***

“You can give me one,” 6-year-old Linda Belinda said to her friend, Tommy. “You have eighty-three million of them.”

“Nope,” Tommy said emphatically as he thrust his hand back inside the bag of barbecue potato chips.

“God wants you to share,” Linda pleaded.

Tommy crammed a fistful of chips into his mouth without responding. He turned the bag further away from the girl, closed his eyes, and smiled as he crunched the crispy snacks as if he were in a state of euphoria.

This made Linda furious.

“You’re being very selfish.”

“Gogitcherown,” Tommy managed to say as he chewed triumphantly.

“I’m hungry, too,” Linda whined. “I’m starving.”

Tommy paused and glanced at Linda, then gazed back at his still half-full bag of treats.

“You can have the crumbs at the bottom,” he conceded and resumed munching.

“Eww. That’s where all your slobber is from your greasy fingers.”

“Take it or leave it,” Tommy said as reddish drool oozed out of the corner of his mouth.

“God’s going to punish you for being so selfish.”

Tommy glared at Linda Belinda.

“Remember when you didn’t give me one of your choklit chip cookies when you were walking around with a hundred of ‘em?”

“Yes,” Linda said, her anger turning into guilt.

“Well,” said Tommy, “did God punish you for not sharing those with me?”

Linda’s face burst into a jubilant grin.

“Yes, God did. I had a terrible tummy ache after eating all those cookies by myself. I hurt really bad and I had to take some icky medicine and I couldn’t eat my dinner and was still very sick the next day.”

Tommy’s hand paused in mid-grab and he gave Linda a doleful look.

And he handed her the bag of chips.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead they put it on its stand,

and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way,

Let your light shine before men,

that they may see your good deeds

and praise your Father in heaven.

- Matthew 5:14-16

Giving to others shouldn’t have to come tied with a bow.

Unwrap your heart to others this joyous season.

May God be with you all this Christmas.

any good thing therefore that I can do,

or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature,

let me do it now;

let me not defer or neglect it,

for I shall not pass this way again.

***

Stephen Grellet

1773-1855

French born Quaker Minister

Not your thing?

Look at attending church with this perspective:

If you’re ill and cannot get better by yourself, you go to a doctor. If you’re seriously ill, you go to a hospital.

Look at church as a hospital for sinners.

If you attend, get the most out of the experience.

Speak with others.

You may meet someone whose faith is stronger than yours, and benefit with a ‘faithcracker’.

A ‘faithcracker’ is a lot like a firecracker, only your faith explodes in your mind and soul, and with any luck, you can keep those embers white hot until your next visit.

Or better still, you may meet someone whose faith is waning, or not as intense as your own, and you can provide the spark that ignites a ‘faithcracker’ for them.

Best of all, honoring God and sharing your beliefs with others is highly contagious.

CAUTION: You may exhibit the following symptoms:

Compassion

Love

Joy

But rest assured, these are elements of the cure for what ails you.

Keep praying.

God is listening.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

When you cut yourself off from God…

You lose sight of how ugly sin really is.

Drink from His cup…

or you’ll always be thirsty.

-Jefferson Moore (The Stranger, 2007)