Stop for a minute. Stop and breathe….
Stop and sit in peace… Just stop, and join together.
All around us is this great sense of foreboding ugh, and it’s not just connected to an election; it’s everything. Everything is weird, everything is not comfortable, everything is less joyful and requires an intensity of thought just to carry-on ordinary events.
Christmas, the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is a week away; and yet everything around us seems less focused on joy – and more focused on what joy we are missing. At the heart of that anxiety is this sense of foreboding. A sense of fear and worry; a sense of trepidation.
In our daily lives we encounter ordinary disconnects now. Masked faces are disconnecting our sense of interaction, our human connection. Unfortunately, and as a natural outcome of these challenges, we are accepting disconnect and creating a void inside ourselves. At the same time COVID is physically disconnecting people from their family. Many families will not gather this year to celebrate the joyous event of Christ’s birth. Many parents and grandparents will not see their adult children for the first time in years, perhaps ever.
Amid all of this flux and ugh, even simple tasks like decorating the Christmas tree somehow feels, senses, seems less joyful. Perhaps financial worry stems the joy in shopping for family and friends. Perhaps the shine within cheer is slightly dimmed because all around us is something we cannot quite describe, yet we feel it.
Perhaps tears flow at times and we struggle to understand what this unusual anxiety is all about. Then, we begin to struggle with the feeling of shame or guilt for being weak and allowing our humanity to pour out of our human-selves. Then, at the worst possible time in the year, our faith organizations are slow to understand the importance of fellowship and community amid an upheaval that takes our center from under our feet.
Regional leaders make the anxiety worse. As our grip on our familiar surroundings becomes more tenuous, we are faced with dictates and mandates that only exacerbate the issues. The media drumbeat an incessant noise that destabilizes us and yet we cannot quite put our finger on why the impact is worse now…. it is all ugh.
It is all just, ugh.
If you find the assembly of these words familiar to your current sense, first understand YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Second, understand there is nothing wrong with you. This blanket of anxiety is laying across our entire nation, and we are all sensing a various level of this ‘ugh’ with some familiarity. However, that said, it is important to know this is transitional. We will not be in this place long. This too shall pass.
How do we shake these destabilizing feelings and emotions?
How do we reconnect to the core-spirit we carry in our lives?
These are the questions we should use to leverage ourselves back to a center of peace and hope. These are the questions that empower us to recharge of our sense of purpose and life within the lives of others, including our community, family and friends.
♦ The first way we shake this ‘ugh’, is to give to others without reservation. Giving with purpose is the true spirit of human contact. The giving is not related to money or wealth; the giving is related to our human purpose. Perhaps we give a smile. Perhaps we give a kind word. Perhaps we give a compliment, or perhaps we just give time to another.
You could give a gift to another or perhaps send an email; or better yet write a letter to a dear friend or family member. Reach out and tell them they matter and express why their place in this life of yours is important. Remind them of your specific thankfulness, and connect to the purpose of why we endeavor in this thing we call life. The important thing is to give, and to do it without any other intent or purpose than to fill your own heart.
♦ Within the giving, remind yourself what this journey is all about and look around to recognize how fortunate we are to have this life. Choose to cherish the ultimate gift from a loving God who wants joy and hope to permeate our human sense.
Hope is the one necessary human element beyond all other facets of life. Give the gift of hope and light to those you love by first reminding yourself of the gift that a loving God has given us all. It is too easy in our human sense to forget the biggest gift we have been granted, the gift of life. The ability to live and choose how we engage in the lives of others.
Remind yourself of the kind of purposeful HOPE that would leave a throne to be born into a manger as a baby only to grow into a Man willing to lay down His everything for the wretchedness of humanity.
No politics or false sense of security can overwhelm the message of HOPE that a loving God has provided. No effort of man or human disposition can surmount the greatest love of all. The message of Christ’s birth is bigger and greater than any legislative battle. “No power of hell, nor scheme of man” can come close to the purpose of God’s intent and love for you as a unique person qualified to receive that love.
Wrap yourself in the blanket of that unconditional love. Stop what you are doing.
Pause in the peace of this moment… set down your troubles, LISTEN and FEEL.
