentary or reality television show, do you call the people characters? Most of the time I hear people call them by their names, but I rarely hear someone say “Those characters on Duck Dynasty are hilarious.” They usually say, “Uncle Si is hilarious.”

You may be wondering what I am getting at, but we have to realize that Jesus wasn’t a fictional character who fed the five thousand, walked on the seas, healed the sick, loved the loveless – He was a real man just as Winston Churchill, Jimmy Stewart, Christopher Columbus and Elvis Presley.

When I teach my group of young guys I try to convey to them when we read the book of Philippians Paul was writing it while he was under house arrest or in prison. He was a real man writing a letter to another real group of people in a church in the real city of Philippi. Adding that groundwork to the Bible adds another dimension. It is like when you get a Christmas card from your Aunt Charlene in Boise. She is a real woman who took time out of her day to write a card to you. There is a personal touch from getting something as personal as a letter. In some traditional Christmas cards the writer gives a yearly synopsis of the family. That is what the entire Bible is – a love letter synopsis of God’s workings. The next time you read the Bible, look at the personal touches. Anywhere you read in the Bible you should be able to see them.

So, my question returns, what made Jesus so special? I think the better question may be, what makes Jesus so special?

I always find the missing sections of the Bible the most interesting. What happened between Jesus’ birth and when he was small boy going to the Temple. How was his life as a teenager? What did his friends think of him in his twenties. The gaps we will never know, but I am sure He lived life like the rest of us with one significant different. He lived it sinless.

I believe he experienced the highs and lows that also shadow over us. Did he perform any miracles when he was a child? Who truly knows, because it is stated that the first miracle He performed by turning the water into wine was the first of his ministry in Cana. Did he perform miracles for his family beforehand not to bring glory to the Father? So many mysterious gaps that I find fascinating, but those gaps do not hinder my faith. It’s just intriguing to wonder.

Christmas time is an exceptional season to wonder and ponder. There are so many things that are unknown, so let your mind drift. We have the foundation of Mary and Joseph in a stable in Bethlehem and a few other added insights, but the rest is a wonderful mystery.

One of the mysteries is what was Mary feeling during that night? We can read in Luke 1 what Mary was thinking months before giving birth. But we never read what she was feeling the night of Jesus’ birth.

A beautiful Christmas hymn “What Child is This,” is a stunning telling of Christ birth, then a section fast forwards to His death and then circles back to his birth. When I hear this song, I can picture a movie of the Life of Jesus with sporadic flashbacks of that meek scene in Bethlehem.

There are multiple beautiful lines in this carol, but one that stands out to me is,

The virgin sings her lullaby

This line shows the intimacy that Mary must have been having with her newborn son just as most mothers would be having their first night. I can picture her scared teenage eyes looking in Jesus’ and diving head first in love with her son at that first glimpse, letting all her fears dissolve into his soothing gaze. I can see her smiling and rubbing his little cheeks, counting his little fingers, feeling the stubble of his finger nails. I can imagine her leaning down and kissing the top of his bald or full of hair head. I can close my eyes and see her inhaling that baby smell as the aroma causes her smile.

But most of all, I can see her singing a song to her baby boy as she holds him tightly wrapped in her arms. She could have sung him a traditional Jewish lullaby, or maybe it was a song that her mother sung to her as a young girl, or maybe it wasn’t a song with words, but a soft hum. The wordless hum of exceeding joy mere words could not express.

Whatever she was doing, I can imagine she was recalling all the moments that led her to holding her new born son. The moment when the angel Gabriel came to her and said she would be with child. The moment when she felt the spirit of God rain down on her. The sideways glances she received in the marketplace when an unwed mother started to show a little belly. The worrisome look on her parents faces as they send her to her aunt and uncles home. The hard conversation of telling her future husband, Joseph that she was pregnant. The overwhelming relief when Joseph agreed to wed her. The tiresome journey to Bethlehem as she was on the verge of labor. The terrifying moment her contractions started and the women of her family were miles away. The moment of relief when she heard the first stifled cry of Jesus.

I’ve seen on television shows and movies the first moments mother’s have with their newborns and it seems there is an instantaneous connection that happens. Mothers immediately start to envision what their newborn will grow up to be, dreaming lofty dreams of unbelievable portions. But to a mother, anything is possible for their baby.

