Women are REALLY Relational

Last night Les and I went to see Les Miserables, actually drove to Fort Worth to see it in a theater instead of waiting until its out on DVD like we usually do. I Love The Story of Les Miz!  I have seen the musical twice at the Bass Hall. Considering the cost,of shows at the Bass and my budget, that is a REALLY big deal! We were very excited about the movie COMINT out and could NOT believe it did not come to Stephenville. Shame, Cinema Six...bad, bad...
Anyway, we took the time to go see it; soooo worth it. The first time I saw it on stage, I stood and wept at the end, uncontrollably, I was so moved by the story of redemption, forgiveness, grace vs law, love, relationships. All of these are brought out even stronger in the movie because You can get the emotions of the characters; you see their faces, hear the agony in their songs. Also, you can understand every word they say. Every scene makes complete sense, you are never wondering what happened. Hugh Jackman is great, and Anne Hathaway really amazing. I forgot she was acting, her portrayal of a hopeless single mother was so real. When the movie was over, we just sat watching the credits. I was barely able to breathe, and could not stop crying. It wasn't just totally saaaad, it was just so moving.

When we were leaving, we made a rest room stop. The Ladies room was full of crying women standing in line. The conversations went something like this...

Did you just come out of Les Miserables?
Yes, wasn't it amazing.
I can't stop crying.
Have you see it before?
Is it this good on stage?
I've never seen it before, I can't stop crying.
I didn't think she (pointing to her friend) was going to make it.
What an amazing story.
Oh, Fantine.
I love the ending.
It was so good.
I KNOW.
Yes, the Bass Hall production was wonderful, but I understood everything better in the movie.
I didn't know what the story was. It was so sad.

Les was waiting when I walked out. I just said, "I love women."
There were no conversations in the men's room.
Women are always ready to share.

The Unknown God

Acts 17:22-28

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24  The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,   25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27  that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
"'In him we live and move and have our being';

When I have read this portion from the book of Acts, I have always thought that the people of Athens were very religious, that they had altars and temples to every god they knew about, and they had an altar set up to cover any god that they did not know, just in case they left someone out. But, today I read something that made their action clear and profound.

The ancient Greeks believed in many gods, thousands in fact, a god for every need, every situation. The gods of Rome and Greece were more like superheros, beings with very human characteristics, but with power to do a lot of damage. But, according to a Greek philosopher, Porphyry of Tyre, who lived AD 234–c. 305, they also believed that there was one god above all others. He wrote, "The first God is incorporeal, immovable, and invisible...neither is vocal language nor internal speech adapted to the highest God." They believed that this God over all other gods was a formless spirit being, distant, invisible, unknowable, a god who did not show himself or reveal himself to humans, who was concerned with humans, and not moved by their plight.

When Paul showed up in Athens, he would have known this. He was explaining to the people that this God who they believed was above all the other gods, was in fact real. He was the creator of everything, Master of all in heaven and earth. But, He is not distant and unknowable, hidden and unapproachable, unconcerned and uncaring. He wants to be known. His hope is that his creatures will seek Him, and, if they do, they will find Him.

It is wonderful to me to see that Paul introduced these people, not to a God they had not heard of before, but to The God they believed was there, but was too hidden, too distant for them to ever know. What hope this would have brought them.

We serve and love the Great God, who has revealed Himself to us.

John 1
  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 
18  No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side,  he has made him known. 

Christmas Morning

It is early on Christmas morning. We have few plans for the day. We celebrate Christmas with our children and grandchildren the Sunday before Christmas, to make schedules easier. So, today will be simple. We will join Emily and Doug for breakfast, mostly to enjoy the fun and excitement of the children showing off their new toys. The rest of the day will be spent packing. That's ok, it will be good to get that done. And, we had a great time on Sunday, enjoying a meal together, giving gifts to the grandchildren (it's always the cheapest, simplest, last minute item that ends up being the favorite toy), and having a gift exchange game with the adults.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, was a hard day for me. This was the first Christmas after losing my Dad, and my Mom has declined drastically since last Christmas. A few other situations were also on my heart, which altogether made me sad. We ran a few errands during the day, really didn't have enough to keep occupied, then arrived at my sister's house just as she and her son were taking my mother into the house.  Mother was having a good day. She enjoyed being surrounded by her family. She "walked" around in her wheelchair and hugged every one, smiling, visiting.

The most difficult part of the evening for me was our traditional singing of Christmas Carols. We tried to remember when we started this, but all we could come up with was that close to 50 years ago, my parents went to a party where they sang songs, and they copied the song sheet that was used (I can't figure out how they made copies then), and we have been singing every Christmas Eve since then. My Dad lead the singing for many years, until he passed the responsibility on to one of his grandsons. Although Jon officially lead, Dad continued to start every song. As soon as we ended one, before we could catch our breath, he would start the next one, and he sang them fast, even Silent Night. Daddy enjoyed this so much. He loved being with his family, and being in the living room together singing the traditional songs of Christmas was the best. So, doing this without him was hard. I sat by my mother, who sang out with so much enthusiasm. She tries so hard to do things and she has a great attitude. It was sweet to hear her sing those songs she loves so much, but also so sad. I tried hard not to cry because I knew that would be upsetting.  As I told my sister at the end of the night, it was a good night, hard to get through, but worth it.

This morning, I woke up at 5:00 to the sound of thunder. I had to get up to see if it was actually raining, and it was. It was raining hard, and still is. Two hours of steady rain is such a gift. We need it so badly. Last night, the weather forecast showed possible rain or snow in the afternoon, but not in Stephenville, which was too far south. I prayed again for rain, asked God to please send it our way.

When I got up this morning, and stood on the porch watching the rain, my heart felt that this was a promise, that God is going to come through in some new ways, a reminder that He is here, that He can and will do the unexpected, unpredicted, unexplainable.