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining, til He appeared and the souls felt its worth. A thrill of HOPE; the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…”
Let the tears flow, and with them release the foreboding. Engage in the next moment with a loving purpose filled with the HOPE that He provides. Fall forward to the centered purpose of your life, a very special life, and reflect on the gift we are too quick to diminish.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
Revelation 21:1-6
Abiding love to all.
Steadfast,
~ Sundance
Very timely post, thank you!
Merry Christmas!
Wonderful. Thank you!
It is difficult knowing what you know while so many people you love are not listenig or have doubts about what you have told them.
Though I know we are coming into some times of tribulation, I keep mypowder dry so that they will hear me when things are about to get really tough. It is a burden and it does numb you to the glory of Christmas. Thanks for the talk, I know my duty as the Father and Grandfather, brother and friend. Merry Christmas Patriots!
This whole covid thing can be described in multiple ways, one of them being an enormous demoralization campaign.
I refuse to give in. I love Christmas and life. I’ve put up more decorations than usual and even decorated my car! I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, blast my music and remain jolly. I refuse to lose my holiday spirit when I know God loves me, POTUS is fighting for me and it ain’t over!!
Me too. I think i have said”Merry Christmas” this year more times than in past years
Here in Upstate NY (TRUMP COUNTRY for sure—-but all NY was stolen this time around) it’s a blast just to drive around and see the Christmas lights and decorations, from elegant and tasteful to completely crazy. Local stores were stripped of everything Christmas, and most of it’s out in people’s yards or in their windows for all to enjoy.
The lit-up TRUMP 2020 stuff is my favorite 🙂
Alan Jackson, ‘Let It be Christmas’. Lyrics are beautiful.
It is my belief that there is a great spiritual oppression taking place across our country & world. We know that our battle ultimately is in the spiritual realm and all of the physical manifestations we are dealing with are directly tied to that battle. The Covid shut down has exacerbated the oppression by separating people from each other and their ability to come together for good.
Pray. Pray for an end to the spiritual oppression, give Glory thanks to God. Prayer Warriors are needed now more than ever to return our world to being Christ centered, not crisis centered.
Amen! Praying for the dark clouds to lift and the Light of the world to be more apparent.
Thanks be to God who has given us real hope and a certain future in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Yes! It is undeniably a spiritual battle. I feel as if I’m in a constant state of prayerfulness, somewhere deep in my soul, even as I go about my day. Sometimes I find relief, other times I still feel the heaviness. Sundance’s post is spot on.
Yes! There really is a Santa Clause! Just look in the mirror.
Will bring a tear to your eye.
The best! Its what we are made of.
Great post, sir! Thank you!
Wonderful
I rarely shed tears: But I’m crying now.
Thank you.
This brought tears to my eyes. There are millions of kind people in our world and have been for generations. Merry Christmas!
Wow. Powerful. Thank you for posting this. Takes a heckuva lot to bring tears to my eyes. This hit home, for me.
‘Nuff said.
Thanks.
A tear? Dang man, you should have said we needed half a box of tissues first!
Thank you!
Great post Sundance!!
Sundance you describe the world surrounding us well! May I add … May America Bless God!
imo
Trump does not give us hope but he sure makes us hope.
While I will do my best to rebel against the dictators of lies in my country, the USA, and in this world I do realize my presence on earth is part of my journey to Heaven that I hope to get into someday. Everything changes in this world, including nation-states for good or bad. If enough of us pray to God and asks to make things right regarding the 2020 election AND if it is for the greater good, then I believe God will make it happen.
Dutchman’s prayer from December 6th…
Lord,
Thank you for having the Grace, to forgive me my sins, and for the blessing of allowing me to live in THESE times, and bear witness to this titanic struggle between you and the evil one, between your warriors, and the forces aligned to enslave humanity.
I pray for our country, and for the World, and know that we are secure in your hands.
I am content, at peace knowing that YOU are “in charge”, and that with you, ALL is possible, and without you NOTHING is possible.
Please lift the burden of despondency, which afflicts so many, Lord. Let them see thru the lies of the father of lies, and understand that distorting perceptions, to make them THINK he is winning, is simply one of his deceptions.
