The meaning of Christmas

Interestingly enough, I have asked God how He feels about Christmas.  Strangely enough, He has never answered.  However, maybe He has heard me, who knows?  Of course God answers prayer.  I have in the past prayed about it only to see that maybe just maybe He has His own perspective.  From a religious point of view, He has no respect for those who practice idolatry or ecumenism.  On the other hand, it can be construed as a holy day hence holiday.  It is nice to remember His birth, but it is nicer to remember ALL of Jesus' life everyday of the year, not just Christmas.  I choose to celebrate that message and take that time to be thankful for His life, beginning at His birth.  I guess that is the answer I have sought even though no one ever said that God commanded to celebrate Christmas, but we are all commanded to obey God, be saved by Jesus, let the Holy Spirit guide us, and follow the commands as written in His Word.  Wow!  Taking out Santa and commercialism, there would no longer be a controversy of how to celebrate Christmas.

Should I celebrate Christmas?

Surrounding myself with the holidays give me comfort.  I am not sure if Christmas especially is really a Christian holiday, but the basic understanding has many Christian tenets.  Christmas has gotten too commercialized and does have pagan origins.  Should I just avoid celebrating it because of those things?  That is a good question.  It makes me think about how I should celebrate this holiday, if at all.  If I were to celebrate Christmas, would it make me less of a Christian if I were to celebrate? Chances are, Jesus was not born on December 25, but during the Fall.  So why do we really celebrate this wonderful day.  Those are 24 hours that I look for, but am I part of the Christmas problem or rather, "dilemma"?

Being thankful for

I have come to realize that it is easy to forget to be thankful for.  I spent many a time feeling guilty about quite a few things.  I am referring to having OCD.  I feel guilty about the fact that OCD would be minor yet it feels like the whole world is on my shoulders.  There have been people who have been affected by terrorism yet I am consumed about a television movie.  I should be thankful and I am, but I realize that I am not thankful enough.  I just wish I was "made whole".  I could have taken the time to be more thankful.  For that, I am thankful that I have realized this because I would not be thankful at all.

Music and OCD

Having OCD is not fun.  Not fun at all.  I realize that I should be thankful, but it is hard to when one deals with mood swings and thoughts that tend to drive me crazy.  Maybe I should just not let it, but those who often give me advice have no clue what it is like.  I wish just want to sing a song, dance, or anything to pass the time.  Anything is better than feeling like I am going crazy.  That too is not a good feeling to have.  Listening to music is quite good.  It soothes the savage beast meaning that OCD is most certainly the savage beast.  I am not sure where that quote comes from but I wonder if who penned that quote had the same issues I had.  Maybe or maybe not, but I wish that music. Sometimes I wish it did more than soothe the savage beast.  I guess music does a lot of good things like dancing to it and other things I can think of at the moment.  Whatever it does, the world would not be the same without music.

Defining music and the soul

I often post videos because I just love music.  It is good for the mind, body, and soul.  I have wondered what is the soul?  Is it spiritual or just cultural?  Soul music I believe is a cultural thing while the soul is spiritual.  Really, the word soul is just hard to define.  I have to google that.  I need to look that one up.  Anyways,  there is nothing in the world like great music featuring great talent. All music is real just like all forms of art is real.  To me Dave Grohl is just as real to me as Idina Menzel.  There is nothing bad about the music of each of these two.  I know that I have written a post about real music before.  However, I never really understood why some music is labeled as soul while other music is its close "relative" R&B.  What is soul and what constitutes R&B?  That too is just hard to explain.  That too I will have to google.

Loving to give gifts

I love giving gifts.  My hope is that they would appreciate those gifts.  To me Christmas is about holiness and giving.  I realize that there are pagan origins to the holidays but there is something about the holidays that make it special.  l think that Thanksgiving should not be forgotten either.  We as believers are to also give thanks to God for He is our Savior and our Heavenly Father.  Life is just too short to not be holy, loving, giving, or thankful.  It is sometimes hard to remember that when one has OCD.  It isn't a lonely time but Christmas keeps me distracted, but come 2016, what will happen? Now what?  I have hope for I am ever hopeful.  I give because I have learned to love and be of service to others.  I believe that is what is commanded of us to: to be holy and to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.  I will not be too angry or be anxious, which will be hard, considering the OCD.  In the meantime, I will learn not to take what is given and is there to give for granted.  That would be a gift for me, if not the best gift of all.

Praying and asking amiss

I have been praying and asking amiss.  It has frustrating, but I brought it on myself.  I asked for my faith to be strengthened.  I have had issues with doubt, anxiety, and fear.  I have wondered why my prayers have yet to be answered.  I have come to see that I have been asking amiss for years.  I have prayed long prayers about everything.  There is nothing in the world like having a relationship with the Savior.  I know that Jesus is greater than my issues.  All I had to do was ask, seek, and knock.  It is quite simple, but I didn't realize that until yesterday. I believe that God showed me about my prayer life.  I am to obey Him and serve Him whenever I have prayed.  My eyes have been opened, and for that, I am thankful to the Lord for revealing that for me.  I am thankful to the Holy Spirit to continue to teach me all things.  I wish that was all I had to do, but it is no use feeling guilty.  Today is a new day and I can start over today.  Today is the day the Lord has made.  I am ever thankful to Him ad I also will be.