I wonder what Mary was dreaming about for Jesus. She had been welcomed by an angel telling her that she was going to bring forth the Messiah that generations of her family had been waiting for. I could see her looking down at her little baby born and dreaming those same big, lofty dreams of him changing the world.

Thirty-three years later she witnessed Him changing the world through his death on the cross. I do not think that is what she was smiling about in that Bethlehem stable. No good mother ever wants to see her child suffer.

Sadly, the dreams and aspirations mothers’ have the first night with their newborns rarely come to pass.

But it is still lovely to dream of the rich life your child will have. Jesus had a full live, reaching the potential he was destined for. It just wasn’t the way Mary had intended.

You may not have reached the potential your mother had for you, but your life isn’t over. The God who opened seas for men to walk can open doors for your next step. The creator who causes sunflowers to move with the sun can cause all the obstacles to fall out of your way. The savior of the world who defeated death with a mere breath can defeat your biggest enemies.

You may think you haven’t reached your potential, but none of us have. We are all striving to reach what God had destined for each one of us. So, if you are struggling, take heart, because you are not alone. If you feel you are at the end of your rope, hold tight, or not – maybe fall into the hand of God who has been holding you since the moment He dreamed of you.

Don’t give up on yourself because there are many people who haven’t given up on you yet. You may not have ever had a mother dream lofty dreams for you the day you were born, but God’s dreams for you are much, much better than someone’s earthly dreams. You may not have ever had a good relationship with your mother, but God loves you more than you could ever know. You may have bitterness and hate for the woman who gave you up, but God never gave you up. He’s still watching over you like a proud dad. Even when you mess up, He’s still there taking snapshots of every thing you ever do, framing them for everyone to see.

When God made you, He stopped what he was doing and took the time to count out every one of your hairs. He looked at the stars and wanted your eyes to twinkle just the same. He found a beautiful shade of sand and wanted your hair to shimmer the same way. You may see just a reflection of a person with a hard life, but God sees his masterpiece.

And I’m pretty sure God was humming when he made you because he was dreaming up some incredible dreams for you to achieve.

And I’m pretty sure, He’s still humming over you – waiting for you to see the limitless future that lies ahead.

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

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Do What You Hate

I love to run in the warm, summer months. I love to lace up my running shoes after the sun goes down and run under the moonlight with nothing with but music running through my ears. I love looking up at the stars and laying in my driveway when I’m recovering.

But I hate running in the cold.

I buy all the clothes to keep me warm, and I’m still cold. I am covered from head to toe and I know I probably look ridiculous, but I try. I really do try. But no matter how much I try to like running in the cold, I just can’t.

Many people may ask, why run if you don’t like it?

Because sometimes you have to remind yourself you have to do things you don’t like to do.

If we only do things we like, then we will never find new things that we may like.

How many times have you tried a new dish and found out you liked it? But if you never tried it, you would never know.

You can stay in your bubble of contentment (which is fine in some scenarios) but sometimes you need to pop that bubble.

We need to realize that nothing in life is guaranteed. No matter how perfect it may be now, tomorrow everything may fall apart. If you are accustomed to always getting your way, you may also fall part when your world is dashed.

But if you are accustomed to rolling with the punches, or running in the cold, then when you are faced with the cold wind that blows into life you can face it.

You can endure it.

You will also overcome it.

Life may not be easy, but all of life’s greatest surprises are when you are not expecting it. That’s the basic definition of surprise.

So, go and do something you don’t like. Medically speaking stress is actually a good thing. It releases chemicals in your body to spur you on. It can teach you patience. When you overcome your trial, it can grow your appreciation and perspective on life. Yep. There are benefits of doing the unthinkable things.

So, try doing something you don’t like.

And then treat yourself. We all need a attaboy every now and then.

Peace

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What Do You See?

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What do you see in this picture?

Do you see beauty or disgust? Do you see intrigue or a mess? Do you see something positive or negative?

2020 has been a year the world would wish to forget. But even though we wish it didn’t happen, can we not change our outlook on it?

