By now, most will have heard about the man in the Arizona who killed six and wounded at least a dozen others, including his target, Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Maybe you've heard that one of the fatalities was a nine-year-old girl, Christina Taylor Greene, who had gone to Representative Giffords' meeting because of the girl's budding interest in politics. (Apparently, she was on her school's student council.)

The girl's uncle, Greg Segalini, told The Arizona Republic that his niece was a student at Mesa Verde Elementary School where she was involved in many extracurricular activities ranging from ballet to baseball. She also enjoyed horseback riding and swimming. "She was real special and real sweet," her uncle said. Family members describe her as a vibrant individual and someone who was excited about life.

Did you know Christina was born on September 11, 2001 and was featured in a book Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11?

I predict that people of all political stripes will take this information, and run with it, trying to justify the "war on terror" or decry it. Will try to prove the "rightness" of their political leanings and the "wrongness" of everyone else. I have some thoughts on what you can do with using a child's death to further a political agenda, and if I see you doing it, you will hear those thoughts.

Was the shooter just a deranged guy with a gun or did he have political motivations? Apparently, the answer may be both. Did he "take matters into his own hands" after seeing Sarah Palin's website (now taken down) graphically illustrating the need to "target" particular politicians (including Rep. Giffords) by placing their political homebases in the crosshairs of a gunscope?

Sarah Palin has, of course, expressed her condolences to the victims and their families, and there is plenty of rationalizing going on amongst her supporters as to how her rhetoric could not have anything to do with this tragic turn of events. Really? Are we to believe there was never a conversation amongst Palin and her staffers/advisors (does she have advisors?) as to the possibility her actions might lead to violence? Were they so callous as not to care? Were they so naive as to think, in this politically-charged environment with emotions running high, that something like this was impossible?

I'll leave the political debate to others, but I will say this: Stop parading around as a follower of Jesus if you're going to put your political opponents in the crosshairs. You can't have it both ways. Either find ways to disagree in a civil manner, according to some level of spiritual maturity, or leave the mention of God out of your proceedings. When will enough be enough? Is this really how we want to behave as a country? As Christians?

I implore everyone to stop trying to mix politics and religion -- it's a toxic brew. A little girl is dead, and if you think political rhetoric wasn't, at some level, responsible for her death, then you're living in a fantasy world.

America's Religious Journey

This isn't going to seem to be a typical "fresh start in a new year" post, but bear with me as I want to comment on a book I have recently finished reading titled, "God of Liberty - A Religious History of the American Revolution" by Thomas S. Kidd. It is a fairly thorough study of the part religion played in the formation of our country, and I would recommend it to anyone curious about the intent of our founding fathers regarding the government's role in religious matters.

Religion in America is a complicated issue; that's not news to anyone. It should also not be surprising that the current, often acrimonious religious mood, is probably a logical result of bitter disputes among our founders, both the politicians and the clergy of the day. After all, Ecclesiastes 1:9 asserts "...there is nothing new under the sun."

Some would say that our religious freedoms are under constant assault, but I suspect the state of government in religious matters may be closer to what most of the revolutionaries had in mind than we might realize, although those from both the left and the right will find supporting evidence for their views (because that's what we all tend to do).

Quoting from the book, "Of course, religious hypocrisy abounded in America then, just as it does now...But we cannot underestimate the great good that public religious values served in the revolutionary period...[helping] envision a republic where individual freedom could be guided by ancient ideals of the Scriptures: charity, justice, and protection for the weak and poor.

"Does the national significance of these precepts mean that America was founded as a Christian nation? Yes, in the sense that believers -- the majority of whom were Christians of some kind, with an important minority of Jews -- played a formative role in the creation of the American Republic. But today's advocates of a 'Christian America' tend to misunderstand or underestimate the extent to which Americans already held widely varying religious beliefs at the time of the founding. The founders' religious agreement was on public values, not private doctrines."

We are a nation founded by people who disagreed on the specifics of many important matters, but they managed to forge ahead by finding common ground on the larger issues. Cooperation, tolerance and compassion are certainly worthy goals for a new year (or any time), and I'd like to keep on trying to attain them, wouldn't you?

