Up the Sunbeam

-- I can feel my own spine lengthen and stretch in empathic connection with the waves as they rise, and rise, tension building almost to breaking, until they finally arch their backs in defiant determination just before they commit to the forward, crashing, headlong fall into the waiting shoreline. Whatever sand and rocks await them, the water will both surrender and subdue. What is left of the mighty wave when the rocks are done with it? What is sand, but stone pounded fine by crashing waves? On the same day these giant waves were joyously galloping to shore, risking surrender to subdue, Drummer Boy set out for some beach combing. No matter that his age names him adult, when there is fun to be had on a wide open beach, he is a child at play, imagining all manner of adventures. I think this particular day he was caught somewhere between shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe and an episode of Man vs. Wild where he and Bear Grylls would be in full survival mode, needing to find shelter to st...

-- WWJD?   Widely recognized initials symbolizing the question "What would Jesus do?" Many believers wear it on bracelets, carry it on Bible covers, put it on their key chains, anyplace that will frequently remind them to check their actions against what they think Jesus might do. It's a good question to ask ourselves. Maybe there's another question.  Maybe there's more to it than knowing how Jesus might behave in a given situation.  Maybe that's the end and maybe there's a beginning I need to find first. Maybe it's less about what Jesus would do and more about who Jesus IS. Jesus, the great I Am who confined Himself to helpless infant. Jesus, the King of kings breathing sawdust as a carpenter. Jesus, the Christ wrapped in the frailty of human flesh. Jesus, the Creator of all becoming the servant of all. Jesus, the very Son of God choosing to call Himself the Son of Man. Jesus, the sinless God-man crushed beneath the weight of all humanity's ...

Celebrating is the easy part.  Lights, laughter, favorite food and sweet treats, songs that set bells a-jingle and us all warm and tingly with joy, and the Baby in the manger . . . yes, celebrating falls easy into our Christmas lives. It's living Christmas out in the gritty grind that is sometimes very, very hard. I must choose my words wisely to write this, I beg your patience for being deliberately vague about details. I don't WANT to be nice.  I don't WANT to pray for them. Mama Grizzly is growling low and menacing in me and I would like to unleash her to tell them about themselves.  I could have stood it if they had hurt me, but they hurt my cubs, and now are adding insult to injury--the Mama Grizzly crouches, ready to spring, everything in her screaming for the chance to put them in their place! Photo courtesy of freelargephotos.com, Copyright © 2010 David Chudnov All stirred up inside, alone in my living room, I called home to my parents to vent my m...

-- A surprise text message broke up the monotone of the workday. Drummer Boy was 4 stories below asking me to meet him there for lunch in an hour. Delighted, I shared the fun surprise with coworkers who "ooohed and aaaahed" over the marvel of an 18 year old son choo sing to come hang out with his mother! I beamed. We filled up the 30 minutes of my lunch break with talk of many things . We laughed and shared and caught up on things we haven't had as much time to talk about since I've been working--after all, for all his 18 years, I have been a stay-at-home -mom, ALWAYS there, ALWAYS available. It's not easy to adjust when things have changed from how they've been your whole life! As we got ready to go our separate ways for the afternoon, he spoke very grown up words of gratitude for the sacrifice I'm making to help the family--his description, not mine. He knows that this is a job for the purpose of a paycheck, and that there is no passion inspire...

-- Words are such small containers for the profound thoughts that come today in remembrance. Whether by choice or by necessity, those who have answered the call of a country's battle cry and a desperate world in trouble are to be honored above all. They who . . . -- do what must be done, --- sacrifice their own comfort, ---- t heir right to their own path, ----- their own dreams, ------ time with their own families . . . they stand head and shoulders above the rest of us on whose behalf they fight. They sacrifice their own way so we can . . . -- do what we want to do, --- live with the comforts of home, ---- pursue our own path, ----- dream our own dreams ------ love our families up close without interruption . . . we look up to them as the best among us. There is not a reward we could ever bestow on all the brave men and women who fight for our freedom that would be great enough--that's not why they fight anyway. The very best way we can reward them is by showin...