I mean, if you could only pick one, what would it be?
My wife’s Grammy, who died in my arms at age 93, always said Little Drummer Boy was her favorite. She went to Heaven in September 1989.
It never occurred to me back then to ask her why. Why would it have occurred to me?
Well, all these years later, “Why?” is a fun and purposeful question.
Why do you enjoy your favorite Christmas song? For no reason? Or, for some special or purposeful reason.
Hey, I realize some of you may say, “Jeff, not everything has to have a purpose.”
Right. And this is the fundamental difference between those that drift through life and those that make a difference.
I enjoy listening to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” as much as anyone. It’s funny, unexpected, and way not serious.
But Little Drummer Boy is not only Grammy’s favorite, but mine as well. Why? because I Look for little ways to help our son understand his family’s history.
His Grandfather, Jack (not the bear), my Dad, was a drummer. He started playing drums from the moment he could hold drumsticks in his hands.
He hitch-hiked 100 miles to Philadelphia, from his row-home in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, just so he could take drum lessons from a particularly talented drummer.
He played drums in the Army band while stationed in Japan, during the Korean War.
He taught 30-minute drum lessons Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, year round.
He played gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, year round.
As a young man, he had business cards printed. His title – “Drummer”.
From one stupid little Christmas song, a piece of our son’s family history is told, year after year.
But only if I put some thought into it.
And at Christmas, as it is all year round, it’s the thought that counts.
Audacious. Authentic. Audacious authenticity. How’s that work for you? It works really well on my end.
As a goal, I mean – audacious authenticity. Being boldly authentic. Not conforming to status quo, but rather, conforming to faith, hope and love.
Heard the song the other day by Kirk Franklin, or maybe it was Mary Mary, with a line that goes, “Can’t take my joy devil.”
That’s it, that was the right message at the right time.
In our lifetimes we probably listen to many types of music: Rock, Rap, Country, Jazz, Reggae, Pop, Classical, Christian, Oldies, Soul, R&B, etc.
Rock & Roll has always been my favorite. And then, while living out West, Country became a new love.
But today, hands down, without a doubt, Contemporary Christian is what sustains me.
To all the great folks at Central Florida’s Contemporary Christian radio station, Z88.3, or the Z, as some call it, thank you for what you do to help God’s people when they need it.
And just speaking for myself, this is every single day. Thank you.
PS. Click here to listen on your computer. The Z is currently playing 24-hour Christmas music.
In 1973, I remember hearing a Lynn Anderson song with the lyrics, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.”
And while writing five blogs a day, I never want to promise you any thing that can’t be delivered to you.
The Tiger Woods saga was noteworthy at jeff noel.org because it challenged all of us to decide one way or another. (And even if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice)
A jeffnoel.org reader emailed a valuable insight – none of us are in a position to forgive Tiger Woods. God and Tiger must handle this.
However, a point you may want to consider – the one that came immediately to mind – as you live your daily life, is this:
God will not withhold forgiveness to anyone who asks to be forgiven.
And if this is so, who is it in our lives that needs to be forgiven, but we have never offered them hope and encouragement?
Traveling all last week, I heard many negative and malicious comments about Tiger Woods. There’s a fairly rampant, and unfavorable, judgement on Tiger Woods, the Golfer.
And when I took this photo, I was actually in a negative judgement mindset as well.
And then it hit me. What about Tiger Woods, the man, not the golfer. The human being, just like you and me.
If Tiger Woods asks God for forgiveness, do you think God will deny Tiger Woods?
Passing through Atlanta airport the other day, and a hallway billboard caught my eye. It wasn’t Jane Goddallor the chimp that made me want to stop and look, it was the word – STEWARDSHIP – that did it.
If you visit jeffnoel.org, and don’t know, there are four other blogs I write daily. Over on the upper right corner is Blogroll, which has a one click function to the others.
Anyway, it dawned on me, humbly if I might add, there aren’t too many five-a-day bloggers, so it’s a working name for now.
Five-a-day blogger.
Sounds funny. And crazy. And slightly boastful. Oh well, my apologies.
So here’s another crazy thing, in writing this post, it dawned on me that I should mention, just yesterday, I coined also myself the “One-take-You Tube video” guy.
Back to today’s story on Stewardship. Here’s the one-take-You Tube video, as a result of stopping to pause:
At dinner last night, a friend reminded me that the day before was the anniversary of the attack at Pearl Harbor. This came up because I had mentioned that John Lennon was assassinated December 8, 1980.
I can’t explain to you why, but I felt particularly stupid for remembering a rock star milestone, but not an American milestone.
Well, actually, I hadn’t remembered John Lennon’s death. Was reminded of that by a Facebook friend. Anyway, I had a spiritual moment that gently reminded me that the world has always been a tough, uncertain place.
It prompted me to silently, and discreetly, count my blessings and give thanks for what we have today.
Life is hard for many people this time of year. Add to that unprecedented times, and we have an overwhelming number of people who are struggling in one way or another right now.
And I mean struggling at a greater intensity than many generations can recall.
It sure seems that way to me.
Can you imagine being Tiger Woods right now, or President Obama, or even the Pope?
Can you imagine being the average American who can no longer put food on the table, when a year ago they could quite easily?
I worry about a lot more than I used to. So, now more than ever, the phrase, “Pray without ceasing“, has a special meaning.