Make all of his minions stumble, grumble, fumble and ultimately fail, and their feeble attempts to achieve dominion over the earth, to come to naught.
Bless President Trump, his family, ALL warriors, and Treepers. Keep them safe, strong and resolute.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.
BREAKING,
Sundance etal
According to AXIOS the Pentagon is stopping Briefings with Biden Team.
https://www.axios.com/pentagon-biden-transition-briefings-123a9658-4af1-4632-a6e6-770117784d60.html
The most interesting quote, “With the holidays we are taking a knee for two weeks…”
That lines up with the Christmas eve federal holiday Trump just enacted. I get the sense all of this comes to a head next week.
Amen, my brother, amen.
Blessed Christmas to you and your family.
Stunning picture!
Takes my breath away. I thank God for this man.
If you click on it you can save to your computer and it becomes smaller. I have it on my desktop for daily prayer. (((Hugs to all))
Merry Christmas to all!
On December 25th, 1776–Washington crossed the Delaware.
Be of good cheer.
Morning Treepers!
Thank you Sundance for a very uplifting post. I have forwarded it to all those on my list.
As we turn the corner into Christmas week I am seeing here in Central Texas a huge surge in Texans shopping at the malls, eating at restaurants and generally getting on with their lives. Last night we went to Waco for some shopping and the “malls” were packed. Most all restaurants were busy and some had lines (we are supposed to be at 50% capacity but I think many places are ignoring that mandate).
Our plans for Christmas have changed as our eldest daughter and husband are entering the ninth month preceding the arrival of our first grandchild (a BOY). As she is 39, but so far excellent shape, we all decided that a two hour trip to the ranch might not be best. Although we did have a great veterinarian on standby (why were me an my son-in-law the only ones who thought that was funny). So we’ll load up Santa’s sleigh and head up to the Dallas People’s Republic on Christmas Eve and hurry back Christmas Day. But next year! Wow! We will have have the mother of all celebrations here at the ranch with one more person!
My friends, take Sundance’s message to heart. All is NOT lost– yet. Gather your family and celebrate as you see fit.
Never give in… never give up!
Amen and Amen. Thank you Sundance. Merry Christmas.
I spend a few minutes each morning remembering what I love about America. The beauty of our country. Oceans, mountains, small towns, covered bridges, magnificent churches. All i’ve seen on many wonderful road trips I’ve taken. The goodness of most to step up and help others in times of need. The innovation of our inventors. The ability to be born poor, work hard and succeed at goals you set and rise up to prosperity. The gift given to us by the founding fathers of our Constitution. Things look dark but I have to believe the camaraderie and love of America we saw after 9/11 between all political stripes is still there. Many are unaware (shockingly so) of what’s really going on and I don’t believe they’ll stand for the destruction of our way of life. God bless America.
Preach it brother! Very encouraging this morning! We, as believers in the saving knowledge of the cross, have hope and joy and a future. The message of fellowship and community this site promotes is an answer to the fear and the isolationism the media and the liberals are foisting on us. Merry Christmas! PS Thank God we’re not on WordPress any longer. I can post from the iPad!
we need you Sundance. Thanks for all you do
Thank you for the perspective, Sundance. May we all remember what is most important. Our immediate people, whether family, friends, co-workers, and even solid acquaintances are our pack.
Thank you Sundance. I cannot tell you how this speaks to my hungry soul. This is Christmas. Thank you for helping me to refocus on what is important. God bless you.
Thank you for this post with perfect timing! We have been feeling exactly this way and we needed this to read right now. I have spent the morning reading everyone’s posts and it has been good for my soul. Also, “O Holy Night” by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Gordon McRae is wonderful! I don’t know how to post it but it brings tears to my eyes each time I hear it. Merry Christmas, Treepers!
Thank you for this article. You say this will not last forever, but I think that is what concerns us. This appears to be going on endlessly. No one will step up and say this has been overplayed and we are ending the virus sham. No one will step up and say this election was fraudulent and it will be fixed. We all know the overarching dread has been brought on by those we’ve given control, but no one in control will stop it. Yes, praying….
You are in control. We all are. Step up. Refuse to comply with the mandates. They do not have the power or the authority to suspend our rights unless we surrender to them.
