  Spiritual
This week: Edited by: larryp
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Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love,
the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
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Osiyo oginali
(Hello friends in Cherokee dialect)
By the time you read this newsletter, Christmas Day 2008 will be upon us or will maybe be a Christmas past. Christmas is a time of learning, if we keep our eyes and hearts open to what is happening around us. I would like to reflect upon a few things that have been especially rewarding for me this holiday season and hopefully, my reflections will stir each of you to reflect upon your holiday season experiences and maybe write about them.
On Sunday night December 21, our church had a candlelight service. The pastor asked people to come forward and tell what Christmas meant to them. One woman went forward and began singing in her native language. She and her family came to the United States from Ghana to attend the University of Kansas and began coming to our church. They are one of three indigenous families from Ghana who attend our church. As the woman began to sing in her native dialect, the members of all three families joined her in singing. It was a very lively song and one of the women danced as they sang. It was not planned or practiced; it was spontaneous and beautiful. For me, it was the highlight of the candlelight service. As I reflected, I wondered how much racial bias we could eliminate if we only learned to appreciate one another across cultures, in more than tolerance – in acceptance, love, appreciation, and reconciliation.
A man I have known for many years lost his wife to a long battle with cancer on Christmas Day 2007. This was the first Christmas the family has had without their wife, mother, and grandmother. She was a much loved and admired woman and like many women, she was the glue that bonded her family together. I learned that this year, instead of giving one another gifts, the family took the money they would have spent on gifts, combined it, and contacted a local food pantry to find two needy families. With the gift money, they bought food and gifts for the two families. It was the kind of legacy this woman left for her family. It was a very unselfish act on behalf of a family who lost a dear loved one on Christmas Day one year ago.
This year, in our community, we began a program that assists homeless families with children by providing temporary shelter and food in a safe environment. Many of the homeless shelters are not conducive to families with young children and most families who are homeless will not take their children into these shelters. These families are people, good people, just like you and me who have come across hard times and lost their homes for various reasons. We provide temporary assistance to help them get on their feet. It is a volunteer program that expects much of the guest families as they work to find permanent housing and get back on their feet. This Christmas season, I have been driving the van to pick the families up at local churches where they spend the night and bring them back to the day center. I do this very early in the morning. As I warm up the van, scrape ice from the windshield, and trudge through the snow, I become aware of what a warm place to stay and a warm meal means to these families with young children. For me, this is what the Spirit of Christmas is about. As one who grew up in poverty and lived in government housing projects in my childhood, I understand the fears and instabilities these families face.
My last story is of a special day of shopping. I am not a shopper. Most of the shopping I do is at eBay and Amazon. When a man asked me if I had all my Christmas shopping done, I honestly replied that my wife does the Christmas shopping and I only shop for one gift – my wife’s – and “no” I responded, I had not yet done my Christmas shopping. That afternoon, my step-daughter (20 years of age) took me shopping to help find the gift for my wife. I had a good time with my step-daughter in the short hour we shopped. (I told you I wasn’t a good shopper – we were actually in the store about ten minutes – eight minutes was to have the store employees wrap the gift.) But it was the first time my stepdaughter and I have had quality time together. She was 15 when my wife and I married and there was a bit of jealousy because she felt I had stolen her mother. It was an hour well spent and one I will remember.
These are my reflections on Christmas 2008 or the holiday season 2008. What are yours? Write them in a static item, send me a link, and I will feature them in one of the January 2009 Spiritual Newsletters.
larryp
Have a great 2009! Be safe over New Years.
~~The editing team of the Spiritual Newsletter.
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spidey 
Your newsletter made me smile. I couldn't agree more that family (particularly a large family unit) is very important. I know I've felt its effect on my life. Thanks for the great newsletter! 
Spidey, I am delighed my newsletter made you smile. The older I get, the more I realize just how important family is.
Larry
Sophurky 
Great newsletter Larry, thank you so much for sharing about the significance of family during the holiday season. I especially loved the last lines about using up all the film. Nicely said.
Thank you Sophie. It always a good thing when you say you enjoyed my newsletter.
Cemetarykat says,Bring it on! 
Larry,
Thanks, all the way around, for this edition of the spiritual newsletter. Perfect timing for my dwindling faith to be revived. Great things are said here. I pray many listen.
Holidays use to mean so much to me, now each is marked with a life taken. Things change and loved ones leave us, holidays will never be the same for me. I have faith for reasons yet unknown.
Cemetarykat
~May your angel watch over you, always!~
Thank you for your warm words CemetaryKat and thanks for writing the wonderful story of you Dad and your family. I am sure many of our readers received encouragement just from reading your story.
Meg
Wonderful thoughts and words in this newsletter, Larry. As we gather with our families to celebrate this Holy Season we should all remember it is a time of Peace and Goodwill and carry this thought throughout the whole year.
Thank you for featuring my poem "A CHRISTMAS PAST." in this week's issue.
Annie was one of those who were lonely all the year not just during the holiday season.
Cheers Meg.
Meg, your words always encourage me. It was a wonderful poem about Annie, thanks for allowing me to use feature it.
Thanks to each of you who take the time to read the Spiritual Newsletter and to StoryMaster and StoryMistress for allowing us to be on the editing team.
Have a safe holiday season.
The Spiritual Newsletter editing team
Sophurky
kittiara
larryp
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Spiritual: December 24, 2008 Issue [#2790]
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