Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

I am in love with this book…I received it for Christmas from Doodle and Harvey. It took me twenty minutes to read it the first time… fifteen to read it a second time and then 30 minutes to reflect and absorb the simple truths about life and love that ” slammed” my spiritual awareness into high gear!

Author, illustrator, and gifted observer of life’s illusive truths, Charlie Mackesy starts the book out with this insightful comment.

Yes… we “wingless” angels on earth all end up ” winging” our way through life and constantly terrified others will find out the real truth inside of us-we are lost, uncertain, timid, and playing a role, acting out scenes, to be the person we want to project but… our life story is fiction-not reality.

This train of thought…reminds me of the famous comment President Franklin Roosevelt made to one of the most influential actors of his generation, Orson Welles, while fishing in the pond around Warm Springs, Georgia-the Presidential Retreat. FDR looked Orson right in the eye and said, ” You and I are the two best actors in America!”

Haven’t we all felt that way , especially while transitioning from academics to new careers to relationships, family and community expectations? We lament ” If people only knew the real me… what would they think… would they still love me?”

And through grace … isn’t God constantly trying to reassure us that He loves us just as we are… as a father to his child?

There is something about this captivating book that reminds me of Winnie the Pooh and all his friends… how their conversations include simple but powerful truths! Perhaps that is why I was so quickly drawn into its circle of love. Immensely uplifting!

So until tomorrow,,,

“Yes,” said the horse.

“And you still love me?”

” We love you all the more.”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

As Christmas draws to a close… isn’t that the best gift of all… we are loved in spite of ourselves!

Dear Reader:

Just one thought I want to share with you today. One of my favorite Christmas stories is the O’Henry classic-“The Gift of the Magi.” It tells of Jim and Della , a young married couple who are struggling financially. As Christmas approaches they want to give special gifts to each other, but their lack of money drives them to drastic measures.Jim’s prized possession is a gold watch, while Della’s is her long, beautiful hair. Ironically, Jim sells his watch in order to buy combs for Della’s hair, while Della sells her hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch.

The story has deservedly become beloved for it reminds us that sacrifice is at the heart of true love, and sacrifice is love’s truest measure.

Think about it…sacrifice is the true heartbeat of the story of the birth of Christ. Of all the people…who have ever walked this planet, Christ was born to die, and he was born to die for us. What an incredulous sacrifice!

I wonder if an artist has ever thought of painting a picture of the stable with the brilliant light from the Christmas Star shining down… with a distant shadow of a cross being formed at the same time! The thought gives me chills!

So until tomorrow…The birth of Christ brought God to man; the cross of Christ brings man to God. ( Bill Crowder)

Today is my favorite day. Winnie the Pooh

Guess what the family gave me? A new Apple iPhone!!! I am beyond exhilarated! So if pictures look better and you find less typo’s … thank all my family for going in together to give me a new lease of life in the mechanics of a fabulous new phone.

Kaitlyn gave me a beautiful gift-a tin holder with the title Give it to God. When you open it inside is paper and pen to write down a problem you are turning over to God. After writing it down-you crumble it up and throw it away-physically and emotionally!

Dear Reader:

Gloria is the ” underdog ” we all love rooting for… even if she is an angel! Because, in spite of her status Gloria represents all of us at different stages in our lives when we feel that we seem stuck in the wrong place at the wrong times. Yet… we never give up hope that at some cosmic moment in history we will be at the right place at the right time and it is this hope that keeps us faithful and trusting in God and His direction and path!

Gloria is klutzy, unkempt, and always late for everything in life… until the day she isn’t! Until she, alone, announces God’s Son to the World! We ended the story with everyone singing Angels We have Heard on High… belting out the ” Gloria ” refrain! It was so much fun!

Ann Graves sent some pictures-it was outdoors with fairy white lights strung in the trees, white candles-it was simply beautiful-I could not have ended 31 years of storytelling in a better environment!

Ann wrote this thank you for 31 years of storytelling-a memorable literary” marker.” Thank you Ann!

Earlier in the afternoon the Barbour clan arrived and we had fun with everyone exchanging Christmas gifts and admiring the magical skills of Rhodes the Remissioner!

