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Sunday January 1992 the HERALD Religion Mixed feelings at Christmas By DAVE Herald Special May I share a part of my Christmas experience with your readers For most Christmas Is a time of joy and happiness a time of family and friends a time of giv- and receiving gifts and a if reflection on ones lifes and ones relationship he rest of creation and to crea- Creator through the birth of a Saviour On the downside for others it is a time of despair depression oppression hunger apathy confusion and the same everyday lack of caringselfishness It is the last mentioned that I would tike to share with you as it affected our Christmas this year At Christmas we sing of love share love express love worship Love love and love Love love But not all the world ex periences or extends love at Christmas Is it hatred that they express Maybe some But mostly it is lack of caring You knowrushing past the Salvation Army kettle after spen ding a fortune oh booze saying that you have already given once this year when you are ap proached to share just a small bit of your food for the hungrey through the or think ing of those who are alone lonely or not feeling well and not visiting them believing that others will do so its their turn and then con tinue on in your busyness and partying How about disregarding loved ones and friends celebrating Christmas but missing the real meaning you know celebration with lots of form but not with any real positive creative construc tive characterbuilding substance Christmas without a solid undergirding foundation soon crumbles and people find themselves plunged back into the abyss of the worlds perplexities and mundane things of life Christmas is a time of Good News It is about Gods love shown to us in the birth of a Saviour 2000 years ago It is about God still loving us today and speaking to us today and blessing us today That is the best Good News there is Another form of good news for me this Christmas was that my recent operation in the hospital showed that I had no cancer It was also good news for my wife Jean whose mother died of cancer years ago and whose father died of cancer just last August He had had other bouts with cancer and had the cancer treated to remission but this past spring he developed cancer of the bowel and subsequently suc- combed to it in August The operation to remove that portion of cancerous bowel almost killed him I dont know how a man of 86 could live through all that pain We spent as much time as we could with him including our holidays We watched him fail and fade away until his dying day If you have ever had to ex- this to lose some one so and dear you will know how mTrch it hurts how it tears at your heart and you realize even more how much you love hem and will miss them Despite all the joy and hap piness of Christmas this bit of heartache earned through It was our first Christmas without pop In late November my wife and her brother visited the grave site and placed a Christmas flower display on the tombstone The silk flowers add ed beauty and showed that there was still love and fond memories in the hearts of those who cared Jeans father is buried with his wife who died 12 years ago rather and mother together This Christmas despite our celebrations with family and friends and times of worship we decided to have Christmas dinner by ourselves at least for this year It was the first Christmas dinner that Pop had missed in a long time It was quiet but we were glad in our hope that was Pops and is ours too in our faith and trust in Jesus Christ After dinner we decided to wish Pop a merry Christmas and also a merry Christmas to Jeans mother When we arrived at the Cemetery as the sun was setting we were shocked to find that someone had stolen the lovely flowers Jean broke into tears wondering what kind of person could add grief to grief and especially at Christmas What kind of person robs from graves How low can some peo ple go I held Jean and comforted her I was sad too She wondered aloud again Whats the point Whats the use of decorating the grave when people just come by and steal the flowers I wondered why there are those who either dont care about others and the experiences of life that they have been through or find some diabolical amusement in adding grief to grief or take great joy in trying to extinguish ones life- light My sadness then turned to the person who had committed this stupid and useless act either knowingly or unknowingly that it would rip open a wound that death causes This person no doubt had missed the understan ding of Christmas altogether It is said that actions speak louder than words Perhaps this person bought all kinds of gifts sang the songs of Christmas went to the traditional Christmas Eve service and had a great time over the Christmas holidays with family and friends But it is evi dent that this person has missed the Foundation of Christmas There was form without substance My heart goes out to Jean and the sadness she felt at that time and yet I know her hope in and relationship to the Saviour will make her glad again to face the coming years and all the lonely times that come when one remembers loved ones who have passed on Hers is an eternal gladness But as for the person who tried to steal a chunk out of our Christmas you did not suc ceed What you thought you gain ed you really didnt In fact you lost a lot more than you gained You lost your integrity as a human being and that saddens me especially when the Christmas story is so evident To Jean I encourage you to continue on in the hope that you have not to think that your life- light can be extinguished far it cant be to continue to bring beauty to your parents final resting place and to do all those things which show that you have experienced the Light of the worldAnd to those who have read this letter we must remember how this life goes on as we follow the Christmas story through to the Easter story so that it becomes the basis of our own lifes story Life does not come without its hurts and disappointments And Jesus wept too In the end there is love for us all and an understanding of the truth about What is Life a precious gift from God to be shared with all May you always have a blessed Christmas all year round COUNTRY SiO BUTCHERING Custom Killing Cutting and Wrapping Government Inspected Hours 85 ThursFri 86 Sat 81 2 noon RR 2 Georgetown Ont Behind Als Custom Meats on Trafalgar Rd And Complete Car Cleaning WINDOW TINTING reduces heat build up in trio car reduces upholstery lading looks fliejt and provides privacy AUTO AND TRUCK ACCESSORIES American racing mag wheels alloys and box liners and tool boxes running boards roll and brush hilchos and mud liaps pin slriping and side mouldings driving lampscar coversneon accessories AND MUCH MUCH MORE 50 Armstrong Ave Unit No Georgetown Bus 6873- I I I 92371 If God should punish men lo whai they deserve he would leave on ihe back of the so much as a Koran 3S Every man accord- at he 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