Thanks – Marilyn R. Gardner

“Merry Christmas” said the gruff, well-seasoned bus driver. He paused. “And if you don’t celebrate Christmas I’m not talking to you!”

In politically correct Cambridge I thought my ears were going to fall off. And I feared a bit for his life. But in the spirit of the season, most people were good-hearted and merry about the interaction, wishing the driver a happy holiday or Merry Christmas as they left the bus.

It also made me think about the “war on Christmas”. I realize it’s not something I’ve fretted over. While I think ‘X’mas’ looks a little silly, I dismiss it quickly. I’ve lived in two Muslim majority countries where we celebrated Christmas without outside forces dictating the rules or grandmas getting run over by reindeer. And as I walked away from the bus with a ‘Merry Christmas’ in my ears and on my lips, in an epiphany of sorts I was struck that my faith is so far beyond a mere ‘Merry Christmas’.

For this God I love is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He’s the bright morning star and the fairest of ten thousand. He is the babe in the manger and the King of Kings. He was there when the sea was formed and is there when the mountain goats give birth. He is Creator, Saviour, Comforter all in one. He is, and will always be, so much more than a Merry Christmas.

So today I wish you more than a Merry Christmas. While the magic of the season is limited, the reality of the living God will sustain forever.

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Readers & Friends – Thank you….for reading, emailing, commenting, and, right when I’m ready to stop blogging, telling me that what I wrote helped your soul. Yesterday Communicating Across Boundaries made it to over 200,000 views in less than two years – and it’s because of you. I’ll be taking a break for a few days as my kids come in from different corners of the globe through international and domestic terminals.

Cairo Christmas – A Weary World Rejoices

As one week closes and another begins, “In Everything Give Thanks” seems an appropriate response. Some weeks it is more of a challenge than others. God has been aptly called the “Great Interrupter”, so life events and my response to those events are constantly changing .

The picture was taken in Rocky Neck, America’s oldest art colony and it is easy to give thanks while walking through Rocky Neck. It’s when I leave and face a world beyond Rocky Neck where there is uncertainty and bills; conflicts and crazies. That’s when I need the sign and the imprint of the words on my brain.

In a moment of clarity yesterday morning I wrote this as my Facebook status:

When God interrupts your life, maybe He’s calling you to dream….

It’s a “marilyn” original and with that I’ll close out the week.

Bloggers Note – Huge thanks to readers for reading through the week. From Restoration & Return to Pride’s Crossing Politics, you continue to read, email, Facebook, and urge me to keep writing. Just when I think that it is the silliest venture I could have possibly embarked on in my fifty-first year of life I hear from someone….thank you more than you know.