Seems Like Christmas To Me

Seasons Greetings!!!

In my adult life, Christmas has been something I give serious thought to from December 24th through 4pm, December 25th. I love the shopping, lights, music, tree and all the rest of the goodness of the day. At 4pm, my mind switches to other things and I am done. When my son, Justin came along, I added about three weeks to the front end of the season and have enjoyed it.

Last spring, Micquette and I married. We now have five kids between us. Suddenly Christmas has meaning for me. The world is a more innocent place. I look at the house and see where the tree will go. I am anxiously awaiting the opening of Winterhaven (http://www.winterhavenfestival.org/). I even wrote a Christmas song! That's a first.

My wife and I are both passionate people. Passion for politics, passion for faith, passion for life. Her passionate ideas do not always agree with my passionate ideas. This makes for some very, um... PASSIONATE conversations around our house. The one thing we try to remember in all this passion is to put faith, hope and love before our ideas.

This is from the Kevin Smith film Dogma (a movie I refused to watch when it first came out because I had heard it was blasphemous):

Rufus: He still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see the sh*t that gets carried out in His name - wars, bigotry, televangelism. But especially the factioning of all the religions. He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it.

Bethany: Having beliefs isn't good?

Rufus: I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should be malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant.

I'll leave you with the words to my new Christmas song. I'll add this on to one of the Divine NOW Podcasts soon. I "believe" I'll have a great Christmas this year.

Seems Like Christmas To Me

(Archambault)

I hear "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

Blasting from an open top Jeep

Seems like Christmas to me

Plastic snowmen in the sand

And lights on a cactus tree

Seems like Christmas to me

I know Santa will find my double-wide

Stocked with cookies and cake

Where the coyotes howl out "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle All the Way"

Quails are dancing in the yard

Snakes rattle out the beat

Seems like Christmas to me

Mistletoe hangs from a mesquite tree

As I kiss you tenderly

Perfect Christmas to me

Seems like Christmas to me

　© 2009 Humnal Music ASCAP

May the Lord bless and keep you,

Pastor Mark S. Archambault