John Pyle

12.  Do something really nice – that no one knows about.

11. Spend more money on other people than I spend on my self.  Love my neighbor as I love myself.  And love myself as I love my neighbor.

10. Laugh often… especially at advertisements that try to convince me that I must buy more stuff in order to be happy.

9. Learn a new life skill – like carpentry, pottery, or canning vegetables.  Teach someone else I life skill I know how to do.

8.  Love a few people well, remembering that what is important is not how much we do but how much love we put into doing it.

7.  Write a letter to someone I need to say thank you to.  Write another letter to someone I need to ask to forgive me.

6.  Track down a critic or someone I disagree with and take them to lunch.  Listen to them.

5.  Compliment someone I have a hard time complimenting… and mean it.

4.  Choose life.  Do something regularly to interrupt the patterns of injustice – do something to end violence, bullying, war, capital punishment and other mean and ugly things.

3.  Pause before every crisis and ask “will this matter in 5 years?”

2.  Get outside often and marvel at things like fireflies and shooting stars.  And regularly get my hands into the garden… so when I type on the computer I can see dirt under my fingernails.

1.  Believe in miracles.  And live in a way that might necessitate one.

—-
Shane Claiborne is a prominent author, speaker, activist, and founding member of the Simple Way.  He is one of the compilers of Common Prayer, a new resource to unite people in prayer and action. Shane is also helping develop a network called Friends Without Borders which creates opportunities for folks to come together and work together for justice from around the world.

from Red Letter Christians http://www.redletterchristians.org/12-hopes-for-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&u...

The ecstasy of spirituality might be compared to an experience I had when I was seven years old. It was Christmas, and I wanted more than anything to have a set of Lionel electric trains. I had asked my parents, but they told me I had to ask Santa Claus. I was already skeptical about the reality of that red-flanneled saint, but I knew how the system worked. So, on a carefully picked Saturday, I went with my mother to Gimbel’s department store–where the real one was. (I was always confused about the many Santa Clauses that appeared on the streets at Christmas time, so my mother explained to me that the others were Santa’s helpers, but the real one was at Gimbel Brothers.)

As I stood in front of Santa that particular day, I shouted loud and clear, “I want electric trains!” I said it loud enough for my mother to hear. For that matter, I think half of Gimbel’s heard me.

Christmas morning I tumbled down the steps and ran over to the pile of presents undernearth the tree. I picked up the biggest box, tore away the paper, lifted the lid and found. . .underwear and clothes from my Aunt Madeline! Now I’m a pacifist, but I believe that anyone who gives a seven-year-old boy clothes for Christmas should be shot!

I went through the rest of the presents in halfhearted fashion, convinced that my hopes would not be realized. By then after a while I noticed a large box, way behind the back of the Christmas tree. And when I pulled it our the label said, for Tony.” I tore open the paper, lifted the lid, and there they were–the Lionel trains I had dreamed about! I picked up the engine and hugged it to my little chest. I loved everybody. My joy knew no bounds. I loved my mother. I loved my father. . .I even loved my sisters.

My ecstasy lasted for about three hours, and then something happened. It wasn’t that I broke the trains. Broken trains could be fixed. Something worse happened to them. They got old! In just three hours they lost the luster of newness. Once they became old, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not restore their luster again. I started to think, You can’t do much with electric trains anyway. You put them on the track, turn on the switch of the transformer, and they go around in a circle. You watch them, and watch them, and watch them, and that’s it. The joy was gone.

The Bible says that if anyone be in Christ old things pass away and all things become new (2 Cor. 5:17). The God of Scripture promises to make everything new. Our God creates an aliveness that can drive away the blues, and maintain a sense of newness about the wonders of our world that last a lot longer than three hours.

So today, regardless of presents, may we all strive to remember that toys, boxes, and clothes will all become old. The newness found in Christ, the everlasting newness, will sustain and preserve all things.

In the words of Dr. Seuss:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Merry Christmas! Keep the Faith!

—-
Tony Campolo is the Founder and President of EAPE and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University. Look for Tony in your area and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

from Red Letter Christians http://www.redletterchristians.org/the-ecstasy-of-spirituality-on-christmas/?...

from Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com/5869512/how-to-scientifically-explain-santa-claus-to-your-...

What if you could see a concert from every seat in the house? well that is what was done at a David Crowder concert not to long ago. The fans were asked to film the show from there seat, and this si what came out. AND MARRY CHRISTMAS!!!!