Thank you, Sundance. Merry Christmas!
This is what the pastor said last weekend. The One we put our hope in has a very good track record. Also said that the peace and joy that comes from living in that hope, must like the Baby Jesus, must be nurtured and protected.
Thanks Sundance for the much needed, uplifting post… Merry Christmas!
Gateway Pundit is reporting that the Pentagon has halted all defensive briefings with the Biden team.
Why did they ever start?
Remember that Christ already made a new way for us and that He did it out of love. We are none of us alone, we are loved, we are forgiven and we don’t need to fear. Repeating the Lord’s prayer is a great way to resettle myself in these facts each day.
Thank you Sundance for your faithfulness to the Lord and to this community. We all have abundant blessings to count and gifts to share, gratitude to give to one another and to God. Merry Christmas to All! Celebrate the gift of our Savoir and share His blessings!
Fear Not Indeed…..
Such a beautiful and inspiring post, Sundance. We all needed to get recentered. I wept as I read the scripture from Revelation as it was the exact same scripture I read to my husband the day he passed away (November 5, 2020).
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” Rev. 21:7
Merry Christmas
Let us ever strive to be the church in Philadelphia and not Laodicea:
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. – Revelation 3:10-13
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I oh so much needed these words of inspiration.
God Bless One And All!
A true story of hope. This article in American Thinker was published on Christmas Day several years ago. I try to read it every year around Christmas to help put things in perspective.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2012/12/saved_by_christmas.html
Does anyone know the name and current condition of the Tennessee nurse who collapsed on camera after taking the corona shot?
Found it….Tiffany Dover. Says she’s recovered. I wonder.
God Bless you Sundance and all of treepers, may the good Lord Bless you all.
It has always been bad for believers. Think about Elijah, fleeing from Jezebel. Remember: Jezebel was going to kill him, pure and simple. It was going to happen, and he could not stop it. He fled, and hid in a cave. The birds brought food to him. And what happened? Elijah got very down, and said “I am all alone.” The response: “I have left 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Always that knee thing. Just realized that! I guess there is nothing new under the Sun. So Elijah gathered up his skirts, went to see Jezebel fall off the wall, and set some priests of Baal straight. I Kings 18 ff.
Old Chinese proverb goes something like this.
Man wait long time sitting in chair waiting for roast duck to fly into mouth.
Needed this. I have forwarded to my group.
Comments seem to disappear….odd….using mobile phone and the site acts really weird using brave and can’t find previous comments that i made but others show up…
We all face crisis throughout life. When I returned home from a particularly fantastic business trip, I came home to an empty house with a note: my beautiful wife had decided she didn’t want to be married to me anymore, she had left for her family home in Munich.
A cascading effect took hold… once in a lifetime home up for sale, my business that
I had built up out of sheer tenacity… gone. More importantly, the future I had worked to create… vanished.
Mostly due to apathy. I just didn’t care anymore. It took a long time to regain that person I once was; and that is my greatest concern. National malaise is EXACTLY what the left hopes to create.
They can steal our freedoms without a fight if that takes hold. It’s why this article is important and this forum is so valuable.
We MUST continue to build one another up and carry that attitude into our day to day lives.
The accumulative effect will be a powerful defense and maybe our best defense against the national evil that stalks our beautiful country.
I am grateful you came through that terrible trial safely and with hope, Joe. I pray the Lord richly blesses you in all your remaining days.
Having had 2 successful cataract removals, my vision is now 20/15 and 20/20 (from 20/100 and 20/50.) The downside is that I can now see how dirty my house is! One way I have coped with upset and anger is to throw myself into something wholeheartedly; this approach has helped my all of my life. I am passionate about my 2 PT jobs and have worked them long enough that I now don’t need to concentrate on them as much. I will channel my energy into cleaning and enjoying my efforts, not mope about the election because moping solves nothing. I am trying to live my best life secure in the knowledge that God hears our prayers and his will prevails.
