I first wrote about the great purposeful foreboding last year. I never thought it would apply to a second advent. Essentially, this foreboding narrative stems from a political message promoted this year by a godless joy-sucking White House: “A winter of death” awaits the unvaccinated. Seriously?
Seriously! Stop for a minute. Just stop.
Stop and think about the purpose of that narrative, and then ask yourself, are you succumbing to it?
This is the day of great joy, the greatest joy of all. A day when we celebrate a loving and purposeful blessing provided to us by our Creator. The universal truth. The pure perfection of a loving Child born in the most ordinary fashion for us, to us, to guide and share the most blessed and purposeful message that could ever be delivered to mankind: You are Loved.
Pause amid the human distractions. That message of love is pure.
Stop and sit in peace, and join together in the joy.
Yes, it is true, all around us is this great sense of foreboding ugh, and it’s not just connected to a virus; it’s everything before and everything since. Everything being created around us is weird, everything created around us is less comfortable, everything created around us is intended to project less joy – and as a consequence, it 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 tonight and tomorrow. Yet, almost everything created around us seems purposefully placed to distract from that joy – and focus our attention on what joy we are missing. At the heart of that effort is an anxiety, a sense of foreboding. A sense of fear and worry, and 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 families.
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. Many destabilized families are disconnecting as they succumb to fractures, instructions, created by people who appointed themselves as leaders.
It is almost unbelievable when you contemplate the damage. Politicians, yes P.O.L.I.T.I.C.I.A.N.S, have created terms and conditions, instructions for you and me, with the expectation that somehow we will adhere to their fiats or accept their aspersions.
I reject this.
I reject this effort with every fiber of my being.
Division, regardless of intent, is not a term or condition that I will accept. However, amid all of this bombardment, flux and ugh, even simple tasks like decorating the Christmas tree feel somehow senseless, seem less joyful.
Perhaps financial worry, again driven by the outcomes of man, stems the joy in shopping for family and friends. Perhaps the shine within the 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 feelings 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 has taken our center from under our feet.
The insufferable lack of regional leaders standing tall only makes the anxiety worse. Where are the brave?
Where are the purposeful few who know the benefit of larger messages? I do not fault their absence, because their void reminds me to stop, look at that face I see while brushing my teeth, and remember the greatest strength of all is from within. Nothing has the capacity to remove the strength provided by a loving God unless we allow it to; unless we allow them to.
As our grip on our familiar surroundings becomes more tenuous, we are faced with dictates and mandates that only exacerbate the issues our community faces. Meanwhile, this ridiculous media drumbeats an incessant noise intent on destabilizing us. Perhaps we cannot quite put our finger on why the impact is worse now…. but it is. This effort of theirs is more impactful. It is all ugh. It is all just ugh.
If you find the assembly of these simple 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, indeed the entire world, and no matter where we stand – 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 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 more valuable gift this year to anyone simply by reaching them. Perhaps send an email; or better yet, write a letter to a dear friend or family member, or just pick up the phone. 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.
Years from now, it is unlikely anyone will remember that thing they unwrapped. What they will remember, what will have much greater impact, is a message from YOU to THEM that they matter, that they are loved. That moment, perhaps those moments, provided by you, will NEVER be forgotten. That look in your eye or sound of your voice that reached into them and emphasized their value, their worth, their importance. That is the gift they will remember in great detail, forever.
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 the most glorious throne to be born into a manger as a baby, only to grow into a Man willing to lay down His everything for the flawed people amid humanity. Why? Because that hope is pure. That love is perfect.
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 virus or 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
My most sincere wishes for your peaceful and joyful Christmas, Sundance.
You have my deepest appreciation for this site and your tireless efforts to keep the light on the truth and flame of hope burning.
Same feelings here as GB. This site is a blessing of glorious degrees.
Every time I come on this site and read Sundance’s words, it gives one a Great Hope in Humanity and in the Lord…
GB…Your last sentence says it all:”–to keep the light on the truth and flame of hope burning.”…THESE GOV whatever WORK FOR US…NOT the OTHER WAY around…
Merry Christmas!!!!!
That was awesome Sundance! Merry Christmas Treepers! Rejoice in the day! Christmas is about The eternal victory of Jesus Christ!
