December Open Spaces

 

Open Spaces

Vol.: 20.12

By John Vander Velden

 

We are in the middle of Christmas. For those of you scratching your head and asking
isn’t Christmas celebrated on December 25^th? Yes, it is...but... For me Christmas begins on the 25th and runs nonstop until Epiphany on January 6^th. I recognize the 12 days of Christmas. So even though we near December’s very last days, I can say to you Merry Christmas...and mean it.

Yet as we pass through these wonderful days when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we may feel that the dark cloud of COVID has stolen some of the holiday’s luster. If you are like Jackie and I, things were very different this season. To some degree many of us remain isolated. Even though the news of vaccinations is promising, this pandemic has not released us yet. We yearn for things to be “normal”, and find ourselves wondering if things will ever be the same as they were again.

Yes, Christmas in 2020 was, or as in my house is, different. But Christmas IS! And no disease can stop it. Because at the center...the very center...is that God so loved the world (you and me and everyone), SO much he sent His Son. That Jesus entered our world the same way we did, as a helpless babe. That this amazing child was born into the family of humble ordinary people, should speak to us all. That the Savior of humanity was first revealed to common shepherds, should show God’s openness for our access as well. That when later the child is acknowledged by kings, speaks of the grandness of God’s plan.

Christmas is about love! The love that stitches the universe together. The greatest power that can exist. For as I said before, love is at the center of God’s gift to us. For God so loved the world...

In a world that sets one against the other. In a world “where I am right and you are wrong” seems to be at the focus of so many people’s thoughts. In a world where “tit for tat” has come to be the norm. In a world filled with fear and hate, love gets lost, or in the least shoved to the wayside. Anger and bitterness surround us. It is too easy for us to lash back at comments made or what we feel are cruel actions directed our way.

Perhaps we will love them tomorrow...when it’s easier...or when they deserve it.

Yet we rely, with confidence, on God’s loves for us, as undeserving as we are. Isn’t that the whole point of Christmas? I find myself humbled by the simple fact that God did so much to prove His love for me. That is what Christmas means to me. And in that context, I am driven to try my best to love others as well.

So this month’s newsletter is different than those I have shared with you, dear friends, in the past. It is my deepest hope that your home is filled with Christmas...the real...the living Christmas. That the coming year brings you blessings, and health, but above all else...love. Love which comes to you and those you hold near, and a love you would gladly share to the world.

Merry Christmas,

John

Author of Misty Creek and Elizabeth’s Journey

 

p.s.

I must add a bit of writing news. I have finished the first revise of the third book of the Misty Creek Saga. Next month the manuscript goes to my editor and friend. So things continue onward. During these weeks I hope to finish a draft titled Severed Ties a standalone novel. So that’s where this writer guy finds himself at the moment. Hope to have more to tell you next month.

JV

 

Where Does Christmas Find You?

 

Where Does Christmas Find you?

By John W. Vander Velden

        Each of us move about our lives. We face challenges and obstacles. We have achieved successes and found unexpected blessings. We have dealt with failures and loss. We might be among those we love most or find ourselves staring at empty furniture. Three hundred and sixty-five days of living each year, how do we face one set apart from the others the way Christmas is?

Too many focus on what cannot be, unable to see the grandness of each day. Yet Christmas comes to us all, those ready for the tinsel and lights and those that are not. But Christmas is grander than holiday specials, perfectly cooked meals, stockings, and ho-ho-hos. It is more than the lights on trees inside and out, or glowing inflated snowmen. Christmas is not limited to December 25^th.

Christmas is the firm proof of GOD, and the binding HE has with each of us. For on that night long ago CHRIST was born, Emanuel, GOD with us, born for you and me. CHRIST is the proof, the solid definition of love and shows us just how far GOD is willing to go on our behalf. Christmas comes each year to remind us of that infinite love. That love is not fixed to a particular date. That love isn’t fastened to a holiday. GOD’s love is broader...it is bolder.

Christmas comes to find you where you are even when you are most vulnerable...or at your weakest. Christmas comes to find you where you are especially those times you feel broken...shattered...beaten down. Christmas comes when everything seems to be going wonderfully, but it also arrives when your world seems to unravel.

Christmas finds you no matter where you are in your life.

For GOD so loved the world...that means you...that means me...that means your neighbor...that means the stranger on the street...that means the one that wishes to be your enemy...GOD loves us all.

That he sent HIS SON...that is a child born under the humblest of circumstances to ordinary people that act in extraordinary ways. Jesus was born in Bethlehem...the angels proclaimed HIS birth to humble herdsmen of the field. Common folk of sweat and toil. Later grand men of wisdom came following heavenly signs. From the poor to the wealthy all are welcome to meet the CHRIST.

That whoever believes in HIM...recognizes that JESUS is, was, and always will be, the SON of the MOST HIGH...GOD in human form...

Shall have everlasting life...Jesus saves...can save...will save. Life everlasting is not some “pie in the sky” someday thing...for those that truly believe, it has already begun...and will never end...

Is your heart open to Christmas when it comes? Will you recognize the grandness of GOD’s love for you?

So I ask...where does Christmas find you?

 

 

12-24-2020 (465 Words)

 

Christmas 2020

 

Christmas 2020

By John W. Vander Velden

 

We have endured a year like none we have ever experienced before. COVID has had an effect on nearly every aspect of our lives. Now, as the numbers of those that suffer from the disease rise to new heights, we understand the need to gather differently this year. For most of us the season normally offers opportunities we can share with the special people of our lives. Often those who live miles away and make the effort to travel to join in the festivities.

Saddened that many of us will not be able to take part in activities that have long been part of our lives, we may feel that Christmas isn’t what it was...or what it should be. And I can tell you that, this year, we will be missing many opportunities to gather as family and friends. Yet it does not feel, in this household in any case, a burden beyond our abilities to bear. For our view is broader than the brief disappointment of crushed plans. We understand that these are difficult times and the needs of the world far outweigh our own personal desires.

For Jackie and I, it has long been our aspiration to understand what our household can do to be helpful to others. To see a broader observation of reality than our own pinhole prick view. A willingness to care about others as well as ourselves.

Isn’t this the perfect season for us to do just a little more...care a bit deeper. For wasn’t Christ sent to live among humanity, not for his own benefit but ours. Didn’t HE at last give up his life...a sacrifice for the very people that drove the nails into his precious body?

So as we dwell on what will not be part of Christmas 2020, let us not forget what the season means. For Christmas comes, COVID or not! Christmas is so much more than shared meals, more than gifts given and received, more than parties, more than ugly sweaters. It is the joyous celebration that reminds us that GOD so loved the world (us) that HE sent HIS SON to be born. To be born in the most humble places, to become human in the same way that you and I began our lives. That GOD revealed HIS SON to the humble shepherds and later to grand kings. These are the things that make up Jackie’s and my Christmas. It is our hope that it is the very foundation stones of your Christmas as well.

So we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

For Christmas comes...no matter what!

Blessings,

John

 

(434 Words) 12-18-2020