J. D. Pendry

J.D. Pendry

I don’t know about you, but listening to polticians and the people who still like to curse at me for something I wrote more than 18 months ago are making it difficult for me to get into the spirit. I’ve decided that I’ll not let that collection be the Grinch that steals my Christmas. I’ll be taking a break from now until after the New Year. This time of year, there are things more important on which to focus than politics and politicians. Take some time off from the Internet and news. Focus on your blessings, your family and your health - physical and spiritual. It just might be the boost that you need. Light a candle for the members of the United States Armed Forces who courageously serve us around the world.

Here’s my Christmas Card to you all. I hope to see you back here in the New Year. - JD

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2: 8-12 NIV

Sometimes, I pull my wool hat down over my ears and go for a walk. Moving out of the neighborhood, I get the courtesy bark from the neighbor’s dog, a curious examination from a couple of squirrels and am nearly trampled by a rampaging buck in rut. He smells a doe somewhere, he just ain’t too sure about where. He disappeared into the tree line at a full gallop, so excited he probably ran into a tree and knocked himself out. The leaves are gone from the trees. The air is a little crisp, but for a few flurries, we’ve seen no snow. Houses and lawns are decorated for the season, some a bit overdone. Christmas cards are going out and coming in. The new Christmas movies are out. I’ve seen none destined to be classics like It’s A Wonderful Life, which we’ll watch for the bazillionth time. For the next few months, we’ll wonder if the angel got his wings whenever we hear a bell. We worry some about presents. What we might get, what we’ll give. The thought that used to go into them doesn’t always now. Getting something homemade is practically unheard of. Now, we savor the warmth of the plastic gift card we receive and worry if we spent enough money on the gifts we gave.

I can see smoke drifting up lazily from chimneys in the distance and smell the oak wood fires burning in fireplaces and wood stoves. It isn’t there, but my mind tricks me into smelling the spice cake my mother used to bake this time of year. I think about getting a big hunk of it fresh from the oven while it’s still steaming. Nothing tasted quite like that, especially chased with fresh milk or hot chocolate. I walk a little deeper into the woods. Nothing smells quite like the woods this time of year. The dead leaves I kick up while walking have a unique, earthy aroma. A squirrel skitters up the side of a tree right in front of me. He stops, safely out of my reach and watches. I come upon a wild holly bush and stick myself plucking a leaf from it. I make a pinwheel from the stiff holly leaf by putting the sharp points between my thumb and finger and blowing on it just hard enough to make it spin. I think of walking through the hills in the snow with my brother many years ago searching for a Christmas tree. I think about a wild sled run. I find a sturdy oak to lean against, pick a twig from a nearby branch and pluck it between my teeth. I survey the rolling hillside. The houses in the distance are visible only because the trees are naked of leaves. I ponder what might be happening in each. In one, Christmas cookies might be baking. In another, maybe they’re trimming the tree. And yet in another, maybe life isn’t quite as pleasant.

In my mind, the house is dark. Daylight’s not yet broken. My heart is beating slightly faster than normal. It’s Christmas morning. I slowly move the blankets away and begin to tiptoe toward the living room where the Christmas tree is. I step on a creaky floorboard and freeze, eyes wide. I listen, afraid that I might encounter an old elf gentleman and frighten him away. I peek into the kitchen and see that the cookies dutifully left on the table are gone. Then, in the dark, eyes still wide, heart still racing, I approach the tree….

I’m walking along the street in Chicago. A country kid in the city. I’ve never seen so many stores and all of them decked out for the holiday. Some have signs that say Xmas. I wonder why they’d do that. The sky is gray. The city is gray. The wind blows some newspaper down a slush-covered sidewalk. A panhandler begs for money. It doesn’t seem like Christmas. Something is missing, replaced by an X.

The air has chilled some so I flip the collar up on my down vest and I’m on the other side of the world walking a Christmas Eve post. I’m barely 19 years old. Sure, I have plenty of buddies around, but I’d trade it all for five minutes in that kitchen eating Mom’s spice cake. Then I think, because a few of us are willing to be here, many can be there at home. That thought perks me up some as I look into a glistening star filled sky and snug up the GI wool scarf around my neck. The clear night makes it colder. I wish it would cloud up and snow. Silent Night plays in my head.