Tomorrow Christmas breakfast brunch at Mandy’s with all the grandchildren -deep breath-here we go again! Fun Fun Fun!

So until tomorrow… I wish everyone ” a little more sparkle and a little less stress-for everyone I wish only the best! ”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

While I heated up the spaghetti-Ben got a roaring fire going-the best way to end the day!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄🎁

Dear Reader:

My faithful friend, ” Big Red” ( the geranium) is the epitome of Hope- once thought gone but ” resurrected ” by my young neighbors through cloning… Big Red” has three buds starting to bloom just in time for Christmas . If you look carefully at the top two buds in the title picture ( leaning to the left) you will see them and one lower. When they are fully open they will outshine/ cover the artificial decor behind them-” Big Red” IS Christmas! A survivor and thriver!

And this Christmas let’s all say a prayer of gratitude that our democracy survived from last year’s New Year attempt to destroy it and that our countrymen’s hearts be open to the most beautiful gift of freedom God has blessed us with…

I always pull daddy’s Christmas 1944 card to mother during WW II each Christmas and think how many of our families’ heroes sacrificed so much so we could continue to enjoy the freedom they fought so hard for… and my prayer , this Christmas, is that we don’t let it slip away.

There is something I need to share this Christmas and that is- this afternoon I am telling my last Children’s Christmas Eve Service story. It is time to pass the storytelling baton and our church is blessed to have the perfect person to take it and make the storytelling even bigger snd better-and she volunteered! Meant to be! Thank you Andi Stem for starting a whole new perspective on Christmas Eve storytelling. There is no doubt in my mind… it will be terrific!

Like the announcement says… I will be sharing my last and a favorite Christmas story this afternoon and tomorrow-Christmas Day-I will share that story with you!

So until tomorrow…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

A little birdie told me yesterday to hold on tight… warp speed Christmas is about to descend. Every fiber in my being agrees with the cute Christmas birdie’s message/ assessment. (adorable gift from Gin-g.)

From this point on the memories of Christmas will feel like a channel surfing experience using the remote… click, click, click… Whoah… there’s St. Nick! It’s over???

Yep… it’s about to get crazy no doubt and it is always unexpected last minute surprises that change one’s planned itinerary and we all know it will happen because it happens every year-still we feel thrown off-kilter every time it happens. Solution? Just go with the flow , hang on tight and don’t let go!

Yesterday was mother’s birthday ( in memoriam) and I took my 94 year old friend/ neighbor out to lunch for her birthday. The waitress blew up a Santa to wish her a happy birthday! Too cute!

Then Mandy brought the kids over to drop off gifts at Aunt Doodle and Lassie’s … staying to let the kids play in Hutchinson Square but to their surprise all the Christmas trees and decorations had already been taken down (????) However there was one ” construction” left -the mystery arch ( I was curious about it earlier.) Mandy said it is called the Snow Flake. A gift to the people of Summerville! It is always beautiful … the sun sending magnificent rays of rainbow colors scattering across the park !

Today, the 23rd, is my Walsh’s Birthday! Kringle Dingle! I brought him home from the hospital on Christmas Day! Best present ever!

Also birthday greetings to Aunt Pap who ending up sharing her birthday with her nephew! Happy Birthday Pap!

Walsh… Hope everyone has fun at the barbecue birthday tonight!

Now do you see why it is starting to get crazy-lots of Dingle birthdays -Tommy’s will arrive on the 29th!

But after everyone left … once again I retreated to my sanctuary -the garden) and pondered another Christmas 2000 years ago and once again peace entered me, myself, and I. Happy Birthday Jesus!

So until tomorrow…Christmas is the day that holds all time together!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

*** A shout-out to my former student, Pam Bailey ( Craft) who just had her book “Experiencing the Lowcountry” published. . Mandy picked up a copy at Guerin’s Drug Store on the Summerville Square!

Dear Reader:

The tradition of Christmas ghost stories dates much farther back than Charles Dickens’ 1863 A Christmas Carol. In fact ancient celebrations from the Winter Solstice started it all!

