Christmas Past

To speak to memories on this Christmas Eve is somewhat overwhelming. I'll let the "1,000 Words" each picture is worth speak.

Happy Advent

Over the past several years I have been in a habit of wishing those I pass a “Merry Christmas”. Your immediate response might be “so...what’s the big deal”. “Merry Christmas” is a staple during this season. But......

It is not uncommon for me on January 9 or March 23 or some other arbitrary day to say “Merry Christmas” to individuals I encounter. This is atypical. My out-of-season “Merry Christmas” often evokes the response of...”aren’t you a little late for that”. My usual response is “no...I wanted to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas for this year”.

Anyone who has gone through this script (at least has gone through it for the first time) almost always responds with a smile. With the smile comes an affirmation that this is indeed their first “Merry Christmas” for the year. My intent with this exercise is to offer levity and encouragement. I certainly have no intent to treat the holiday flagrantly.

This exercise was recently turned “on its head”. Earlier this fall a new friend emailed me an innocuous question. He was in need of some pertinent information. I recall I did not have the information but referred him to someone who might have it. I added to the email something to the effect “that if no one has wished you a Merry Christmas this year, allow me to be the first....Merry Christmas”.

Until earlier this fall I had only known this friend through business. It was business that provided the opportunity for us to become more acquainted. Through business I found a friend who dwells in a genuine and profound Christian faith.

My friend responded to my forwarded recommendation with “thank you”. He responded to my “Merry Christmas” with a wish for the blessing of a Happy Advent. His response was gracious and intended.

My initial response to his return email was a quaint nod, inward smile and quick dismissal. I recall a brief thought that “we expressed a mutual wish”. Merry Christmas and Happy Advent are the same, aren’t they?  With that I archived the email and marked our business complete. I moved on to other tasks. I gave no further thought to the comment.

It was  few days later in the course of my morning routine I heard the echo of “Happy Advent” and my immediate thought was “Merry Christmas is insufficient; it’s  incomplete”. Merry Christmas and Happy Advent ARE NOT NECESSARILY same.

Southern Baptists generally are not acquainted with the Christian Liturgical Calendar. Its cycle is not familiar and its symbolism and meaning are generally avoided.It was not too many years ago that I developed even a minimal understanding of Advent and the Christian Calendar in general.

I can blame my lack of liturgical heritage for my ignorance and subsequent lack of regard for the great celebration that is the season of Advent. I desire to no longer confine my remembrance and celebration to the birth of Christ only. I pray my remembrance encompasses His coming.

Like the prophets, may I anticipate the redeeming work of Messiah.
Like the angels, may I proclaim His coming.
Like the Shepherds, may I kneel before HIm.
Like the Wise Men, may I worship Him.
Like Mary, may I surrender in obedience to the will of the Father.

Emmanuel---God with us!

Happy Advent.

I Will...

...Always Be the Baby!

From Left to Right Dede (Darsey) Holden, Steve Darsey, Rusty Darsey, T.R. Darsey

From Left to Right Dede (Darsey) Holden, Steve Darsey, Rusty Darsey, T.R. Darsey

Deliberate Pause

When a child is given a piece of candy or has kind words spoken to him or her or is given a gift, the parent might well say “now what do you say to the nice person?” The child, following script, says “thank you”.

This is not an unfamiliar script. Most of us, whether child, parent, teacher or significant adult, have more than likely played the role both as child and adult.

This script provides a “deliberate pause” in the child’s agenda. It is a “deliberate pause” that is designed to encourage the child to “thanksgiving”.

Thanksgiving Day brings a “deliberate pause” in schedules and lives. It is a time afforded to“give thanks” for abundance and blessings. Thoughts and voices will speak this day to bounty and provision.

The United States government established “Thanksgiving Day” as a legal holiday. It was established to “prompt” Americans to say “thank you” to “the nice person”.

“When I was a child, I said thank you as I child, I was grateful like a child, I was limited in my understanding of gratitude like a child. Now that I am grown, may I put away childish thanksgiving and ‘give thanks’ from a heart that is a ‘grateful heart’”

From a heart that is at this moment filled with gratitude I say “Thank you Heavenly Father. Thank you for your bounty and provision. Thank you for heavenly relationship with you, with family and with loved ones.”

Echoes

There are a few things I remember about the lake. I recall there was a water well with a hand pump. There were two reasons a very young boy would be attracted to well pump.


First, it was fascinating to figure how this mechanism could cause water to come out. Second,...I was constantly being told to “leave it alone”. Those are the real magic words to make it irresistible.

I remember the lake because Rusty found a “snapping turtle”. He put it on top of a “coke can”. I step away for a moment to share this editorial. Just as we do in the south today “coke can” was generic. It could have been any flavor soft drink. For all I know it could have been beer can. “Coke” meant any beverage.

In my early years drink cans were made of “tin” instead of recyclable aluminium. It was opened by a removable “pull tab”. Some purported to have actually collected “pull tabs”. This may be true but I never believed it.

The “utility” or “multi-function” of the “coke can” is what is called to attention. Rusty was able to put the turtle on top of the can. Once again, two things were accomplished. First, it kept the turtle from escaping. Second, it created the penultimate platform for “close-in” turtle observation. The “close-in” part is what established this turtle to be a “snapping turtle”. Nuff said.

I step aside from the narrative again. The "turtle on the can" reminds me of an idiom I heard several years ago. “If you see a turtle on a top of a fence post, you can bet he didn’t get there on his own”. This is a truth I have stated in other conversations on a regular basis.

