​Have you noticed that people are putting their Christmas decorations up in their yards early this year?

​I’ve heard that people are tired because of the fear and separation created by the pandemic. The country is weary of political divisions. Many folks are having to manage now with less money and job insecurity. Maybe the reason Christmas decorations are being put up early is because we are ready for a change to a more peaceful and more kind time of year. Maybe people are ready to hear the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
 
I am tired of meanness. This COVID pandemic is not kind. It is mean and deadly. People have learned how to be mean toward others who have a different opinions, or wear different colored skin, or speak a different language. Go ahead and admit it. It has become difficult these days for families to even sit down at the same table together to share a meal without someone getting upset by the conversation or some different point of view. Some wear masks and others do not. Some voted this way, and some voted another way. Meanness is not foreign even among people who are supposed to love each other. Meanness today is as rampant and deadly to friendship as COVID 19.
 
My friend, T. Richard Davis died this week. He was 96 years old. T. Richard, as we used to call him, was one of the kindest men I have ever known. He lived by the Biblical standard, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32) T. Richard’s kindness flowed out of his humility. Every time you talked to him you felt better after the conversation. He had a way of getting underneath you and lifting you up. He made you feel like your idea mattered and that what you had to say was worth his full attention. T. Richard Davis was without doubt a “Kind Soul.”
 
The Advent Season is a season of kindness. It expresses in four separate Sundays, beginning this Sunday and ending with our Christmas Eve service, the kindness of God express in:

• Hope – November 29
• Preparation – December 6
• Joy – December 13
• Love – December 20
• Jesus Christ – December 25

 
One thing is for certain. God showed His wonderful kindness toward us in sending Jesus to save us and teach us how to be kind to others, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, buy the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:4-6)
 
That’s what I’m praying for this Advent Season. I’m praying for a rain shower of kindness that will lift us up out of the mess we are in. I need a good dose of God’s kindness right now. Let the kindness of Jesus flow out of heaven on Grace Baptist Church this Christmas.

​“TO GATHER OR NOT TO GATHER” that is the question my family is wrestling with during these days of social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing. It is a real heartache that children, grandchildren, friends and loved ones are having to question whether it is acceptable to come together to share grandma’s turkey and dressing and be thankful for God’s rich blessings during this season. Some within our family say, “Yea, let’s get together like always.”
 
Then others say, “I don’t think it is the wise thing to do.”
 
During a season of thankfulness, the family is further divided out of caution rather than disagreement. I don’t like it, but that is what we must contend with these days.
 
Can we be thankful during a pandemic?
 
I’m sure a quarter of a million people will have a hard time being thankful when they have lost a loved one to death because of this virus. I understand that at any one time 75,000 people are hospitalized nationwide as a result of COVID. Thanksgiving from a hospital bed or an ICU room will be almost impossible. How about all those doctors, nurses, first responders and essential healthcare workers who are bone tired and fearful for their own health. They may have a hard time finding thanksgiving in their hearts. Maybe I can be thankful for them. Listen to what God’s word says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
 
Does the “EVERYTHING” in this verse include a pandemic?
 
Absolutely! We can be thankful in spite of sickness, economic downturns or even isolation and fear that accompanies the present crisis.
 
Robbie and I have decided that we will have thanksgiving in our family no matter what the children decide to do. We are going to cook the turkey and make the dressing along with the wonderful side dishes Robbie prepares from family recipes that have been passed along to us over the years from our parents and grandparents. If need be, I will dish up the food, take it to the kids and leave it on their front doorstep. We can have a family “ZOOM” thanksgiving gathering to share with each other the blessings we have received from the Lord. I can read thanksgiving prayers and benedictions from God’s word online. I will compose a thanksgiving prayer and send it to the entire family. Let’s be thankful even though we may not be able to be together. Thanksgiving is a pathway for the peace of God to invade our lives.
 
We need a double portion of God’s peace, don’t we?
 
Let’s find ways to be more thankful this season than ever before. Let’s kill the pandemic with thankfulness. Maybe God may use thanksgiving like a 95% effective vaccine. A good shot of thankfulness may be what we all need right now.