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Showing posts from December, 2005

Look At Me...

Look at Me. Look at the example I have set in how I've loved you and all of the others and follow my example. Follow my example. Love the world. Be Me to the world. Be Me to your neighbours. The woman across the road, the guy who lives downstairs. The kids who play on your lawn. Be Me to the vulnerable, the hungry, the oppressed. Be Me to the poor, the cold, the homeless, the lost. Be Me to the rich, the insulated, the sheltered, the lost. Be Me to the fearful, the sick, the lonely, the isolated, the recovering. To the educated, to the streetsmart, to the foolish. To the bruised, the bleeding, the calloused, the rough, the tough, the abrasive. Be Me to the stubborn, the unappreciative, the ungrateful, the dismissive. To the takers. To the users. To the ones who have raised themselves up, the ones who have made themselves as small as possible or who have been made small. Be Me to the almost there, the almost gone. To the empty, the misunderstanding, the suspicious, the condescendin

Train Whistles and Christmas

Traditions. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they just keep on coming. One of mine, this season, is watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” (something my husband doesn’t share). Black and white, sappy, some rather creative theology. A Tradition. George Bailey is the goodest Good Guy in the entire history of the world (OK, second goodest). Small town George dreams of travel, saves his pennies, buys a huge suitcase and sets his face into the wind. At the last possible moment, duty calls and he, being a Good Guy, unflinchingly sacrifices his dreames and his pennies to stay in his little town to serve family and community. This happens several times. You’d think he’d learn. In one scene, George and his uncle are waiting at the station for his brother to come home from college. Hearing a distant whistle, George asks, "Do you know what the three best sounds in the world are?" "Breakfast is served, lunch is served, dinner is serv…" "No, no,” George interrupts, “Anchor chains, plane mot