The Ghost of Christmas past

The character of Scrooge that Charles Dickens created has haunted us all ever since his creation! The stingy old man that had to face the Ghosts of Christmasses past before he became compassionate over the Christmas period seems to pervade the entire human condition at this time of year.
Throughout the year people do terrible things to each other and suddenly, just before christmas, they put on the breaks and skid to a halt, to be kind towards each other for a day or two, even if it is only sharing a family meal!
In actual fact Jesus came to show us a completely different life style: He went about doing good (all the time, not only at his birthday!)healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him (all the time!)
My friend Mike Wood in Sydney Australia, who has always stimulated thought and discussion with his sharp wit and questioning mind, sent me an email today on Christmas day to pose the question: what are we really celebrating,the historical or personal event of Christ being born?
With that he obviously refers to the 'born-again' experience of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord. When he is born in a life it is the true Christmas, in other words. This is a spiritual birth and not a natural one.
So in effect Mike said, 'happy birthday!' to all the believers who had already accepted Christ and are celebrating their next birthday in Christ, rather than simply remembering the historical event as a religious observance.
Quite reformational, I think.
It is good that all the world celebrates the event - all do not celebrate Easter though! Yet is is good to have moments of high celebration where everything comes to a halt and people observe the goodness that life can offer rather than the dismal, depressing rat race they are involved in.
So let the Chinese, the Russians, the Indians, the Argentinians, the Alaskans, the Americans, the Europeans, the Africans, the Australians all go ahead and celebrate Christmas, but let them not wait for the Ghost of Christmas past to remind them to be compassionate!
The life that Jesus Christ offers those who believe in him, actually celebrates His goodness every day, not just on Christmas day! It is possible to enjoy the spirit of Christmas every day of your life if you have Christ within the hope of glory!
As the earth had to receive a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, so our hearts can receive the resurrected Christ by faith and His Holy Spirit can begin to change our lives and give us His kind of divine life. This life is called Eternal Life and is freely given to all who will confess their need of Christ's sacrifice for our sins and who believe and confess that God raised Jesus from the dead - in other words, believe in a living Christ not just a dead, historical event.
This could change Christmas experiences forever, for whoever dares to believe!
Don't let the ghosts of Christmasses Past haunt you any longer trying to be a better person, but let Christ change and remould you completely form within - by His Spirit so that you can celebrate Christ's birth in you every year, rather than remember him as a little baby.
Impossible?
Well, everything about Christ Jesus' life is impossible and miraculous: from his immacualte conception, to his virgin birth, to his death and supernatural resurrection from the dead and his divine ascension on high. So we can also expect His promised return - in the same way he went up, in a cloud, as the angels promised his disciples who saw him ascend.
His miraculous life is available to all who would believe. How about you, my friend?

Cool Hand Paul

News often reach me a bit late, because I'm often away from news - somewhere in Nigeria, or Zimbabwe or in Korea! And when I discover something that actually means something to me, I feel robbed, as if it happened while I wasn't around.
This happened to me when I found out that Paul Newman passed away. He was 84 and his second wife, Joan Woodward held his hand as he stepped over into eternity. She gave up her acting to let him pursue his acting career. She made a few movies but mainly raised the family.
The first movie I saw Paul in was 'Hombre'. He played the part of an Apache scout. Although he did not have many lines to deliver, his piercing blue eyes stare, captivated my attention. It made me feel that I too would like to act one day. Then I saw 'Somebody up there likes me' that told the Rocky Marciano story. Steve McQueen also had a small part in it. And then I tried to see as many of Paul's movies as I could: Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,The Sting, The Color of Money, Hustler, The Mackintosh Man and several others. His non-chalance way of actor's studio way of acting as the anti-hero really made me like the roles he played. But he liked motor racing most of all. It excited him. He played in a movie about a motor car racing ace, but I can't remember the name of it. All I remember is how he turned around and hit the guy that was messing with his wife. And I remember the way he slept, with his arm over his eyes.
I've read that he doesn't like to watch his own movies and that he shaves in the shower so as not to look into the mirror. His family says he was down to earth and likeable, just like the roles he played.
He had his share of troubles, lost his son through a drug overdose, but he managed to stay married for many years to the same lady. They lived away from the Hollywood glits and glamour.
With his salad dressing he made $200 million and gave it all away to charity!
Robert Redfort that starred with him in probably two of the best ever buddy movies (Butch and Sting)said,'I've lost a friend'. He died because of cancer. The doctors said that he could probably live longer if he used certain medicine, but Paul and his wife Joanne decided together to 'let it go'.
How short this life span is. It is a hand's width. Today you are here and tomorrow you are gone. Paul Newman was definitely one of the actors that inspired me to act and now he is gone. All that remains is a memory and the movies he had made.
It is an era that closed with him. The Steve McQueens and Paul Newmans are now off the center stage and new young actors step forward...but, alas, its only for a while.
Yet, if someone made you feel good, it was a life well lived. Paul always made feel good movies, mostly.
Somebody up there loves me, made you feel taller as you walked out of the cinema.
Cool Hand Luke made you realise you can have fun - even in prison!
Butch Cassidy gave you a sense of the joy of living - even in a Western!
The Sting almost convinced you to bet on horse races because him and Robert Redford had such fun in their wheeling and dealing!
Thanks Paul, God rest your soul, if a movie was ever made about your life I think it should be called Cool Hand Paul!