COVID has put everyone through the wringer by the feeling of isolation, a crumbling economy, job losses, sicknesses and deaths of loved ones, are just a few of the side affects of COVID I see all the time.

I’ve seen people suffering in despair. I’ve witnessed tears of confusion. I’ve heard stories of heartache and mourning.

And I’m no different than you. I know you also have experienced similar situations this year.

It is easy to want to sit and complain about 2020 being the worst year ever. But after you said it and let out your frustrations, what are you going to do next?

You have two options. (1) Continue to sit or (2) Stand up.

You may think sitting is the way to go, but how will sitting help change the situation? I’ve heard it said multiple times that ignorance is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

If you are unhappy sitting, how do you expect to be happy tomorrow sitting? Same situation will bring the same outcome. Unhappiness.

You may ask, how does standing cause happiness?

The thing is standing in itself will not cause happiness, but it’s the mindset of doing something different in hopes of finding that happiness will eventually lead to that feeling of euphoria.

When you sit, nothing will change.

But when you stand, you can take a step in a new direction. You can embark on a new journey. You can experience a new sensation. You can partake in something totally new.

New doesn’t equate to better, but if you fail, you can sit and complain. But when you are done, it is important to get back up and take another new step.

Thomas Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb on his first try. The Wright Brothers didn’t take flight on their first try. You will most likely not succeed on your first try either.

But we are a society of failures. The difference between a Thomas Edison and another unknown person is, Thomas Edison didn’t sit and complain and do the same thing tomorrow. He kept taking a step until he found the right path.

Are you ready to find your path? It may take a million first steps. But don’t think of a wrong step as a failure. Maybe you needed to take a million wrong steps before you found the right one. If you look at it that way, the million wrong steps were a part of the ultimate journey.

One of my favorite paintings is Starry Night. I actually have a painting of it that someone else painted. I love to feel the hard oil brush marks of the swirling blues and yellows. In the corner of the painting is a cypress tree which is supposed to represent the depression he was suffering and ultimately his suicide.

The top picture I asked you about was a close up of the cypress tree.

2020 is like a cypress tree of this painting. It’s depressing and invokes feelings that I don’t want anyone to feel. But if you look at the rest of the picture, it is beautiful.

May we broaden our look at the entire picture and not just focus on the cypress tree. If we can do that with a painting, we can also do that with a year and our entire life.

Don’t let your life be a cypress tree.

It’s your decision what you want to focus on. I prefer to focus on the colorful night time sky with the endless possibilities.

Peace

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Forgotten Gratitude

[image error]Taken in Nashville with my family last year – 2019

Have you ever looked passed your blessings and took them for granted? Only for you to realize how blessed you were a moment too late?

We take so much for granted.

How many times do we wish to be able to call a loved one after they have passed just to hear their voice? But why don’t you call the loved ones you have now?

Are you taking them for granted?

Maybe when we experience a loss, that is when reality hits home. That’s when we make resolutions to be a better friend, a better sister, a better husband, a better mom.

But how long do those emotional changes last?

Probably until another emotion takes center stage – such as hate, envy, bitterness, self-loathing.

During this holiday season, don’t live with any regrets.

Call your friends you have talked to in a while. Go see your grandparents for an afternoon. Drop off a sugary dish to a neighbor. Give a passerby a smile on the street.

It’s time to live in the moment. It’s time to remember your reasons of gratitude.

Life is too short to miss out on a blessing that is right in front of your face.

Life is too good to not jump at these moments.

You may not be able to jump at them tomorrow.

Peace

What Would You Do If You Won the Lottery?

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I stopped tonight to get some gas and I noticed various people going in and out of the store. They weren’t carrying anything in their hands that I could see when they exited. Then I saw the lottery sign.

My mind quickly went to a place of me buying a lottery ticket and what I would do if I won. (I didn’t buy a ticket, so I’m not even sure why I let my mind go on that journey. But it went there anyways)

As I was standing in the cold pumping gas, nothing popped into my mind of anything I wanted. If I received a jackpot, nothing came into my mind on things to splurge on.

Nothing.

It hit me, I’m either incredibly blessed and content or I’m already incredibly spoiled and nothing strikes my fancy.

That thought cut me.

