Coming Soon - the first in a series

In time for Christmas I plan to publish the first in what will be a series of Short Meditations on Hymns and Carols. The first volume will contain thirteen very short meditations on the Christmas carol, "The 12 Days of Christmas." Legend has it that each of the gifts represents a different aspect of the Catholic catechism so that British children could be reminded of the tenets of their faith at a time when it was illegal to practice Catholicism in England. So, after a first Christmas Eve meditation on the giver, the True Love, this devotional will feature one of the gifts each day through the evening of Epiphany, Twelfth Night. The meditations are short enough to be used for family devotions, for group meditations, and for individual devotions. A suggested prayer in response to the devotion and a list of Bible verses that connect to the meditation are included. You can expect this to be available for the Amazon Kindle in time for Christmas.

 

once upon a time....

Christmas is over-rated. The current barrage of gift-driven commercials began the minute Santa Claus stepped off his sleigh at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last Thursday morning. Black Friday began before Friday started and then cyber Monday came and went. Both shopping days were disappointments according to my sources. I've never participated in either one.

Indeed, being a single mother of many children made Christmas worse especially because well-meaning individuals made assumptions that I could not afford to provide a "good" Christmas to the children so they stepped in unasked with lavish gifts that overpowered the simple ones I did wrap.

On the inside, jealousy wrestled with gratitude every year...even with grown children today I struggle with inadequacy - call me Scrooge if you must.

Christmas involved grief and cruelty for Terry Soldan too. She is the main character in my novel, Pastor's Ex-Wife. Christmas stung Terry because her ex-husband, Pastor Ed, used it as an attempt to assert his power against her, exacerbating his less than innocent ability to block her from her children and grandchildren.

If only we could each be delighted in the simple things that drop from on high feather-like unasked at our feet.

Once upon a time long ago and far away the best gift lay swaddled in a manger....I wonder....