It’s Christmas Eve. It’s nearing the end of the Church service and we light candles, each of us receiving the flame from the last Advent candle, the Christ candle. As the sanctuary lights dim, we raise our candles and sing Silent Night. There’s an incredible feeling of peace and hope.

Lying in bed, I realize it’s early. I hear something moving around in the other room. Slowly and cautiously at first it seems. Then I hear a rush of pattering feet and a curdling yell – Mom! Dad! Get up! Look what Santa brought! With huge grins and through sleepy eyes we share the joy and amazement.

From my family and I to you and yours. Have a blessed Christmas.

Copyright © 2004, J. D. Pendry

J. D. Pendry

I wish a Merry Christmas to you and yours. I pray that our Men and Women serving around the world and their families receive the Christmas gift of peace.

I’m sorry, but I do not offer season’s greetings or wishes for happy holidays or some other generic greeting in hopes of not offending you because you choose not to acknowledge the true reason for the season. There will soon be a Nativity Scene in my front yard. Except for scattering some lights about and putting fake greenery on the porch rail, that is the extent of my exterior Christmas decorations. Christmas is for the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child, a gift to humankind. If you do not accept that, then my prayer is that someday you will.

Do you know why the day following Thanksgiving Day is called black Friday? It’s the first day that retailers across our country and much of the globe begin to show a profit for the year. Ponder that for a minute. Many millions of dollars in merchandise is sold during a span of a few weeks. It is merchandise that many people were employed to make. It is a season for intense manufacturing, marketing, buying and selling that no politician, business man or economist could have ever conceived and made work. Hundred dollar barrels of oil cannot take down our economy, but without Christmas I think it tanks. That’s just an observation from an old country boy from up the holler about the material gift given to our society for acknowledging the birth of Christ. You will likely get a much different view from an ACLU lawyer. Or, maybe you have a different view as well. I assure you, some who do have already scrolled down to the unsubscribe link. I wish them a Merry Christmas too.

Many people celebrate Christmas without ever acknowledging the birth of Christ. My view is that people who choose to celebrate the season without accepting the reason for it are not different from the people who want to come to America and accept the gifts of the land of opportunity without accepting the reasons that the opportunities exist.

I find it quite interesting when I think about it. The people who have made it their careers to banish Christ from Christmas and to remove all vestiges of Christianity from American society are basically the same people who want to stand by while our country is stolen from us and enable the thieves in their attempt to take it.

This time of year, we spend much of our time worrying about giving the right gift or receiving something nice in return. What we do not give enough thought to is preserving the gifts we already have. These are gifts that define us as a people and a nation. Gifts that we all too often take for granted. These are the God given gifts of freedom, the ability to express ourselves and the free will choose our own way.

The Christmas celebration is very much a part of what America is… one nation under God. We spend too much time in America apologizing for who we are and defending what we believe while wishing for acceptance from those who would as soon see us dead and our country destroyed. We owe no apologies or compromise to the failed societies whose people came here to escape real poverty and oppression. We do not owe any apologies to the people who come to America to live for insisting that they arrive legally and learn our language, history and laws. We owe them no apologies for insisting that they recognize that there is such a thing as a pure American culture. It is a culture consisting of a world class blend of people with the common focus of preserving freedom, individual liberties, freedom of religious worship and the freedom to express ourselves.

What each of us must ask of ourselves, of those who want to live here and of those who lead us is are we gifts or burdens. Are we gifts to that uniquely American culture or are we burdens that are destined to break it. Are we gifts to our society or burdens on it? Are we gifts to the people who depend on us or burdens on them? Do we look to contribute or just to take away?

Our gifts in this country are many, and I do not believe that is by accident. You may, but if you do please contemplate why it is that we are the most powerful and wealthiest nation on the planet. Is it because we are smarter than other people of the world or by some Darwinian accident we evolved faster than the rest of the world, or, is it because at our beginning we placed our faith in an entity that we can’t even see as expressed in our national motto, “In God We Trust?”

Copyright© J. D. Pendry 2007 All Rights Reserved