I can try to play the humble card and say I’m content. But as I stood in my nice clothes and warm coat, got into my nice SUV with heated seats, and drove away to a nice warm home in a nice subdivision – does any of that seem like I’m scrapping the bottom of contentment?

Am I really being content when I already have everything I want?

Am I really being humble when I truly have never felt true sacrifice?

Am I really faithful when I have never tasted what it means to have faith in what tomorrow holds?

I can say in my good spirited soul as I was driving away from the gas station and thinking of what I would do if I hit the jackpot – I started thinking of all the people I would give the money too. All the friends and family I could help out. All the charities that wouldn’t need to beg. All the wells in Africa that could be dug. All the human trafficking lives I could save. All the good that I could do.

But why does not hitting the jackpot stop that goodwill toward men attitude in me. Because sadly, I’m selfish. I pour into my barrel before I pass out the spoon size leftovers overflowing from my well to others.

We are at a crossroads. I have heard many times that true character is doing things when no one is watching.

What are you doing?

Are you still dreaming about winning the lottery? Or are you seeing what you have now as already hitting one?

Sadly, I’ve hit the jackpot multiple times. I just wonder if my character shows it?

Peace

I Don’t Care – But I Know Someone Who Does

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I was driving to work this morning and the song, I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran came on the radio. I’ve heard the song a time or two but never paid attention to the lyrics before. As I was driving to work I heard the sad story underneath the upbeat pop song.

The singer singing about being in a place you don’t want to be, around people who don’t acknowledge you, feeling like you don’t fit in and that you’re a nobody.

And then one person gives him some attention and his whole world feels complete and he falls madly in love.

As the song goes on he sings as if his happiness is solely because of that one person. Bad things disappear when I’m with you, you make we feel like I’m somebody, the bad nights are better with you in them, and things are better as long as you are near.

It’s a love song how one person can change your life. It’s probably played at weddings with the new couple singing into one another’s ears, saying that you mean more to me than the crowd watching.

It’s great Hollywood magic of romance comedies where people’s world become complete when they meet the love of their life. It’s like they complete one another.

It’s great to have that type of connection.

But is it healthy?

Is it healthy to have your happiness depend upon one person being by your side? Is it healthy that you only feel complete when someone holds your hand? Is it healthy to feel like a nobody when that one person is not around?

That’s not healthy.

Unless you love yourself, how can you expect someone to love you?

People fall head over heels into abusive relationships because the wrong person made them feel like someone. And sadly, the wrong person knew what they were doing to reel in their next relationship.

This post is not to point out people’s weaknesses and failures. This post is to encourage those who feel like they are weak and a failure.

And I have some words to say.

You are not weak. You are not a failure. You are someone. You are amazing. You are beautiful. You are handsome. You are intelligent. You are special. You are talented. You are remarkable. You are unique. You are what you sometimes cannot see in yourself.

But there is someone who does.

So, as I was listening to the song, I replaced one word and I think it changed the whole song.

‘Cause I don’t care when I’m with my Lord, yeah
All the bad things disappear
And you’re making me feel like maybe I am somebody
I can deal with the bad nights
When I’m with my Lord, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
‘Cause I don’t care, as long as you just hold me near
You can take me anywhere
And you’re making me feel like I’m loved by somebody
I can deal with the bad nights
When I’m with my Lord, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

It may sound crazy, but I’m fine being looked at like I’m crazy.

Because just as the song says,

Don’t think I fit in at this party
Everyone’s got so much to say, yeah
I always feel like I’m nobody, mm
Who wants to fit in anyway?

Peace

O Holy Night

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“And the soul felt its worth”

How much is your soul worth? That question may sound lame, but the truth is, we sell our soul for very little every day. We trade our integrity and character for a nice payday and a bump up to rubbing some flashy elbows. We downgrade our moral code to fit in at neighborhood block party and the clichéd cliques that run rampant at the soccer games and housewives circles across America. We sideline our true identity for a plastic bejeweled nametag given by the Hollywood popular and Youtube social elite. You may not see yourself as a sellout, but we all have done it at least one time – if not more.