I’m glad I stopped to read what you said. For weeks and weeks I have been retreating to my basement on my knees talking to God, begging God, and weeping in suffering. My mother was the most devout practitioner of love of any person I’ve ever known and she died weeks ago. She always told me that she would be here when the Lord came back and it’s silly as that sounds to some it did give me some comfort. The outcome of the election has been a poison in my spirit and I’ve been depressed for weeks however I did walk away from television news and that has helped a lot. Sundance, the message that you have shared today has given me a boost and I thank you for it.
May the peace that only our Father can give be yours. Know that many readers here just said a silent prayer for your comfort, Davz.
Brilliant. Tnak you, SD. I’m saving a copy of this, read it on the evening of 21 DEC and then I’ll go outside for a glimpse of the ‘Christmas Star’, a very rare astronomical event.
We’ve been here before:
GBU & GBA! Merry Christmas!
This foreboding is because we know that our domestic enemies will do anything and have been doing everything in my lifetime (50+ years) to destroy our way of life. They will never stop unless we rise up! Everyone knows it has to be done, we are not happy that it has to be done, but we do know at some point our side needs to rise up and be accounted for. I am prepared.
Close our eyes, and just breathe. It’s OK if you fall asleep.
That’s my all time favorite Christmas song and yes now I’m crying. Thank you though. We all needed that. The Christmas Star will shine the brightest on Tuesday in the southwest sky right about where the sun goes down and about an hour later. Look up if you can and take comfort in the Lord. Always
Sundance, thanks for posting this message. Just this week, I have read in various comment sections, the comments of people who are sad and in despair. I do my best to encourage them and now you post this joyous message! So now you have supplied a held out hand that I will link them to.
In addition, the quality posters on this site are an encouragement as well.
Simple always works best for me. Hang in there everybody and Merry Christmas.
Very, very good, Sundance! They say the darkness is the greatest just before the dawn. To all of us who are living in the Light of the Cross, let us keep this Spirit alive in our hearts and on our lips: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!!!
for KING & COUNTRY – Little Drummer Boy (Official Music Video) – Bing video
The best rendition of Little Drummer Boy. Celebrate our King – Jesus Christ. Stay steady in your faith and realize that man can not fix this problem, only God. Pray, Pray and Pray some more.
I noticed an intelligent comment last week from a treeper who was a sort of scrooge, he said hope is “stupidity over common sense, desire over self interest, hope gets us killed”, bah humbug. . . I was preparing my answer but I couldn’t find the post again, so now here is my rather long answer about the ancient debate:
PLATO adopts a rather negative attitude towards hope by recounting a myth according to which the divine beings give us “those mindless advisers confidence and fear, … and gullible hope” (Timaeus), — SOCRATES describes expectations of future pleasures, that are called hopes (Philebus), — ARISTOTLE says:“The coward, then, is a despairing sort of person; for he fears everything. The brave man, on the other hand, has the opposite disposition; for confidence is the mark of a hopeful disposition” (Nicomachean Ethics ) —– Christian philosophers such as AUGUSTINE, THOMAS AQUINAS analyze hope as one of the most central virtues of a believer: Hope, precisely in virtue of its capacity to justify action in a way which is not bound to knowledge, is a part of rational faith. — For DESCARTES hope is a weaker form of confidence (Passions of the Soul) for HOBBES hope serves as a building block for more complex mental phenomena, such as courage or confidence (Leviathan), — SPINOZA describes hope as one of the causes of superstition, especially as it is always accompanied by fear (Ethics) — HUME sees hope as a necessary effect of the consideration of an uncertain event or belief, we cannot but hope for any positive outcome about which we are uncertain. –hope and fear arise from opposite passions of grief and joy — KANT focuses on hope as an attitude that allows human reason to relate to those questions which cannot be answered by experience. (Critique of Pure Reason. )—
SCHOPENHAUER, NIETSCHE, CAMUS, reject hope, not so much as epistemically irrational but as expression of a misguided relationship to the world that is unable to face the demands of human existence. For KIERKEGAARD hope is a means to overcome the limitations of ordinary experience. The problem with hoping for social utopias, according to Camus, is that they tend to be dictatorial. And hopes distract from the life of the senses, from the here-and-now and from appreciating the beauty of this life. And yet, even Camus concluded that, as much as we might like to reject hope, we cant live without it, “ Si Dieu n’existe pas, il faut l’inventer!”