My Slow Takes (Vol. 80)

1. Dee and I attended the Children’s Mass on Christmas Eve. The church pews were full, our commons area was full and there were people standing.  It was crowed and everyone did their best to make as much room as possible. Father Jim was pleased to see so many people at Mass. His Homily shared a couple of stories about parishioners that received gfts and in turn had shared what they had received. This is exactly what God had intended for us. Our gift was His son Jesus and it is our responsibility to share Jesus with others. The love, compassion, thoughtfulness, and values of our religion. We go forth to share, to love and bring hope for the New Year.

2. My Christmas present from Dee was “Halo 4” for the Xbox 360. The saga continues.

3. December 25, 1776, GeorgeWashington and his troops cross the Delaware River and surprise the Hessians at Trenton. Corey Kilgannon of “The New York Times” has an interesting about the painting that depicts this piece of history. 

Emanuel Leutze's Painting

4. We are getting into the winter months and the snow storms are here. As I was watching the weather reports I noticed that whenever there was an outdoor interview with one of the Weather Channel Meteorologists, the L.L. Bean logo appeared on the jacket. What a great endorsement. If the Weather Channel wears the L.L. Bean gear then maybe I should be doing the same. Perhaps I should take pictures of me in my L.L. Bean clothes. Then I could send them in and see if I could audition for the summer or fall catalog as an amateur Meteorologist. 

5. There was more tragedy on Christmas Eve when four firefighters, just doing their job, were shot. Two of them died and two them went to the hospital. Our youngest son Stephen is a firefighter. Watching this on the news touched my heart and when we were together on Christmas, I hugged him more than I usually do. 
For the people of Webster, N.Y., Joseph Hofstetter, Theodore Scardino, family & friends and for the souls of Michael Chiapperini & Tomasz Kaczowska. You are in my daily prayers, you are not alone. nor forgotten. 

6. “This Christmas, joy wrestles with grief,” written by Michael Gerson is an article about his view on the sorrow some of us are facing this Christmas. He quotes from a sermon by William Sloane Coffin,

“Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn’t go around this world with his fingers on triggers, his fists around knives, his hands on steering wheels. . . . The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is, ‘It is the will of God.’ Never do we know enough to say that. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God’s heart was the first of all our hearts to break.”

7. Thursday Dee and I took Stephen, Eryn and Haley to Bremer’s Hardware Store to see their Christmas train display. The layout is 18 feet by 56 feet and has eight to ten trains running all at the same time. The best way to see the layout if you don’t go is to see the photos and videos on their website.

The Engineers at the control panel.

Afterward we had lunch at “The Classic Grill.” Hamburgers, hot dogs and French fries. The drive was not too long and we enjoyed listening to the girls sing along with Grandma Dee. 

Read other "Takes" at Conversion Diary.