Anticipation

S. and I are excited for our family to arrive for Christmas. The house is clean the beds are ready and the tree is decorated. We are now in the years of not expecting to get to share every Christmas or any of the holidays with all of our children, we have to share them of course with our children's spouse’s families. In fact E.#1 and hubbie will be heading off to California later this week, so we will drive down to Colorado to have an exchange and brunch with them before they go. We now have grandchild number two on the way, so 2011 is shaping up to be a very memorable year of anticipation.

This morning we attended the annual children's Christmas program at our church. It never disappoints in bringing glee to our hearts. One can always count on the loud and enthusiastic but off key child, the ham who enjoys the limelight, the costume malfunctions, the child who runs offstage in a hurry to use the restroom and then comes running back, the ones who forget their lines and have to start again, and all the other unscripted moments that their parents/ grandparents dutifully capture on their video cameras. What fun, we wait all year for it.

Now our anticipation switches over to the arrival of family and celebrating the advent for its core meaning as the birth of our Savior bringing light into a world otherwise doomed to darkness and despair. Many of course still do not realize that they need a savior. I do a lot of reading on various science blogs and a high proportion of the most vocal writers are outspoken atheists. I have concluded that they haven’t got much of anything to offer besides to just find your own meaning in life and go for all the experiences you can. I have no problem with science itself as an enterprise and think it is thrilling to read about the advances in human understanding of the natural world and universe, but do not think it has much to offer as a foundation for living and coping with all that life entails.

On Sunday evenings for at least fifteen years we have joined a group who meets at church and spends an hour praying for the needs of people both within the congregation and out. Two of the couples are in their eighties and have weathered many of life’s storms including many sad things, a suicide of a beloved grandchild and the cancer death of an only child. They have endured physical ailments and cancers of their own as well and yet they are full of life, joy and service to others. What a tribute to their faith. Both couples have kept their marriages together for fifty- sixty years and are still devoted partners. This is my best answer to atheists, show me how you deal with the problems of life over a lifetime without faith. I doubt they could have any kind of victory like these dear ones whose faith has sustained them. The Savior is a gift to all who accept Him. He is not just the giver of eternal life He enriches this present life and enables us to bear the inevitable difficulties with grace and love.

Lou