DECEMBER 2019 EDITION
THE WOODLANDS UMC
POINT CLIFF RITTER May I be one of the first to say “Merry Christmas” this year? I doubt it. It seems that Christmas Greetings have already begun in earnest. I think I heard a few Trick-or-Treaters say Merry Christmas this year. The local mall has been decorating for Christmas since hurricane season was at its peak. Nonetheless, with our December Newsletter you get a robust, heartfelt, “Merry Christmas!” from everyone in Senior Adult Ministy. Have you ever wondered why we love Christmas so dearly? Of course, there is the Jesus thing. We will celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, in earnest, and at the traditionally appointed moment this year. Actually, we should start our deep, reverential, worship of the coming of Christ at the beginning of Advent. That celebration should extend well beyond December 25th, all the way to Epiphany. It would be an answered prayer. Alas, the purists among us cannot become greedy. After all, ‘Tis the Season to be generous with our Christmas traditions. Of course, we love ALL things Christmas. I think we also like the nostalgia of Christmas as well. Our recollections of the best of Christmas past brings our traditions to life each year. We love to reminisce about past celebrations that have added meaning and depth to our family traditions through the generations. An easy ice breaker at the annual Christmas party with family or friends is a simple inquiry: “Tell me about your favorite Christmas memory.” It’s almost as if our thoughts take an emotional short cut to the moments that we cherish so dearly. We can relive that moment, and tell that story countless times, without giving it a second thought. Maybe it was when your first child was still in swaddling cloths. Maybe it was a special decoration your mom always set out for the holidays. Maybe it was when you finally found that perfect evergreen after a day long search through every Christmas tree lot in town. It is funny how often Santa appears in our recollections. Saint Nick and his sleigh pulled by reindeer will forever be etched in our hearts and minds. Christmas lights decorating homes in all the surrounding neighborhoods made our neighborhood a winter wonderland, even though I can only remember one year when it actually snowed. That didn’t matter. Mom and dad always loaded the family in the back of the Olsmobile Vista Cruiser wagon, and we looked all over our end of town for the house with the most beautiful decorations. Our house had bragging rights for a different reason. We had the tallest old cottonwood tree in our neighborhood. My dad would always take a single strand of Christmas lights to the very top of that tree. It was like a beacon for Rudolph. Every year our friends and neighbors would drive past to see if my dad actually made it higher than in years past. He had to use every extension cord we owned on his last climb into the heavens. He earned hero status in my mind after that incredible display of Christmas courage. I think my mom finally put an end to that tradition, much to the relief of the HOA. Either way, I’ll never forget the night my dad must have touched the bottom of Santa’s sleigh as he flew past our neighborhood. Epic! Of course, my more recent memories are filled with moments we all spend together at church. Candlelight and communion, Christmas carols and sacred hymns, reading the “real” Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, just for tradition’s sake: these are the memories we are making this Christmas. I hope you get a chance to reminisce a little this year. Tell your grandchildren about your favorite Christmas memory. If your family is not near, tell your neighbor’s grandchildren. Tell a friend, or tell me. I really do want to hear, because your recollections capture the best of our times together, times past, times present and times yet to come. These are the best of times! Have a blessed and Merry Christmas! With grace and peace,
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SENIOR ADULT MINISTRY! Cliff Ritter, Pastor of Senior Adults