Pain and suffering is irrelevant … it is ephemeral, to be passed over. It is joy that is life enhancing and fulfilling. Too many have forgotten that the joy is not just for one or two days, but for all four seasons; embrace the joy and let those others fill their own wretched souls with the pain they espouse … I will have none of it.
“And the people who were living in Darkness have seen a Great Light.”
yes!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas morning from sunny Christchurch…in New Zealand 😎
Alcala, Merry Christmas to you and your family, look forward and watch as our God does marvelous and miraculous things this coming New Year.
Merry Christmas to YOU ! I just had an hour long phone call with my daughter who moved to Raglan, New Zealand this past July!
Sundance, as always, you say it so well😘
Thank you for all your tireless work and a very Merry Christmas wish for you 🎁❤️
Big government/big healthcare/big pharma/Swamp/Deepstate, “follow the money”; now more appropriate than ever before.
Merry Christmas Sundance and crew!!!! So thankful for all of you.
The greatest gift is LOVE, and it is free to give and receive. May you all be blessed this Christmas with HIS spirit and the love of many. God bless everyone and Merry Christmas to all!!!!!
You have to seriously feel sorry for people who listen to what that resident in chief and his ilk have to say.
Merry Christmas to Sundance and all treepers here! Crazy to think it’s my 10th Christmas at CTH. Follow the Twitter link to get a full appreciation of the blundering fool currently residing in the WH:
https://mobile.twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1474447807524319235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Your ability to express the thoughts that need to be examined are unsurpassed
Your writing is unbelievably uplifting
Thank you is not an adequate term but it’s all I can offer.
Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart.
ditto to what ms idaho said
Amen.
🙏
Thanks Sundance and a joyous Christmas to you and your family.
As always your words of encouragement to go against the people who call themselves leaders, are well received. I’ve been out and about my neighborhood, without a mask, distributing my homemade eggnog to neighbors. I’ve been well received by all and am thankful for people like you for encouraging us to get back to our old ways of celebrating the holidays. Merry Christmas to all!
YUM!! My daughter is doing the same thing.
Thank you for this beautiful post. It is the perfect Christmas present.
God Bless and a Most sincere Merry Christmas.
Wait, there’s still a pandemic going on?!? Can’t tell it here in Alabama. Life looks pretty normal, despite Alabama Department of Public Health’s Scott Harris’s best efforts to the contrary.
Heading out tomorrow to my mother’s house, and then driving to my daughter’s house for Christmas dinner. No masks. No disease. No fear. Get with it , folks. Then get over it.
That’s the way it is in southern Indiana – stay north of the Kentucky crybabies and south of Indianoplace and you’ll taste freedom.
So where are the brave? Bravely battling unpleasant narratives.
If injecting infants with poisons isn’t enough to propel the Free from their Mediadrone bread-and-circus fixations, who need have we of the Brave?
Sundance such a thoughtful & moving message of hope. What is this stuff dripping from my eyes?? Yes we all will get through the “ugh” times I pray. Merry Christmas to you & loved ones and God bless you for this site. Merry Christmas also to admins, Menagerie & all who post or read here. Blessings to all. God will guide us through these dark times.
Thank you, Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year to you and your loved ones.
Thank you Sundance, God Bless you and yours..
Thank you, Sundance, for your support and inspiration through the year. May God continue to bless you and your staff in all you do.
Merry Christmas!!
What a great message! For the first time in years this year has not felt like Christmas to me, and Ugh is a good way to describe it. I will be attending three Christmas Eve services, as I do most years, at three different churches. I love them all and I appreciate their timing so I can do all three. I will be reflecting on Sundance’s words as I sit in meditation in church this evening. Thank you so much, I know when I get home the Ugh will be gone.
Thanks for the encouraging words Sundance! However my Family and I have resolved not to let pissants like Biden and his gang ruin the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My Sons, their lovely Wives and my Grandsons will raise a toast , eat food made with love. And open our gifts. Later the Ladies will do what they do, and the men will clean weapons! Hope you and All the Treepers have a blessed and Merry Christmas! We WILL be ready for any seasons of “death and suffering” GOD Bless You All
LOL. I thought you were going to say, “and the men will do the dishes”!! LOL.
