Christmas & Money

Last night while doing some Christmas shopping at Barnes & Noble, I was browsing the books on investment and money. There was a young man (younger than me anyway) browsing the same section and he asked me 'are you an investor?' I responded that I have had various investments at different times. We chatted a bit and in response to something he said I told him 'I am interested in money not for the sake of money, but for what it can accomplish, for the good it can do.'

So at this time of year when we may be more aware of how much we are spending and wondering if we should be spending so much, just a few thoughts. (And please don't take this as a plea to go spend more money! It's not! I am suggesting that we all live deliberate lives every day of the year, so that like Scrooge upon his redemption it was said: “... that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”)

"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” Charles Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol'

“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. 'Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!” Charles Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol'

"I'm telling you that although wealth is often used in dishonest ways, you should use it to make friends for yourselves. When life is over, you will be welcomed into an eternal home.” Jesus
Luke 16:9 God's Word Translation

So to summarize, money is an opportunity to do good, for your family, for your church, for your community. Don't be like the 'old Scrooge', be like the 'new Scrooge'. If all we do is use money to transact purchases, paying for goods and services for ourselves, then we have missed the larger possibilities. We have made our world too small. Rather (and this is what Jesus says) 'buy friends'. Yes, Jesus says to 'buy friends'! Be generous, help the needy, live and walk like a king! Make the world bigger again. Let your heart be large and see the possibilities of doing good in this fallen world. Become a redeemer, buying back and setting free that which is bound. You don't have to be a millionaire to do this. It starts with your heart and then you proceed by shortening the distance between your heart and your pocketbook. Because money does matter in the scheme of things. It's not the most important thing, but it does reveal to us the condition of our heart. Getting this right allows us to take first steps toward dwelling every day in the Kingdom of God! And so let us be like the 'new Scrooge':

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

Charles Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol'

Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year!

Yeah I know. It's been a while. I could say I've been busy, which would be true, but we can all say that. So I'll skip the excuses and just suffice it to say I'm a lazy writer. I shouldn't be. It's not like I don't know what to write. That's the funny thing, I've got so much to say I really don't know when to stop. I've never had writer's block. Everything leaps out at me. Really!

Tonight at about 8 pm, I went for a walk. Mostly to get exercise, but it also gives me a chance to think and enjoy the outdoors, especially since I'm in an office all day. I have several routes to choose from.  All of them rather scenic and make great opportunities to think. The sun had not set yet although it was heading that direction, and the weather was about as perfect as what one could expect in August. A slight almost September coolness to the air. The sun was lighting up some perfectly beautiful clouds with shades of yellow and pale salmon set in a soft blue sky that literally glowed and makes one thankful one lives in Nebraska. It sounds like such a cliché but it is so true that the weather changes here constantly. A few days ago it was around a hundred degrees with high humidity and now the cool dry air makes you think you must have got on a plane and flew to Hawaii or something.

The twilight or 'gloaming' is my favorite time of day. Not to be overly romantic, but it seems I read somewhere that the Scots (of who I am descended) and perhaps the Irish (also descended) believed that this time of day (or is it night?) the pixies or elves or something could be seen. I don't subscribe to that but would agree that it inspires the imagination. I am more inclined to think of 'unseen angels' as in the old song 'Precious Memories'.

Precious memories, unseen angels,
Sent from somewhere to my soul.
How they linger, ever near me,
And the sacred past unfolds.

And since I have a bit of Scotland in me (love the bagpipes, but will pass on the haggis), it is also appropriate to quote a little Robert Burns concerning the 'gloaming'. This is the third stanza from the poem “I'll Meet Thee On The Lea Rig”.

The hunter lo'es the morning sun;
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher seeks the glen
Adown the burn to steer, my jo:
Gie me the hour o' gloamin' grey,
It maks my heart sae cheery O,
To meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

Lincoln does a great job with it's hiking and bike trails. Family friendly, long and winding through parks and residential and business areas. I like the ones that have a 'woodsy' feel to them. Evergreens, oak, maples, and elms. Tonight the locusts were buzzing mightily with a slight blend of tree frogs. The further I walked the quieter the locusts became, giving way to the tree frogs and finally the tree frogs gave way to the 'croakers', at least that's what I call them, that is the frogs that live in the wetlands. As I type this with the windows of the house open, enjoying the fan pulling the air in I can hear the crickets now.

All of this to say, I feel very thankful to have this. I know many don't. I hope and pray that they can find some sense of God's beauty wherever they dwell. If they lack the nature that I enjoy may they find comfort in the Psalms and the Gospels. Beauty and truth and peace, all dwelling together. Soon enough winter snow and ice and wind will be here. But the Eternal Word is always the same today, tomorrow and yesterday. And there is a promise of a City that will come down out of heaven, the bride prepared for Christ. So when this summer fades, the leaves drop, and the coolness turns to chilly and then to cold; we will still have this promise that no matter what happens in this life, no matter where we go or end up, if we have Jesus as Lord; we have the promise of Eternal Life!

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

John 1:12 NLT