Year End Thoughts

It's funny how certain events trigger different emotions. I have already confessed I am not doing well with my upcoming birthday. (Just 10 days to the big 5 - oh!) Not only does it not set well with me, becoming a half century old, it also triggers weird feelings of nostalgia and melancholy. This is really uncharted territory for someone like me who likes to stay on the cutting edge of everything new, much to the chagrin of many of my traditional Christian friends. But I find myself watching old movies and wondering where these actors and actresses are today. I look at the old "zoot"suits and ball qowns and think, "How cool would it be to dress like that." (The men's suits not the ball gowns. I'm melancholy not male-challenged.) The old movie sets that are obviously outdoor scenes with slick concrete floors and silk plants. But nobody cared. They knew it was a set and they didn't care. No computer graphics or animations were necessary. It was make believe and no one confused it for reality. Those were simpler times. (Ahhhggg, I hear my mother's words coming from my mouth and I have no control.) I think while watching Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye sitting in a dining car during "White Christmas", "I wonder if they ever thought someday they would grow old and eventially die." I know that I have crossed the border of melancholy and entered the land of the macabre, but I am being totally transparent here. I wonder how much they appreciated where they were and what they were doing? I wonder if they thanked God for the time and the energy to perform? Did they ever know how lucky they were? Then I think, "Do I?"

I am taking my family to Disneyworld the day after Christmas. We will be returning in time for my birthday on January 2nd. So let me say, Thank You Lord for the time, the means and the health to be able to go." I think I will buy a pair of Mickey ears and wear them all over the park just to embarrass my family. So little time and so much humiliation to get done while I still have my boys with me. So I am going to suspend blogging for about the next ten days. I am just going to enjoy time with my family and Mikey and his friends. Until then have a merry Christmas, kiss your spouse, hug your children and pet your dog. Oh yeah, and thank God for His precious gift of life. See you next year.

Pastor Ken