This is a Christmas post. Let’s talk about something to be happy for. Search about for some gratitude.
Here are few things on my list.
The 10 a.m. meeting. Many years ago (10? 20?) some local units started scrapping the three-hour block on a Sunday near Christmas and going with a single meeting for one hour, often combining all units in the building. The program includes a lot of music, maybe with an enhanced number or two, and a couple of short Christmas-y talks. A few years ago (3? 5?) the Church adopted this for the Church as a whole. Amen and amen.
$3 a gallon gasoline. Air fares might be up, but gas prices are down. That’s nice if you are traveling by car for Christmas (my preferred mode of travel). Hotel prices are still up. Fast food prices are still up, especially in California where a minimum wage hike has had an effect. Tips are up (restaurant servers probably deserve it). But everything is still cheap compared to Canada or Iceland, so enjoy it now. After Trump tariffs and deportations kick in, everything will cost twice as much next year. So party like it’s 1999.
Amazon. It has revolutionized Christmas as well as retailing in general. Some people skip the wrapping and just put the Amazon box under the tree. Ornate wrapping is overrated, just open the box. Anyone remember crowded stores, missing inventory (always the good stuff you want), and long checkout lines? Now you browse at your computer, get the best price, and it shows up at your door in a day or two. Hallelujah. Maybe you should tip the package gal if you catch her at your door. She probably deserves it.
Peace on earth and mercy mild. Well, not as much peace on earth this year. With Putin doubling down at every turn in Ukraine, there is no end in sight. Well, there is an end in sight, but let’s not talk about Armageddon at Christmas. If things continue this year as they have for the last two, the conflict could easily widen to include active participation by other countries (there is already massive passive participation by other countries). We are well past “Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.” Let us nevertheless pray for peace and mercy in this Christmas season.
Please share a thing or two you are happy for or grateful to have this year.
Wheat & Tares 
Moments of gratitude often show up in unexpected ways. One of my wife’s sewing group members signed up more than 20 years ago as an organ and tissue donor. Last week, at age 87, she suddenly died as a result of a heart attack. The day before she’d been dancing at the senior center. Anyway, the hospital has now informed her family that numerous individuals received tissue transplants as a result of her gift. Obviously, you’re never too old to be a donor. As a side note, it’s perhaps not coincidental that she signed that organ donor card around the same time as my liver transplants.
Don’t know where you live, but here, gas is $5.50
Merry Christmas all!
Ukraine is a worry for world stability, and restricting Putin. It will be an interesting test for Trump too. So far America has been on the side of freedom and right in Ukraine. But there are so far 14000 casualties from a population of 37 million.
Gaza is a very different situation. 45000 deaths from a population of 2 million. Israel is using American bombs to destroy gaza so it is uninhabitable. Destroying homes, businesses, infrastructure, hospitals and schools and government. They have cut off water, food, fuel, electricity, and medicine, and continue to bomb.
If you lived there, had had your house destroyed, and loved ones killed by Israel with the support of the US, and the only people resisting this were the elected government of gaza hamas. Who would you be supporting. Israel claims to want to destroy hamas. It has no exit strategy. Netenyahu is destroying the reputation of Israel and to a slightly less extent USA. The free world can not understand why America has not cut off weapons to Israel.
We are in for a tumultuous year.
At home my wife was making another batch af fruit mince pies yesterday when her kenwood chef heavy duty mixmaster died. We bought it second hand 50 years ago. We had to go out and buy another one or have no mince pies for Christmas. Unthinkable.
This Christmas at the NICU our grandson is in, some parents who once had a child in the NICU at Christmas brought in presents for all the parents spending Christmas in the NICU. Useful gift cards and things.
We spent Christmas in the pediatric ward of a Logan hospital when we were visiting my parents once when my kiddo had his first pneumonia at 7 months. It was awful. The nurses were very unwelcoming to me.
After that that we only traveled for specific medical reasons that needed to be met in other places, like Stanford or Sacramento Shriners.
My kiddo had repeated pneumonias and they were easier to endure in our local hospital that knew us well. We spent a couple birthdays there as well. Friends would kindly bring us cake in the hospital.