I once remember swimming in the lake. I repeatedly opened my eyes under water and developed “pink eye”. (Yes..I actually remember opening my eyes under water)  By the time we got home I would not open my eyes. I remember how sensitive my eyes were to the light. Mama and Daddy had to literally force my eyes open to treat them with medicated drops.

There are facts about the lake that remain unclear. I cannot recall who owned the property. “Uncle Earl”?. There was a second man who would come to the lake. Perhaps he too was an owner.

I recall this second man because he always had mints, gum or a bag of Funyuns in his car. They represented a potential treat for me. He kept them “to eat to cover up the smell of drinking if ever stopped by the police”. Funny how I remember that detail.

I seem to recall a structure on the other side of the lake. Maybe it was an old rail car or something unique that had been moved to the property. Daddy spent time there working. Once he was  was using a welder or cutting torch. Something happened and the structure burned.

Early memories for me are generally impressions. Details and specifics are limited.The integrity of details is “up for grabs”. However, there is one vivid and irrevocable memory I have about the lake. It is the first memory I have of an echo. I can see the lake and vista spread before me. I can hear the return of the voice. It is one of my most fascinating memories.

Over recent days I have been plagued with the “sinus crud” suffered by others; the runny nose, the sneezing, the coughing and hacking....the coughing and hacking...the coughing and hacking. Daddy must have it too because I’ve heard him coughing and hacking....or is there an echo in here?

Grown Ups

It's easy to see from the photos how the years have made their mark. I thought these photos might serve as a reminder of our many blessings as the 2011 Holiday Season begins.

Mountaintop Experience

I've been away for the past several weeks...at least I’ve been away from “Hidden Lunch Boxes”. Several things have been going on. I’ve been helping acclimate our (new) pastor to his service at First Baptist Church, Winona.

My siblings and I also continue the “process of processing” our parents earthly belongings. That continues to be a “process” that “keeps on getting...”. I encourage you NOT to make an assumption about this statement. It has several meanings for me.....

The past several weeks has also held a “mountaintop” experience”; literally and figuratively. I mentioned in a previous blog my involvement with the Mississippi Singing Churchmen. I joined this organization when Judy and I returned to Mississippi almost twenty-two years ago.

The Mississippi Singing Churchmen are about singing. The Mississippi Singing Churchmen are also about missions; missions support and missions action. Its missions action includes sponsoring international mission efforts. The most recent international work was a few weeks ago to the country of Peru. Our group had worked there previously and this was a continuation of that work.

Several of us from the larger group departed a couple of days ahead so we could visit various Inca ruins in Peru prior to the beginning of our mission work. The “pinnacle” experience was a visit to one of the “wonders of the world”, the ruins of Machu Picchu. It was truly a wondrous experience.

Our guide was educational and communicated clearly. The design and engineering details of Machu Picchu were fascinating. The work of the ancient Incas would rival that of other ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians.

However, my visit has left me with larger questions. My questions are the same questions that visitors to Machu Picchu have asked and continue to ask. First, why did the Incas build it? Scholars can strongly speculate the reasons why Machu Picchu was constructed. It obviously was a sacred site for the Incas. Although that sacredness is understood there is still question as to why it was built.

The setting of Machu Picchu brings another question. To reduce the journey to Machu Picchu with the lone description of “scenic” is a massive understatement. It’s like saying the Pacific Ocean is a big lake or the Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground. Description is inadaquate.

Machu Picchu is atop a mountain in the Peruvian Andes. It is a single mountain among scores of mountains in the same area. The mountains are similar and the one on which it is built is not the highest. So the second question is “why that particular mountain top?” “Why out of all the possible mountains was that particular mountain designate for Machu Picchu?

For me these questions will remain unanswered. It is not the purpose of this post to answer these questions  much less exhaust the considered responses. However, part of my mountaintop experience at Machu Picchu is searching these unanswerable questions and taking on their challenge to my thought.

Another reason my journey to Machu Picchu was such a “mountaintop experience” was because it was my 50th birthday. It was totally coincidental that we visited Machu Picchu on this particular day. It proved to be most memorable. My only stated regret was that I was not with my family. However, I was with a great group of friends.

In the days leading up to our departure I asked myself several times, “I wonder how many people have celebrated their 50th birthday at Machu Picchu”? I am aware with the masses that have visited any number of individuals might have celebrated significant birthdays at Machu Picchu.

I do know of one other individual who celebrated a significant birthday at Machu Picchu. Our group was standing on the sidewalk in front of our hotel in Aguas Calientes. One of our group pulled out a bag of “50th Birthday Stuff” my family had asked him to smuggle. I adorned the various paraphernalia and our group begin to take pictures.

At this point II saw a lady cross the railroad track/street. (Yes..the street has a train that runs through it.) She walked up to our group, and addressed me. “Is this your birthday?’ “Yes it is” I responded. “And you are going to Machu Picchu for your birthday?” “I am” I responded.

This lady, whose name I don’t recall, stated how the previous day was her birthday and she and her husband celebrated it by hiking into Machu Picchu for a sunrise visit. I certainly was elated at the coincidence.

She then asked my age. I responded I was turning 50 years old. It then became a great coincidence that she had turned 50 years old the day before at Machu Picchu. I remembered asking myself about others celebrating significant birthdays at Machu Picchu and I rejoiced at the coincidence. It added to my “mountaintop experience”.

“Mountaintop Experiences”. A great blessing! They should be counted as such. “Down in the valley”. A great blessing! Yes, the valleys are low. However, the valley is where you find the river. Perhaps I will learn to always take peace that no matter where I am, God remains.