Tying Shoelaces

One of the most frustrating things to me was tying shoelaces, three, four times a day! Until at the impressionable age of 19 I saw my uncle tie his Barker English leather round point shoes and make a double knot! That discovery saved me a lot of time and lot of wasted emotional energy - about shoelaces!
Remember the first time you tied your own shoelaces? It took all the concentration you could muster, while chewing your tongue on the side of your mouth and hoping you will not get your fingers caught in the knot.
Then it happened: your shoes were tied! And you could walk off, proudly, knowing you accomplished a seemingly impossible task, all by yourself. Only to discover, a few hours later, that you had to redo everything. The whole process had to be repeated, labouriously.
Well, a double knot is the key.
I saw how my uncle enjoyed tying his shoes properly.
'Shoes must fit tightly to keep your feet in shape. Its no use to have your foot move about in your shoes. You will develop all sorts of problems. So if you tie the laces properly it keeps your feet in the right position in the shoes and you can walk around town without having to check if your shoe laces are still tied.'
I've often thought about that...if you know what to do, it is a pleasure doing it.
And obviously vice versa: if you don't know how to do something, it is a pain!
This applies on all levels, really!
If you don't know how to bake a cake, you hate it. If you don't know how to do book keeping or administration, you hate it. The same with budgeting, with paying accounts, with making a bed, with tidying a cupboard, with stacking things in the garage, with keeping your school notes, with filing your correspondence and bank statements...the list is endless. Think about it.
The things you like doing are things you were trained to do properly - and you saw someone actually enjoy doing it.
That is how I discovered cricket: Andre le Roux taught me and showed me how to enjoy it. He always had a smile on his face when he coached me in their back yard. And even though he was much older than I, he never made me feel 'small'. He invited me to come and watch where he played for Florida Park High's 1st XI. I would pack my sandwiches and ride on my BSC three-speed bike to spend the whole day in the sun, watching them play. I drank water from a tap on the school grounds. Cold drinks were too expensive in those days!
And I saw how my mother enjoyed praying, how my father enjoyed pastoring a church, how a prophet enjoyed prophesying and how a preacher enjoyed preaching, how someone enjoyed working with a computer, how my father enjoyed driving a car, how a cook enjoyed making spaghetti and how an old black man relished making porridge!
The first one to teach me to play the piano was our gardener...I was 5 years old in Benoni, 2nd avenue, Northmead. When my parents went out in the morning he would come into the house, wash his hands and tell me to never tell my parents that he played the piano. He would jam for an hour and I would stand next to him and watch how he played, 'In the Mood' and other favourites. No wonder that when I play in other countries they say,'you play like a black man even though you are white!' The same with my Hammond Organ playing, because African Americans taught me in Miracle Valley, Arizone.
Think about the things you can't do or do not like doing: you have not been taught or trained by someone who actually enjoyed doing it. It is the art of the tutor to instill the love of the subject into the pupil.
Think of the subjects at school...which ones you liked and ones you hated...
Well, Jesus Christ, came to teach us how to love one another and He showed us how to enjoy it! For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
The thing you love is easy to do, isn't it? You feed the cat because you love the cat.You put up with things in people that you love. You care for a babay because you love the baby. If it is not your baby you won't last three days!
Something birthed in your own heart is something you will stick to and never give up, because it is part of you. If someone else tells you what to do you soon get tired of it.
Your treasure lies where your heart it.
But today's sneakers and running type shoes have no laces. They use velcro and take away the joy of tying laces! But the lesson still remains the same!
It is the little things in life that makes life worth living. The art is to find enjoyment in doing the little chores of daily living. Washing dishes, making a bed, ironing...clean the pool. You don't have to study Bhuddism before you fix your motorcycle with concentration - just learn from someone who loves what they are doing and receive impartation that will change your life.
Jesus said,'I have come to give you life and life more abundantly!' He knew how to live. Its the best to learn from someone who knows what he is doing. He later on said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life - no man comes to the Father, but by Me.' Either He spoke the truth or He was the greatest conman that ever lived!
My experience so far, as a believer, is that He knew exactly what He was talking about. So I became a follower of the Man from Galilee...and I'm enjoying it!
John the Baptist said of Him,'I am not worthy to tie His shoelaces...' Think about that for a while!

School closes

Schools closes. A note in every dairy, every calender. The next note is, school opens. This happens several times per year. Parents design their year and their days around the school calender.
But today is something more significant than that. Our youngest boys is finishing his Prep School Days. He went to the same private school from grade 0 to grade 7 and today they are leaving that building. They will not play on those fields again. They are going to College next year, God willing!
How can I say thank you for all the things the good Lord has done for our boy during these 8 years? He kept him, protected him, strengthened him, gave him favour, helped him to excell at academics,sport and music; he built his character through all the adversity and the opposition he had to face; he learned how to put up with certain things he could not change; he knows how to stand his man; how to make strong decisiotn that he alone could make and that will influence his future; he learned to stand for what he believes in; and he took his punishment when it was handed out.
It is the last time he will put on those clothes. It is the last time he will wear that cap. He will fold away his first team cricket clothes and keep them in his cupboard for a while.
It is the beginning of a new chapter in his life.
All parents experience it with their children.
School closes. School opens.
Today is one of those days, but today is just more special than other days.