Lol!!! Uh. If they ask I guess we should help🙂
THANK YOU, SUNDANCE!
“…a new heaven and a new earth….new Jerusalem coming down from heaven…”
Thank you Sundance, what an amazingly powerful message. My children and grandchildren, are coming home, from three different states. We will all be together by this evening, and I can’t wait. Have tons of hugs and kisses to give and a great deal of love for my family. Our Lord and Savior, has kept us safe and healthy, this year. Tomorrow we’ll celebrate and honor the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas, fellow treepers, I sincerely wish for you and your families, all the blessings, I’ve been showered with this year. Treepers, we too are a family, much love and respect to each of you.
Much needed and appreciated, Sundance.
Another favorite song… I heard it in the car today,,, my husband did not see me weep..
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Bless and keep you all…Merry Christmas.
amy..the man needs to feel your emotion . Blessing abundantly may be play your song again.
A wonderful message Sundance. May we all rejoice and give thanks no matter what our circumstances may be because we have been given the greatest gift of all, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! He is our greatest warrior and was born to liberate us all from our enemies, fear, sin and death. Rejoice and praise our glorious King for He loves us beyond measure! Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Amen.
Thank you SD For all you do.
The True Story Of “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”
https://fatherlyadviceandrants.com/2020/12/24/the-true-story-of-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer/
God Bless you Sundance and all of CTH Family Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year. A new beginning with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
for myself, discovering the rosary has been one of the greatest discoveries of my life and I heartily recommend it . . . it only takes just about 20 minutes to pray it one time although you can of course pray with it through the day (and night). I like to pray it with Father Mitch Pacwa leading it on his youtube videos: The Holy Rosary in the Holy Land.
It seems difficult to quite make out the parts that are being recited but I just like it anyway because I used to watch Father Mitch Pacwa on EWTN over the years. I like the Joyful Mysteries the best, which include the birth of the baby Jesus.
The Blessed Mother KNOWS what joy and sorrow and the entire gamut of feelings are in our human hearts . . . and how we need to know our own hearts and not close off the powerful fears but to constantly and daily turn them over to dear God
. . . not letting our emotions be exploited by others or cloud our judgement and wisdom.
Dear God, give me discernment!
When Mary and Joseph found their son in the Temple, that joy and relief describes every moment I have felt that joy and relief when prayers have been answered.
I wish my daughter would ignore the constant barrage of panic porn. Sadly, we will not have her and my son-in-law over for Christmas again this year. She is 3X jabbed and in full compliance with all tyrannical diktats. 5 years of a liberal arts college and then adulthood working in education has totally undone what my wife and I taught her when she was younger. When she was 12 she wanted to run for POTUS on the Republican ticket, with a platform of spending and tax cuts. Now… OMG! She tried to make me out as the bad guy and reason she isn’t coming because I remain jab free and refused any testing, when as we all know, the jab is useless to stop infection and spread. I told her she can explain it to her mother why she isn’t coming and that its all on her.
The rest of the family and friends will be in attendance over this weekend, starting with my wife’s twin brothers. One lives in a state group home and spends the holidays at my house, and the other will be over with wife and kids tonight.
I hope this is encouraging. You are not the only parent who has lost a child to the world after public education. The scriptures say that we are to raise a child in the way they should go, and the promise is, that when they are old they will not depart from it. Keep praying for that daughter. She will come back to you. Don’t give up hope. I raised 6 and I can tell you, I’ve had a few “prodigal sons”. It will happen in God’s timing. Until then, pray and trust the Lord. He loves our children more than we ever could. When we wander, He is still there. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Sundance this was very well written, as always, and very apropos. I hate to take this off it’s intended course, but I suspect others will relate. But this Christmas I am very angry.
When I find myself in the umpteenth debate over the damn vaccines, a new variant, or seeing the damage caused by Covid fear, I’m angry at the irrationality and even more egregious, the intentional use of Covid to fuel perpetual fear and division.
More angering is that I see no way out of this “Covid Groundhog Day” that does not include the people I love, who at some point must resist the fear, or this will become normal. That’s where my anger stems from.