Fresh Hope

Despite how it might appear (because of my recent blogs and comments), I honestly do enjoy Christmas: the lights and decorations, the parties and food, the gifts and fun. But my personal, spiritual goal is to always do better, be better, not be content merely continuing down a path of traditional thinking without examining that thinking. I try to look for different perspectives, new approaches, during every season of the year.

One concern I have was voiced recently by a friend of mine who is an educator in southwest Missouri. She said (in a comment regarding my post last week -- thanks, Michelle), "I have gotten to where I dread December; this is a very hard month for so many of the kids I work with at school. What the media tells them Christmas should be is so far from their reality. It makes what these young people struggle with during the rest of the year magnified to a good degree."

Those of us who are blessed to have loving families, plenty of food and shoes that fit can watch the barrage of happy movies and good times portrayed everywhere during the holidays and not necessarily feel left out or sad. But, as my friend notes, there is a different reality for an ever-growing number of children (and adults). Because of illness, lost jobs and homes and other reasons for broken dreams, there are more and more families who have needs and hurts so big that a food basket and a few toys, as welcome and well-meaning as those things are, become tiny bandages on huge wounds. We tend to think of poverty as a lack of money, but often poverty means being bereft of hope.

The generosity displayed during the holidays is important and wonderful, but the spirit of giving should continue in creative and meaningful ways. As we have celebrated, once again, the arrival of Jesus, let us strive every day to carry on his ministry on earth, as outlined in Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

I hope our eyes and hearts will be opened to what so many of our neighbors are going through, and that by sharing the good news, we can offer fresh hope to hurting people, bringing glad tidings which will last a lifetime and beyond.

Thoughts on the Season

I'm probably going to get a reputation as a "grinch" (or worse!) for my thoughts about Christmas, but many of the traditions and practices of the Church have been on my mind lately, and the way we celebrate Christmas is just one of those things which doesn't seem quite right to me.

When we consider the character and nature of Jesus -- his teachings on poverty and servanthood and simplicity -- a picture develops for me which doesn't line up with most of what is going on during the holidays. Yes, it is the one time of year when the media is looking for "good news" to report, so we do see and hear of wonderful examples of generosity and giving which are associated with this time of year: toy drives, bell-ringers, donations to food banks, etc. That spirit of generosity is awesome and one of the best things about the season.

However, one of my concerns is that we may feel as though we have fulfilled our giving needs with generosity at Christmas time to the extent we may not continue that giving beyond the holidays. With so many people in year-round need, we can't let Christmas be our only time of giving. (Society has also created much of the extra need we see at Christmas. . .regardless of socio-economic standing, we all feel pressure to "do it all" and "have it all" at Christmas. If there was less pressure on kids to go back to school with new clothes, bragging about all the new toys and games they got from Santa, there would be less "need" at Christmas.)

Another concern is how so many of us are stressed out with activities: decorating, entertaining, parties, events. I'm certainly not discouraging fun, but if there's no time to spend with the supposed guest of honor, maybe what we're doing is something other than celebrating the birthday of Jesus. And that's okay, but perhaps we should just call it for what it is and stop getting riled up about Jesus being "the reason for the season."

Many of you may know of the story of Mary and Martha. (see Luke 10:38-42) Martha was getting ready for a party (not a Christmas party, but a party to honor Jesus while he was visiting the Mary/Martha/Lazarus household), and she was "distracted with all her preparations" (can't you just imagine a modern-day Christmas party in the works?) while Mary was seated at the feet of Jesus listening to him teach. When Martha, no doubt as she breathlessly rushed by Jesus with a plate of cookies in her hand, complained about Mary not helping her, Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

That "good part" is what nudges the back of mind during the holidays. Are we substituting our own ideas about Christmas for what Jesus considers to be good and true and lasting? It's just something to consider. . .at Christmas and always.

Christmas Is a Commercial

I remember a letter to the editor I wrote one time when I was a teenager. I was quite indignant and angry about the "commercialization of Christmas," and how everyone seemed to be forgetting the real reason for the season.

