Happy Birthday Mom

 99 years ago today, the 23rd day of December 2023, my mother was born in Vernal, Utah.  Her mother was Elizabeth Slaugh, her father, Lewis Chivers.  Elizabeth was known as "Lizzie" and described as "an angel".  She died of consumption when she was 48, mom was 12.  Lewis was a farmer and a sheepherder.  He died when he was 70.  

I wasn't around as mom was growing up in the Uintah basin.  I do know that she was the oldest daughter in the family after aunt Mary got married and moved out.  I also know that she played some mean softball and was a good student.  Mom left home before finishing high school, worked as a waitress in Colorado and made her way to Salt Lake.  She and dad met while dad was stationed at Camp Kearns toward the end of WWII.  She went back to school in her 40's to become a counselor for alcoholics.  I think she tried to do what she could to make the world a bit better.  I know that life for her was hard at times.  I didn't realize that when I was a kid.

Christmas time bring memories of family as a kid and mom plays a large role in those (yeah, "duh!").  See the post about ruining Christmas for a glimpse.

In her later years we would have all of the Edge side of the Kayser/Edge collaboration come to our home on Dec 23 to celebrate Mom's birthday.  I think she enjoyed those.  I hope so.

Love you mom, hope you are doing well.  Happy Birthday.  We miss having you here to celebrate them.

Gifts

 So, it's late Christmas Eve as I sit and write these few thoughts.  For those of us who wear more than a handful of decades, this season, and this night particularly, bring about many memories.  As is my custom most years, I am following Ebenezer's adventures of this night many years ago.  What a gift he was given to see past, present, future Christmas's with otherworldly beings as guides.

I'm going to share with you a short tale of Christmas present (now) and of a present (gift) I gave Grandma on her birthday this year, and of another Gift to all of us.

First-let it be known that I am not the best chooser and giver of gifts.  I love giving gifts but am not good at finding gifts that fit-literally and metaphorically.  Maybe I could shop the cosmos and find some that might fit better metaphysically.  But that would indeed be a tale for another time!

Maybe that is what I did for Grandma's birthday this year.  A question for all of you-how do you know that a gift you present to someone is appreciated, used, valuable-even cherished?   I'll let you think while I tell this tale.

On Grandma's birthday (26th of November each year-sometimes on Thanksgiving, always with great thanksgiving)  I gave her a sweater/sweatshirt thingy with a cowl/turtle neck.  Yes, I can see that you understand my sense of clothes and fashion.  Whenever I am a brave enough to give her clothes on her birthday I make sure it is something warm and looks cozy since her birthday is, as already noted, in late November.  Other than that I am out in the cold.  Well, she opened the sweater thingy-yes, I kept the receipt just in case- I have learned from past efforts.  She smiled and told me "thank you very much, I love it".  I thought "sure!-nice attempt".  Then she wore it to church, as her birthday was on a Sunday.  I thought "great!  At least it will be worn once".  Then, the next day, Monday, she wore it to work.  And again on Tuesday.  And Wednesday. And everyday for the next three weeks.  I think I mentioned to her once that it could stand to be chucked in the washing machine.  She responded that she would when it needed it.

Well! I did it!  I gave her a gift that was warm, comforting, comfortable and looked good on her.  One that she used.  A lot!    The fact that Grandma likes and uses the gift I gave her makes me feel good inside and I smile when I see her wear it.  What a good gift-giver I was! At least that time.

So, back to my question to you.  How do you know a gift you've given is appreciated, cherished, valuable to the giftee?  Of course you know-they use the gift and it does serve an important purpose to them-like being comfortable, warm and cozy like the sweater I gave Grandma.

You all, being so clever, know where this is headed, right?  Well, it's Christmas.  What Gift that we celebrate this time of year have we all been given?  You are correct!  It is the Lamb of God sent here to sacrifice Himself for each of us.  The Good Shepherd sent here to call each of us by name to follow him, take care of each other, and journey with Him home to heavenly pastures.  It is our Friend and Brother who knows us better than we know ourselves sent to comfort, lift burdens, strengthen feeble knees and lift hanging arms. It is a member of the Godhead sent here to experience what you and I experience-and more-so He knows perfectly how to best care for us.  If we let Him.