There may be some who would contend that their soul is worth its weight in gold – nothing. That it is a figment of a religious persons mind to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Then their may be some who view their soul as a priceless treasure. But how easily do treasures lose their luster and intrigue when you always have it. I do believe there are some people who could stand in awe of a Van Gough in a museum for hours. I think I could stare at The Starry Night for hours and be mesmerized by the swirling colors of the various shades of blues and yellows.

But if I had the picture in my living room, would I stare at it for hours on end? Most likely not. The same can be said for the famous sites around the world. Do you think Roman citizens look upon the Coliseum with wonder every time they walk by it? Do you think the Parisians gasp at the splendor of the Eiffel Tower every time they see the metal tip alongside the clouds? Do you think the Chinese feel humbled when they see the Great Wall of China when they ride by it on their bikes?

No.

Sadly, the human heart grows calloused to the things we are accustomed. Think about your own life. Think about the city where you live. Are there things that people travel for hours to come see or do while you look at it as if it’s nothing great?

A few years ago I was showing a group of young teenagers around my hometown for an afternoon. I didn’t know what to show them because I didn’t think there was anything worthy of showing. So, we went down town and walked the few blocks. We came to the riverfront and they stared in awe. One of the young women looked at me and said, “I bet you come down here all the time.” I smiled and shook my head no and they all were shocked. They lived in an area where rivers and lakes were not common while I lived in this town where I drove by this riverfront a few times a week. It had lost its wonder on me. But spending ten minutes with these teenagers woke my heart. They caused me to try to see the things I considered common as something more. Because in all reality, the riverfront is a glorious sight to see no matter the time of day or season.

God’s creation is one that deserves to be marveled.

But aren’t we God’s creation? Aren’t we something that deserves to be marveled at with some awe and bewilderment? Yet, we don’t. We have grown accustomed to the sparkle in our eye that our loved ones go wild about. We have grown stale to the freckles on our cheeks that we cover up with a thick layer of makeup. We have become aloof to the beauty that exudes our entire being and see only a reflection of what we saw yesterday.

It’s easy to see how so many people turn to eating disorders, drug additions, self loathing and suicide. We cannot see ourselves as anything that deserves worth because we might have seen something new and exciting that we think is worth more than us. Yet, if you ask what you are looking at what they see in their reflection, they will probably tell you what you tell yourself.

This song, O Holy Night, is probably my favorite Christmas carol of all time. I love the slow build of the song as if the song is building a firm foundation. I love how the melody is soothing and comforting in the first few lines. Then the pace of the song picks up and I cannot help by sway to the music. And then the dramatic chorus just hits me as if I’m not expecting it even though I have heard it so many times before.

I love the chorus so much – the reverent plea to adore the One who has created all things. The song begs us to not hold anything physically back in our worship. It calls us to fall before the one that will also stand strong. It is regaling us to remember that glorious night of our Saviors birth. It is in that chilling moment when God put on flesh and left the comfort of heaven to come and live a life not worthy to be known or remembered.

There is so much to love about this song, but the line I love the most is,

Til he appears and the soul felt its worth

Some may wonder why this line resonates so much with me. Out of the entire song with the beautiful poetic lines, why does this simple line that many overlook make me want to stop and stare at it?

I think it goes back to line before it, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining.” This is such a depressing line and I think many people don’t want to dwell on this line of the beautiful song. But the truth is, the world is not a good place. It isn’t a place that we want to cuddle up and take it all in. It is a place of death, decay, violence, suffering, pain and hate. If we had a welcome sign for visitors I could see it reading something like, “Earth – Look Pass Our Mess.”

Yet, despite our flaws. Despite our shortcomings. Despite the bad decisions and cruel mistakes. Despite the corruption we point out and the starting points in our own lives we try to hide. Despite the ugly truths and the sadistic lies. Despite the Brutus’ backstabs and the Judas’ kisses. Despite everything we showcase, God still loves us.

He sees passed the lives we live. He sees passed the lives we try to show. He sees the truth and still loves us.

Jesus’ entry into this world is an interesting take on God’s salvation story. God created the world perfect, yet, people had to go and mess it up. Then he gave them rules to follow, yet people had to go and mess it up. Years passed and people still had to go and mess it up. Jesus came to fix the broken cycle so nothing would separate us from God anymore. Our sin still tries to mess it up, but Christ’s blood redeems us.

