This year’s Hanukkah celebration ended last night. So about four years ago I’m watching a holiday special called Nina’s Hanukkah Adventure. The animated character that looks so much like me in the still shot above is actually Nina’s rabbi. Not only does it look like I got sucked into a cartoon the blonde hair, blued eyed lady could pass for Teresa. I cropped those those headshots and used it as my profile pic for a while.
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I found it. This picture was taken last year at Unity Baptist but a week or two ago I could not locate it. The cover image on the UBC Facebook page is a gorgeous picture of an Advent wreath from a few years ago but the colors were not right. It’s a picky little thing and I may be the only one that cares but in the picture above are three purple candles and one pink. whereas here all the candles (except the center) are white. At any rate we are two Sundays down and two to go in our season of Advent. Tomorrow we will light that pink Angles candle, sing Joy to the World and talk about our source of joy coming into the world. I have a preaching appointment on Monday with our local association pastors and music leaders. Unless things change I’m planning to suggest we rethink the angel choir.
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It’s a chocolate moose, get it? This is what the internet was made for. You’ve made it to the weekend, welcome to the Deja Vu.
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Keeping the weeks of Advent is one way to keep Christ in Christmas. The school Christmas program may not include hymns that mention the birth of Jesus and local city ordinances may prohibit a public display of a live nativity. Maybe these are things you can do something about, maybe not. What we can and should do is read the scriptures and sing the hymns in our homes and in our churches that put the focus of Christmas squarely where it belongs. It is ultimately my responsibility to make sure that my child learns about the true meaning of Christmas and not the public school system, Charlie Brown, the Hallmark Channel or other thing. Advent is a season of preparation that gets us ready to celebrate the incarnation. Read more here if Advent is new to you or something you might be interested in learning more about.
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That is a cornucopia also known as a horn of plenty. It is a common image this time of year (although some readers of a certain age may recognize “the horn” from The Hunger Games). Pictured above is a ceramic wall plaque that came from my grandparents’ farm house. It hung in my mother’s kitchen for most of the years I lived at home and has followed Teresa and I through every move. In spite of all the jokes and memes about 2020 there is much to be thankful for. Imagine if this pandemic had been 20 years ago, before Zoom meetings were possible and video streaming was virtually nonexistent. Grocery delivery and pickup services are not just modern conveniences but have saved lives over the past year. We have all lost someone this year and perhaps know someone that is quarantined or hospitalized right now; and yet we are abundantly and richly blessed if we take honest stock of all that we still have. To read this post you must be not only alive and (presumably) well but have electricity, internet and a smartphone or laptop. That puts you in a high ranking category of wealth and privilege among the world’s 7+ billion population. This year has been tough. And God is good. Let’s be thankful this week and go ahead and look forward to 2021.
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There are 151 national cemeteries in 42 states and Puerto Rico but only from Arlington can you see the Washington Monument and the US Capitol. There are very few headstones in this shot because this section of the cemetery has not been filled yet. On November 10th, the day before Veterans’ Day, my mother-in-law was laid to rest and received military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Juanita Caroline Goad served in the United States Army from 1969 until 1991 and continued to work in Civil Service until she retired at 65. Family members gathered from Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and as Connecticut this week. It was a tropical 75 degrees at 2 PM in the middle of November and much of the fall foliage is still hanging around.
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What I like to do for the Satur-deja Vu is share human interest stories, things from my real life, a fun did you know kind of entry, and yes, mention a news headline or two. It’s a week in review because we are not all watching and listening to the same things. There is no way you missed this week’s ongoing… and going and going… election results. So the meme above is timely, topical and hopefully caused you to crack a smile. This election cycle is just so 2020 we shouldn’t have expected anything else. But all the news isn’t bad…
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In addition to Reformation Day, October 31st is also Halloween. If you’re into Halloween as a fun thing kids do and nothing more, Happy Monday was full of images, cartoons and puns like the one above. The Hebrews 11 Bible Study was pretty good this week, imho, and iMonk Radio was published on Thursday per the usual.
Here’s some other stuff that happened this week:
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What is this world coming to? I don’t know about you but this might have been the last day of my Best Buy training. Welcome to this week’s Deja Vu.
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Hunger Walk goes virtual. A lot of things have been different this year if they were not cancelled altogether. Movie theaters and airlines are suffering greatly. Because of the economic impact of Covid-19 the need for food assistance is greater than in years past so we decided cancelling our annual fundraising event would not be the right thing to do. I posted a big group picture of everyone that showed up last year but many churches and individuals made donations without taking part in the actual walk. So this year anyone that wants to walk can take a walk anywhere they would like and share a pic on social media. Donations can be made online and we will have an in-person drop site. I’m not asking my readers to support this local cause; if you live in Calhoun or Gordon County you’ve probably seen or heard or ads. There is likely a similar need in your community and there are ways to reach out even if it’s not the way you’ve always done it.
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The Master's Table 