So how does our Father know that we appreciate, value, even cherish His Gift to Us?  We use it everyday.  We let it comfort and warm us.  We try to wear it out-unsuccessfully since it is infinite-in our use of His Love for us.  And we share it with others through providing care and comfort and warmth and safety and sharing burdens and lifting and strengthening our mortal brothers and sisters while on our eternal journeys.  All while using His Love, Light, Bread, and Living Water to sustain, support and strengthen us as we journey together.

This Christmas let us all consider how we best can reach up to better use the Gift of His Son and how we can then reach out to others to best use the Gift of His Son.

I think when God sees us using the Gift of His Son it makes Him feel good and smile for us.  Doesn't that make you feel good?  Now, my little Brutes, hang on to that little good feeling!

Merry Christmas!

Signs and Wonders-then More Wandering-Far, Far Away From Judea's Plains

 If it's OK with you, we'll leave the Little Town of Bethlehem and Mary and Joseph for today and see what has been happening on the other side of the world.

I hope you all realize that the purpose for the Book of Mormon, that record of the Lord's dealings with the people on the Western continents, is to help convince everyone that "Jesus is the Christ (we talked about that a bit yesterday), the Eternal Father manifesting himself unto all nations...".  While we have been following Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds and all in the Holy Land there has been trouble in the New World.  Nephi had been teaching the people about the Savior and trying to get them to change and repent.  Samuel the Lamanite came to the Nephites and prophesied about the coming of the Savior and also called for repentance and returning to the Lord.  He was actually with them for some time before they drove him out.  He was prompted to return, and that was when he gave his great sermon on the wall.  He told the people that not five years should pass before the Son of Man came to earth.  He also told them of a new star and of a day, a night, and a day without darkness at the time of his birth.  Then Samuel left without further record of him.  

Nephi continued his enduring work to try to get the Nephites to repent and come to the Lord, but didn't have great success.  Satan stirred up the hearts of the people to the point of those in charge issuing an edict that all the believers would be killed on a certain day if the signs of the Savior's birth had not happened.  As the fateful day approached, Nephi "..bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.  And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the lord all that day: and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying: Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, an on this night shall the sign be given , and on the morrow come I int the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.  Behold, I come unto my own...to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son..."

And, what do you know-the next day it did not get dark at sundown, and there appeared a new star, just as had been prophesied.  The people were astonished and many unbelievers fell to the earth.  Everyone began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear.  "And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets."

Now you might think that all the people had mighty heart changes because of these signs, right? Well, they did, most of them.  For a time.  Withing four or five years the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven", leading to hardening hearts.

OK-this has taken too long to get to the point.  Signs and wonders from Heaven don't guarantee our faithfulness in following The Good Shepherd.  In the Holy Land and the New World both, people who had seen miracles and prophecies fulfilled....forgot.  And wandered on other paths.

Two suggestions from Mary and Shepherds.  When we see God's hand in our lives, let us ponder these things in our hearts, and, let others know of the wonderful things we see hear and feel.  Maybe especially at Christmas.

Fathers, More Angels, and Names

 Joseph, the husband of Mary, has not had much mention is our story of shepherds and lambs, of the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God, and of angels, but we will talk about his role in this Holy Family tonight.

What kind of man do you think our Heavenly Father would choose to be the mortal guardian of God's Only Begotten, a member of the Godhead in his own right?  I am sure that Joseph was a good man who could "hear Him".  We assume that Joseph was from the same little village of Nazareth as was his betrothed, Mary.  We are told that he was a carpenter-a laborer like most of those around him.  Matthew tells us that he was a "just man".  "Just" can mean to put things right, to be fair.  When he became aware that his Mary was expecting it says that he, being a just man, was "...not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily".  We do not know what this good man felt or understood or imagined, but it seems he was doing the best he could to be "just" and kind in this situation.  