I thought about that letter this morning, and had to laugh...comparing the holiday season of even just thirty years ago to today would probably be like comparing the lifestyle of the Amish to Miley Cyrus (or Donald Trump, perhaps, for those of you who haven't heard of Miley). Christmas is not only commercialized, I think I would say Christmas IS a commercial. One big, long, bloated, garish commercial encouraging us to spend our way into happiness.

(And yes, by the way, I did say "holiday season," rather than Christmas season. The holiday season includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and the celebration of the beginning of the new year. "Happy Holidays" was previously and should continue to be a perfectly acceptable greeting for everyone, Christians and non-Christians, and I think we should all get over being offended by EITHER phrase!)

I also believe we should maybe even stop saying that Jesus is the reason for the season...we don't know the exact date of his birth, and scripture doesn't set any particular precedent for a celebration regarding it. It's not that I think it's a bad idea to celebrate the birth of Christ - in fact, I think it's a pretty good idea - it's just that I think we're not doing it, for the most part, in an appropriate way. (Christmas has been a manmade holiday pretty much from the start, with a majority of the most beloved traditions coming directly from pagan holidays.)

The truth of it is, there are MANY reasons for the holiday season, and quite frankly, a good chunk of them don't have that much to do with Jesus. It's up to all of us to celebrate the life of Jesus EVERY DAY, not just one day of the year, by living our lives in a manner pleasing to him: loving God, loving others and believing Jesus is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will do.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Christmas, but I have to say I am anti-commercial.

Paying It Forward

This past Wednesday was the second annual "Pay It Forward Day" as proposed by a man named David Del Mundo. The pay it forward concept is certainly not a new idea. In recent years, books and movies have been released promoting the idea of going out of the way to do something unexpectedly nice for a stranger, with the notion being that person will then do something nice for someone else, and so on and so on, until maybe even the whole world is changed. This latest proposal has gained quite a lot of momentum. He posted it on the Internet, and the last time I checked, nearly 650,000 people said they would participate.

The idea is to anonymously do things like pay for someone's lunch or coffee or even a tank of gas or to otherwise do something extra-ordinarily nice. Since then, others have issued challenges to commit such so-called "random acts of kindness" every day in the month of December, which has elicited comments that kindness should be a way of life and not something which necessarily needs to have a designated day or month. This is very true, of course. However, often there's a gap between knowing something is the right thing to do and actually doing it. So I like the idea of a month-long challenge, especially to go "above and beyond" what we would normally do.

Most everyone, with a few cranky exceptions, does a fairly decent job of holding doors open for others and not butting to the front of the line. But those are the kinds of things which should be considered minimum requirements in polite society, and don't go nearly far enough. Kindness requires deliberate action. And exceptional acts of kindness, for the vast majority of us who are busily going about our everyday lives, don't always happen automatically.

The other wonderful thing about promoting a month of creative kindness, is that there is power in numbers, which builds a spirit of agreement and unity. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the Christmas season than each of us going out of our way to help someone or giving little gifts of kindness and service each day to people we don't even know. Let's take up the challenge and see if we can make a noticeable impact on our communities. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? It might even become a permanent, daily habit.

The State of Thankfulness

The role of gratitude in a believer's life is crucial, and a thankful attitude is a moment by moment disposition which we are all called to display every day, in every situation. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15)

There is a definite link between peace and thankfulness. The ability to cease from complaining and to start living in appreciation for our blessings, brings untold joy and contentment. As Oswald Chambers points out in "My Utmost for His Highest," our state of mind is something we must always guard:

"What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God, but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. . . . Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. . .

"Beware of 'the cares of this world . . .' (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by the cares of this world."

Thankfulness is a state of mind which must be cultivated and tended to with great diligence. The "weeds" in life -- worry, sadness, sickness, trials, temptations and more -- threaten to creep in and choke out the peace and joy which result from always seeking to find the very best in every person and every situation, without complaint or criticism.

Beyond the food and family gatherings which typically mark the Thanksgiving holiday, let's all strive every day to count each blessing in life, and be grateful for what we have been given, rather than long for and fret over what we do not have. Being thankful is a choice we make, regardless of our circumstances.