Anger is hurt turned outward, I’ve heard. I suppose that’s it. I’m hurt that good people (family) were/are so willing to destroy so much because they cannot master their fear.
For some of us, the challenge is to not become angry and bitter, whereas for others it’s mastering their fears.
Anger is a God given emotion. Sometimes we are just angry. That’s okay. The trick is to not live forever in it. Let it flow over you and then release it when you can. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
I too have been angry, unfortunately my family is calling me out on it. Tomorrow is a new day and I hope to have a new attitude.
Sundance, your words are always a port in the storm. Somehow, you are able to give context and meaning to the inexplicable events swirling around me everyday in this rudderless country. I haven’t given up hope, but I do get so discouraged by the weakness, destruction and utter selfishness of most of our elected politicians. I will be so glad to see this 2021 year come to an end.
I am preparing food for Christmas Eve dinner with tears streaming down my face as I listen to the beautiful traditional Christmas carols linked below. A lovely gift from you. Thank you.
Sundance, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this message – I really really needed it! My in-laws just cancelled Christmas dinner for tomorrow because the Covid Omnicron monster is going to kill us all…
You perfectly described what I have been feeling for past couple weeks. It really has not fealt like Christmastime all around me and inside me… However, you reminded me that I CHOOSE how to feel inside.
Getting ready to head to my family Christmas Eve dinner. Altho they are all rabid Trump haters, love Lori Lightfoot, and will be soo proud of getter the boosters, I will repeat your words in my head “I am loved, I am not alone, I am fortunate for this life, I am hopeful…”
Giving a donation to the treehouse always feels good too…
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!
I wore my Trump Christmas sweatshirt all day!! LOL.
As I have stated before we never attended a church other than on one or two occasions.
Strangely (to me at least) reading here at the CTH and following PDJT these last five years or so.
Has been a religious/ spiritual adventure.
Thank you all, and a very Merry Christmas to you all.
Thank You.
Merry Christmas!
You, your loved ones and all who help this website are ALWAYS in my prayers.
And love to you, Sundance! Merry Christmas!
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning
is now, and ever shall be
world without end. Amen.
Merry Christmas.
“Jesus is the reason for the season” 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and yours SD. Thank you! Peace and Love to you.
Retired Magistrate here: Sundance asks: “where are the brave”? My answer, right here on these branches!
JESUS CHRIST is the greatest gift this old sin filled world was ever given. No matter all the doom and gloom coming from the current occupant of the White House, no one can take that gift away from you unless you let him/them.
Turn off the TV (except for good, old moral filled Christmas movies/shows). Celebrate with family and friends. If certain family members don’t want to celebrate with you because of your vaccination status, celebrate with those that do. In our household it has always just been my husband and I. We ceased to exist for his son, years ago; don’t know why, but that is the way it is. His step daughter, who he raised, will e mail us, maybe. My brother lives in California and we talk to each other every day or so; however, due to health reasons he can’t come back again and due to health reasons I can’t go see him.
All that is OK; because my husband and I have each other and JESUS has us. Rejoice; I say Rejoice! Merry Christmas.
Always enjoy your comments. God bless.
Amen!
The simplest truth is the most astounding.
Paul writes about the incarnation: “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
Agree with all before… great to hear rendition..thank you SD for keeping treepers informed with truth… MERRY CHRISTMAS to all…
🇺🇸💪❤️👍
My tears flowed quiet copiously at the photo posted of the soldier walking in the snow by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In fact, I’m tearing up at the thought of it now.
The crosses that moved me most at Normandy and other sacred cemeteries across Europe were of those who rest anonymously:
“Here lies in honored glory a comrade in arms, known but to God”
Thank you, Sundance. for this marvelous and uplifting post. Merry Christmas to you and yours. May God bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and touch you with peace.
Amen, beautiful song.
Amen!!
I have a question about Christmas. How did Mary and Joseph run for their lives to Egypt after Jesus was born? What I mean is how did they get diapers for Jesus since Pampers where not invented yet. The only thing I can think of is Sacagawea carrying her baby as she lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition. But then I don’t understand that either.
The Bible will plainly tell you that God provides.
All fiction. In such an important story, details don’t matter. Take it on faith and don’t argue in your head.