Christmas 2011

Luke 1:46-55 The Magnificat

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for the Lord has favor on the lowliness of his servant…….
The Lord has lowered the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly;
The Lord has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.”

2012 will be the year we will be bombarded by images of politicians who are promoting themselves as Christians when what they are espousing has little to do with the Song of Mary or the Gospel of Jesus. There is no way anyone could actually get elected running on a Jesus platform. Jesus came as a counterpoint to an earthly kingdom. The kingdom of Caesar was predicated on empire building, war making, border protecting and the establishment of a wealthy elite, paid for by financial and governmental manipulation of the voiceless majority. None of which were the goals of Jesus. For example, God is very clear on how aliens and immigrants are to be treated and there is no mention of border fences anywhere to be found. No one could get elected running on an open borders platform! Americans want their politicians to talk the Jesus talk but would never vote for anyone foolish enough to walk the Jesus walk. If legislators and courts want to create socio economic systems that further enrich corporations, stockholders and those in the higher tiers of power and wealth, fine, but leave Jesus and Christian precepts out of it. Social policy, tax codes, and budgets in the United States are all moral documents. They either promote the kingdom of God by lifting up the lowly or deny the kingdom of God, they either promote justice and equity or codify injustice and inequity.

Each of our children is serving the kingdom of God in their own way. Whether it is raising and nurturing children to grow up to be loving contributors to society, trudging through the back county searching for the lost and injured, making sure passengers are safe or passing on to the White House valuable scientific data on which to base policy……..

There is a Kingdom of God element to their lives.

Rebecca (38) continues work as a contractor at NASA Goddard doing mechanical systems analysis for Earth Science Satellites. She is never sure when the funds for her projects will be cut. Pedro is in his second year as the Executive Director for the National Science and Technology Council at the Executive Office of the President, a fancy way for saying he prepares research on various scientific topics for the White House. Alexandra (6) is excelling in First Grade at the French school. A French-English dictionary now lives on her bed for reference during evening reading of school library books.

Jonathan (37) and his partner Guillermo live in Houston where he continues to serve Continental and the flying public as a very safety conscious flight attendant. He loves volleyball and is a flutist and general manager for a community orchestra.

Matthew and JessicaMatthew (35) flies commuter planes and spends his time off hiking the back country in the dark, in the snow, searching and rescuing those who have strayed from the path. The Summit County Search and Rescue Group are not always successful in bringing the lost and injured out alive. He lives with that tragedy and gets up every day to work to avoid it. He is pictured here with the love of his life, Becky, a pharmacist at St. Anthony’s Hospital here in Summit County.

Ruben (35) has been with the Mountain Lyon Café in Silverthorne for 17 years and serves upRobert, Cassie and Ruben the best pancakes, bacon and eggs in the county. He lives nearby with Cassie (7) a second grader in a dual language Spanish/English immersion school. She loves her piano lessons and Len Rhodes, her teacher, the most patient man in the whole world! Summers Cassie and I hike all over our beloved mountains and kayak in our beautiful Lake Dillon, stopping often at little islands to chase fish in the shallows. Robert (34) is safely home at Mesa House in Denver, where he gets excellent 24/7 care.

Jamie (35) is married and working at The Chop House in Denver as a cook. He is loving it while trying to save enough money to move to Boston where his wife, Melissa, lives.

Rachel (33) is devoting herself to Andrew, born May 25, while home schooling Derek (6)Rachel and Kellie with children and teaching part time for College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, where they moved this summer from Lincoln, Nebraska. Kellie is employed fulltime as a sociology professor at the same school. They both continually hustle to get Derek to soccer and t-ball.

Brandon (30) is back on his feet after some homeless years. He is working for Good Times while living at home, which is exactly where I want him and he needs to be! He stays in close touch with his children Katerina (11) and Andy (9) in Grand Junction and takes the bus to see them as often as he can.

Amber (30) and Jesse (32) are incommunicado but I hear through the grapevine that they are doing fairly well. Amber is mothering a little boy, while living with her in laws. Jesse recently successfully completed a rehab program and is employed. This is a good thing!

Paul continues to work at the local ACE hardware store, manages our various rental properties and serves on several boards with focus on their finances. In July he will return to Manchay, Peru for our annual home building program.

My part time work as a child and family trauma therapist continues to diminish and my concentration of time and energy is on the Community Dinner. It is my joy to head up a vast body of volunteers and donors to coordinate a weekly free dinner for the community. We are serving 400 or so people each week.

With the help of another set of donors I have completed the capital improvements at Good Samaritan Home for Seniors in Jeremie, Haiti, www.jeremierelief.org. The concentration of effort now focuses on food security. I am beholden to numerous donors who continue to send sufficient funds each month to provide food for the seniors. We send $675 a month for food so there is always a need for new support. Feel free to jump in with a check at any time! (LOTM – Jeremie Relief, PO Box 1059, Dillon, CO 80435) I tell my donors it is one thing to die but another thing entirely to die of hunger! This February I will be traveling to Manchay, Peru to build 5 homes. This stuff is all fun for me! This is all pure joy.

Another form of joy has come this year in traveling with Paul on a Caribbean cruise, motor home trips – in the Spring to Lake Mead outside of Las Vegas and in the Fall going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, stopping on the way for a narrow gauge train ride and a day at Ojo Caliente Hot Springs as well as visiting some Georgia O’Keefe sites. I met some of the grand kids in Las Vegas this fall and took them to Lion King. What fun! They are truly my joy!

To top it off my Mom, Jon and I went to Barcelona for a week in November, exploring Gaudi sites, eating tapas and drinking wine.

I like the balance in our lives modeled by Jesus…. attend the wedding feast…feed the hungry. Indulge, serve, indulge, serve, indulge, serve.

Blessings and Peace