Imagine the world before Christ. If you wanted to be close to God it was a never ending cycle of do good – mess up – perform a sacrifice – reconciliation – do good – mess up – perform a sacrifice – reconciliation – do good and so forth. No matter how well we try to live, we daily mess up.

Yet God loved us so much he sent his son, Jesus, to perform the ultimate sacrifice – his own life. He then is the ultimate reconciliation. Even though we still daily mess up, we don’t have to become separated from God through our faith in Jesus Christ. We do lose the intimacy when sin messes things up, but it can quickly vanish.

Before Christ the soul was worth the price of a sacrifice of an animal or good given in exchange with repentance. That bird or crop may have been sacrificed, but most likely there would be another animal or crop to take its place. It wasn’t a sacrifice the sinner had to endure. The sinner had to watch something else take its punishment for the wrong he did. It may be humbling to watch a lamb die for his sin, but it may not bring full remorse for his soul

And then here comes Jesus. A perfect man who lived a blameless life. A man who loved the loveless. Who looked up those who had been outcast. Who spoke words of life to those that the world turned a deaf ear too. He encompasses all that is good. And he died for all the crummy, despicable, shameless, tasteless things I do. He died a death I deserve to die everyday for the acts of treason I do to God’s holy face. He died the death, so I wouldn’t have to.

So, how much is your soul worth?

It’s worth dying for.

There is the saying that people on their deathbed hardly ever ask about their finances or their real estate property or their stock portfolio. They don’t say for someone to bring them their priceless heirloom to touch as they pass away. They don’t mention for someone to bring them their last bank statement. You can put a value on a lot of things in this world, but some things are valueless.

Your soul is beyond value.

Your life is priceless.

God wants you to see your worth, because He saw it the moment He created you. If He didn’t think you were worth anything, He wouldn’t have wasted His time on you. Yet, He knows the numbers of hairs on your head. He knows what you think about all the time. He knows your doubts and yours fears. He knows your regrets and your failures. He knows more about you than you know about yourself. Yet, despite everything you can tell yourself why no one will love you.

But He loves you.

He has always loved you.

And He will always love you.

So, why do I love this little line from this beautiful song. Because it reminds me when the chips are down, when COVID is rising, when you’re pressed against the wall, when you don’t see a silver lining, when all you see is a bottle of pills or blade as a way out – He sees so much more.

He sees you as worthy. He sees you as loving. He sees you as good. He sees you as his child. He sees you as someone who might have wandered but is now home. He sees you as the best parts of you even when you can’t see them in yourself.

I think that is the best news that we need to share more often.

Happy Early Thanksgiving – It Doesn’t Matter the Day

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Well 2020 hasn’t been like anyone has ever planned. And that’s okay.

I am a planner, but when your plans of who you want to be or what you want to do take center stage over living the here and now, well, that is a problem.

Today my family celebrated Thanksgiving. We didn’t have the traditional turkey. We had Mexican chimichangas, tacos, rice and chips.

And it was good.

Traditions are good, but change is also good. I bet everyone is going to remember this thanksgiving 20 years from now. But will you remember last years? I have already forgotten it.

In 2004, we were slammed with a snow storm a few days before Christmas. We couldn’t get out of the house. Family couldn’t come in. I remember playing cards at the kitchen table as a friend up the street taught us a new game, Yuker. I remember watching Gosford Park on the couch with my family under a layer of blankets as the the snow was falling. I remember unwrapping presents with half my family missing knowing they were safe in their home. I remember playing Monopoly Christmas Eve night. I remember that Christmas because it was different. I have many good memories even though at the time we might have thought it wasn’t going to be a good Christmas.

Different can be bad…but it can also be good.

When we do the same thing, the same things tend to blur.

But when you shift, pivot, change directions, squint, you see things differently. You make new memories. You cherish things more.

As Joni Mitchell sang, “That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.”

But it’s not gone. You can leave it, but it didn’t leave you.

So this thanksgiving while you are celebrating with fewer people, take time to embrace the change. Take snapshots of this time. Yes, it’s sad to not see our loved ones, but the blessing we have is knowing our loved ones know they are loved.

So happy early thanksgiving!

May you feel the blessing of 2020.

Peace