When the nights grew long and the days shorter storytelling around a fire became the nightly entertainment. Instinctively people gathered together to remember people and places no longer with them.

Before Dickens wrote his Carol –the tradition of Christmas was fading. For most people it was still a workday… the Industrial Revolution meant fewer days off for everyone and Christmas Day was no exception.

The decline of the holiday came courtesy of Oliver Cromwell-a Puritan who was on a mission to cleanse the nation of its decadent excesses.On top of the list was Christmas and ” all its festive trappings.” ( Cromwell famously banned Christmas carols.) Bah Humbug!

But with A Christmas Carol occurring around the same time as the invention of the commercial Christmas card-a resurgence for a commercial holiday , including ghost stories that a British Christmas is known for now… grew popular rapidly!

Think about it! The ghost tradition has even made it into lyrics of Christmas classics like ” It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” ( 1963)

…”There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.”

Through modern eyes Halloween might be a more appropriate holiday for ghosts, however Christmas does make sense. As Dickens wrote -the ghosts of Christmas are really the past, present, and future swirling around us in the dead of winter reminding us to keep the Christmas SPIRIT alive every day of the year!

So until tomorrow… Christmas jars filled with the spirit of Christmas are popular now-with suggestions on how to keep Christmas alive everyday!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh…

… because I got Joan Turner’s last watercolor of Mickey-completed the day before he passed. But next year Sophie will grace the new artwork!

Dear Reader:

I was over the moon yesterday when I was surprised by Mike and Honey arriving from the mountains carrying a new ” form” Mike made just the day before-taller and solid throughout to place the apples and greenery on… topped off by a giant pineapple.

Even though most of us associate this southern decoration with Colonial Williamsburg as a status symbol since pineapples were rare and expensive… it was George Washington, himself, who was said to have grown pineapples at Mount Vernon! So the pineapple then became a symbol of individuality and independence for the new country.

( Maybe this is why tourists visiting Disney World over the holidays will see more of this decor-as it ties into Liberty Square and Walt Disney’s love of American history? )

I really thought with Mike and Honey making the mountains their permanent home-I probably wouldn’t see them before Christmas and another tradition would be broken but it is alive and well and my apple tree is more beautiful than ever!

So until tomorrow… Honey and Mike… the gift of your friendship is my favorite Christmas present!

Today is my favorite day. Winnie the Pooh

Today is the Winter Solstice-from this day on more light will enter our daily lives by the sun and spiritually everyday we have a chance to increase the light of a stronger relationship with the other SON.

Dear Reader:

The other week our pastor asked the congregation to call out their favorite Christmas hymn-without a doubt-o Holy Night brought many nods and applause.

I remember waiting every year for the teachers’ Christmas luncheon/ program because it always ended with Lorraine White, our music teacher, belting out O Holy Night so beautifully, to the exhilaration of all we listeners caught up in the ” awe” of her voice! Christmas began for me on the last note.

That song always made me want to be a better person… one worthy of kneeling before the ” Holiest of Holies” … the Christ Child. Bestselling author, Richard Rohr writes this observation on the subject.

We might ask ” How can I be more holy?” We don’t have to make ourselves holy. We already are, and we just don’t know it yet.”

Not that the awakening of the True Self in God is not important-it is essential. True religion is more about subtraction than addition. It is about letting go of the false self and then being

open to our Holy Spirit within us.

The True Self is abundantly content as it is. Don’t we recognize this contentment in some people around us who are there for others and love the life they have? No stressful corporate ladder for them. These people aren’t climbers but kneelers.

So until tomorrow…. Think about this line in O Holy Night-… ” Till He appeared and the soul felt it’s worth. “

Contrary to the ” Wayne’s World” comedy skit on SNL… ” We ARE WORTHY ” … Jesus’s birth saw to that! We are not only worthy but holy.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Actually Saturday was… I mentioned earlier the All-Stars Youth Football team played Saturday -a semi- final game with the chance to then play in the finals.

Rutledge was shocked that he was about the smallest player out there on the four teams comprising the third and fourth grade division-but his team won it all and as quarterback Rutledge made the winning touchdown as minutes ticked down to the final second.