Matthew continues "But while he thought on these things,"-let's stop here for a moment and consider what Joseph is doing.  And not doing.  He is not jumping into action and ranting and raving that life has not been "fair" to him.  He is thinking, considering, pondering.  Ok, on with the story- "...behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

I can't imagine all that good Joseph had to sort out.  An angel!  Mary's son to be He who saves his people from sin.  The name Jesus means "God is help" or Savior".  "Christ" is short for "the Christ", meaning "The Anointed", or "Savior".  This Babe to be born in a manger in Bethlehem would be Jesus the Christ, the Savior not only of the Israelites, but of everyone.  You. And me.  And Grandma.  Your siblings-yes, even the annoying one (which may well be you!).  Your good friends and your nemesis.  All of us to be given freedom from death and hell and a place we are willing to accept in heaven with our Father and our Brother the Lamb of God.

I don't know how much of this Joseph processed, but he did act.  When the Babe was eight days old He was given the name JESUS as instructed by the angel.

I haven't had an angelic visit-except for when the grandchildren come visit us-and I don't know if any of you have either, but I can only try to imagine the impact it would have on us.  We couldn't help but do what the angel would tell us, right?  Not so fast-I'm sure you can come up with stories from the scriptures where angelic visits were made and direction given-and not always followed.  Joseph chose to do what he should.  I hope to try to do the same, angelic visits or not.  You try your best, too, won't you?

Wandering and Wondering

 We-Grandma and I-won the lottery this year!  Yay!

Well, the lottery for tickets to the Christmas Concert in the Conference Center.  C? (read that last bit out loud if it didn't make you smile just a bit)  It has been 5 years since we attended this gala and we were fortunate to get 4 tickets this year and had our eldest daughter and her husband join with us.  It was great.  The guest artist this year is a Broadway actor, Michael Makialel.  He has been the lead in Aladdin on Broadway.  We went not knowing what to expect, then this young, skinny Indian fellow blew our socks off.  He was great.

One of the songs he sang was "I Wonder as I Wander".  The lyrics in the second verse read: "When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all.  But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall, And the promise of ages it then did recall."

I realized as I watched a monitor at the concert with the lyrics to all the songs that I enjoy many Christmas songs without knowing all the lyrics.  Including this one!  I should probably make a point of singing them (to myself-no need to inflict that on others) so I could learn the stories better.

Christmas story from Luke catch up.  The verses today deal with the shepherds-I'm getting to like this group of folks more all the time-returning-I assume to their flocks-"glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen".  The following verse tells us that Mary "kept all these things and pondered them in her heart".

Two different responses to the coming of the Lamb from the shepherds and Mary, right?  But that doesn't make one "right" or "better".  Both are wonderful.  We should indeed glorify and praise God for all we get to see, hear, and feel, as well as all we get to endure, learn, experience and wonder about.  We also need to keep and ponder valuable things in our hearts.  The "keeps" in ancient castles were strong, safe places where the most valuable things were kept.  Our hearts are those "keeps" for each of us-where we hold that which is most precious to us.

So let us both "praise and glorify God", as well as "keep and ponder" those beliefs, confirmations, experiences, relationships, virtues and values that we treasure most.  Both take conscience effort and both make us better followers of the Lamb.

Related Christmas song-"Breath of Heaven"  sung by Amy Grant.  Read the lyrics as you listen.

Catching up a bit...

 OK-here are my excuses.  I worked Monday AM, we skied to the cabin Mon PM and stayed until yesterday afternoon.  I worked on Mom's Highlander and went to bed.  So we missed a couple of days.  Not to fear!  Wait, what?  That was a couple of blogs ago, right?  "Fear not"?  Oh, how soon you all forget!   Back to it this evening.

