This Christmas slow down and take a moment to trust and wait

Luke 2:25-26
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ."

So we survived the so called "End of the World" yet again. In this modern life we seems to be always eager and rushing for things. Even our eventual demise we seem to be eager to embrace quickly and every year we keep announcing our impending doom.

This Christmas we should take time to reflect on what has gone and what is to come.
To clear our minds of thoughts of doom and gloom
To build our trust in God
And to remember the true meaning of Christmas
That God sent his Son Jesus Christ down to Earth
To give us Hope
And show us his Grace
To give us a sign
That God is in control
And we are in his care
Nothing we do will suffice to redeem ourselves
Everything we have is from God

Connecticut School Killings - a sign of the times

Last Friday news broke across the world of the latest in the wave of violence happening in the world and put Newton, Connecticut on the lips of many people who would have never heard of this small town. The killings of so many small children shocked many people and this tragedy during this Christmas season will have many  people shaken in their faith. Maybe that's what was intended by what ever evil forces they were at play with the timing of this tragic event.

Not so well published was the death of 10 Afghan girls killed by a landmine in Afghanistan over the same weekend.
http://www.voanews.com/content/explosion-kills-ten-afghan-girls/1566267.html

Young lives just as valued by their parents and just as tragic that they were killed by another human being while doing their normal daily activities. Both just as tragic and deserving equal attention for your prayers and thoughts.

I can not for the life of me give any meaning or reason to these deaths as they are far beyond my understanding. Suffice to say that we made this world that we live in and we will need to face the consequences of the decisions that we made. For now, all I can offer is a prayer for comfort for the families of those who have been lost and a prayer that we will actually have the courage to make the hard choices so that this does not happen again.We can only pray for this.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 19:14