What a wonderful experience seeing Atlanta for the first time, taking tours, making new friends and building a team in two days practice-a challenge!

They got ” Superbowl ” ” rings ” and Rutledge was recognized for highest skill level! A nail-biting exciting day for one and all! A joyous ending!

Look at this snow in NH Mollie’s mother sent… and though the temp is dropping today… we have been hovering near 80 the past week.

Dear Reader:

Rembrandt has been called ” a compelling storyteller on canvas.” His painting The Adoration of the Shepherds portrays the darkened stable in Bethlehem where two shepherds kneel beside the manger while others stand farther away.

One man holds a lantern, but the brightest light shines not from his lantern but from the Christ-child, illuminating those who have gathered close to him.

Seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah used an image of light and shadow to foretell the coming of a Savior for Israel: ” The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” ( Isaiah 9:2, 6)

Each person may see a different story in Rembrandt’s famous painting, but perhaps each of us is represented somewhere in the stable. Are we kneeling in worship, standing back in hesitation, or hiding from the light that has penetrated our darkness?

So until tomorrow… Christmas invites us to step out of the shadows of darkness and to allow the light of Christ to shine into our hearts. ( Source: Finding Peace at Christmas devotions-David McCasland)

Today is my favorite day. Winnie the Pooh

And speaking of darkness and light we are two days out from the winter solstice-Tuesday, December 21, is the shortest day of the year or the longest night of the year-depending on one’s personal perspective.

We might break a record today-temps suppose to be very close to 80 ! I am having to water, water, water my porch poinsettias!

Walsh and Rutledge are having lots of fun in Atlanta-his team won their first game and we’re waiting to see who they will play for the championship game later in the day-will update tomorrow-main thing-having fun!

Faith in Christmas is not a leap into the dark… it’s a step into the light!

Dear Reader:

Yesterday was one of those bizarre days , especially for Anne, when our personal life seems to fall out of sync with the universe.

Anne had planned to pick me up at 11 to go get barbecue in Ridgeville and then go to Lisa’s Hollowtree nursery as part of our annual gift exchange. Anne wanted to pick up more camellia bushes and I needed to replace Rutledge’s struggling Japanese maple tree.

But her car was stuck at a Toyota Dealership -a simple bicycle roof rack had turned into ” major surgery” and would take hours to complete. So I picked up Anne… and as we were leaving her neighborhood… there was a sign that read… Christmas is doing something special for someone else. Great observation I thought to myself!

When we arrived at the barbecue diner we were not disappointed-after a Covid two year absence-in fact it all just tasted better than ever. I noticed Anne ordered another meal to go but thought she was just taking one home for later.

When we arrived at Hollowtree we beeped to let Lisa know we had driven in and Anne promptly handed her the barbecue meal box. Lisa looked like she might tear up… and she told us her truck was stolen a few days earlier while she was cutting the grass. Someone had the ” gall to steal it right under her nose.”

Quickly we both realized that Lisa needed to tell the story and listen to our sympathetic and encouraging comments and similar story situations too.

It isn’t often we realize, at the moment it is happening, that one intuitively understands the role God wants us to play in helping one of His children! Lisa needed sympathetic listeners and human contact-we were supposed to be at Hollowtree yesterday, despite the obstacles along the way.

We left with three camellia bushes and a Japanese Maple sapling! But what we really got was a sense of giving back to a friend ( A different type of gift but the most important) and a garden of beauty unlike any other… come take a visual trip with me!

And when I got home… a surprise! Jeff and his son had been by cleaning up the yard-minus lots of leaves, for Christmas!

Today is ” game” day for Rutledge and his team-mates! But yesterday the boys toured the Georgia Dome- Rutledge stayed true to his ” orange” -like Dad!

Not to be outdone… Lachlan was named Student of the Month yesterday-Congratulations Lachlan!

So until tomorrow… we always need to be open to God’s directions by following them so we can help another-especially at Christmas!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

All my grandchildren-listen to your Boo as you read this sage advice below-as a retired history teacher I know it to be true!