Well, our shepherds did what the angel told them-stopped fearing and listened to an angelic concert put on in the heavens above them.  So, what now?  An angelic messenger had just told them that a Savior had been born not too far away.  This was confirmed by the heavenly choir.  Then.....check on the sheep?  Make sure the kids (and the other kids) are OK?  I'm pretty sure they had that already covered-you know, shepherds, right?  Luke tells us that they said to each other that they should go to Bethlehem (the city of David) and see the thing the angel had said come to pass.  So they went "with haste" the 2 or 3 miles (I'm guessing here) to Bethlehem and found the stable, manger and Mary, Joseph and the Babe.

The record is brief in telling us that "when they had seen it, they made know abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child". 

You all have been out on a dark night, no ambient lighting (I'll wait while you ask your parents or older sibs.  Or Sirilexa) and no flashlights.  I wonder how starry it was that night, or if there may have been a bright moon.  Were they worried about predators or bad guys?  What we know is that they hurried-they "came with haste".  When I was a kid growing up in South Salt Lake we would go "in haste" when a fire truck passed our street to see what was happening.  We would use haste to get home when we were out playing and Mom called us for dinner (without the aide of cell phones...).

I'm sure our little kid haste was fairly pedestrian when compared with the shepherds hurrying to see this "Saviour, which is Christ the Lord".  Their haste brought them to the place where they found the Child lying in a manger.  I imagine they spent what time they thought they could worshipping this heavenly being become mortal.  The best we got to see when we hurried to chase the fire truck-if we caught up with it-was usually some smoke coming from someone's incinerator or my friend's pigeon coop.  Not much compared to seeing the Savior!

And what did they do about it?  They made sure to tell everyone what they had seen.  The world's first missionaries-witnesses of the Savior!  Well, after all the angels and singing and stuff.

The lesson for me here?  If there is something wonderful to find, like the Savior, I should go with more haste.  You know we can find Him everywhere if we look.  Then I should make sure I let others know of the impact such encounters have on me.  Let my light shine so others know of Him.

I'll work more on my hastening and testifying.

Signs and Songs

 Yesterday-nothing, nada, zip.  So we get to catch up today.  

We left our shepherds hearing their heavenly messenger tell them to "fear not" and that he had brought them, and all people, good tidings of  great joy because of a Saviour born that day in Bethlehem.  

He then told them of a sign (when he wasn't wearing his sign...).  They would find this Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.  Then the heavens opened above these poor, blessed shepherds and angelic singing broke out praising God and telling of peace on earth and of goodwill to us.

Good enough?  We are now caught up and you can all go to bed. Goodnight!

Um, would you mind wait just a few more minutes whilst I pontificate a bit?  Thank you!

I have tried to imagine this scene from both sides.  The shepherds with their frightening/glorious angelic visitation followed by a singing heavenly multitude.  Imagine TCATS (Tab Choir At Temple Square), only multitudes more. We are happy when we can get tickets to the Christmas Concert at the Conference Center.  Then we are usually up on the upper deck on the side.  Imagine being front and center for this celestial performance in the field!  

And the angels singing!  I imagine them waiting millennia for their/our Savior to come to Earth to fulfill His mission here.  I'm sure they were aware of the absolute necessity for a Savior for themselves and for all of us, and of the life He would lead, and the cost of it all.  Songs of praise and Hallelujah were indeed in order.  They still are. Today we had a sister in our ward sing with her sisters in sacrament meeting.  It was wonderful.  They were probably part of the Shepherds' Field Symphony.  I have wondered if I might of also been singing.  Nope.  Not with my voice.  Maybe I was keeping an eye on the sheep to make sure they didn't scatter while the shepherds' attention was so deservedly  distracted.  We do what we can, right?

So the heavenly messenger and the singing cherubs played their parts, as will the shepherds tomorrow.  They did what they could.

This message about Peace and Goodwill toward all of us.  How have we been doing?  Have each of us been doing what we can?  I'm sure we can do a bit better each day bringing peace and goodwill to those around us.  Try it tomorrow.  Smile instead of grumble.  Be patient.  Help out without permission to do so nor needing notice of so doing.  

I know, imagine everyone you see or interact with wearing a lanyard and a picture badge with their name and title.  Here's an easy example-"Grandma Edge.  Child of God".

Tomorrow-Moving Shepherds.