Wow! I was pondering for another writing when I realized... or is that possibly I had forgotten and just remembered… that I am the only ‘Christian’ in my long line of family. We have a few religious folks, some Catholics and one Universalist or Unitarian or something. None of my family that has passed away had funerals denoting a specific denomination or religion. They all got the typical heathen funeral with the typical heathen burial.

Wow! I come from a long line of heathen!! Wow! I honestly do not think I have ever thought of that before even with the memory loss...(but then who really knows but God, right?)

I don’t think my mother or father had stepped into a church beyond their wedding day, my Catholic baptism and some of their children’s basic weddings in a building.

I know in my frenzy of being a new believer I tried to share Christ with everyone I knew. It didn’t help much. My sister came to know the Lord about 10 years later but I obviously presented her with enough of a watered down version and enough Charismaniac slop that the weeds came in and choked out the seeds. From what I gave her, being all I knew at the time, her house never had a chance to be built on the solid rock and when the storms of life came she floated off down the river! (A metaphor ~ NOT scripture.) I have since repented, asked for Gods forgiveness and theirs even though they do not understand exactly what I am asking forgiveness for. (Yes, I know even as I was not given a strong ‘seed’ to build my house upon, I was ‘blessed’ to be able to hang through it all and come out on top. My sister could have done that also. I am not completely blaming myself for her loss.)

I raised my kids alone and all I had to fall on was the Lord. Two of my kids were deathly ill for years and we were at the emergency room more nights a week than not. I tried to raise them in the admonition of the Lord but I realize now that I raised them in a Charismaniac religion. They saw all sorts of absurdities that were all done in the name of Christ. Though my daughters still believe in God, they do not follow him with their heart. My son will have nothing to do with any of it going the secular humanist route. I believed at the time that they were saved and spirit-filled kids but now realize that salvation can only come to those that truly understand the gospel with a heart that sees God as both judge and lover of their soul. I believe they possibly wanted to ‘know’ God because they didn’t want to know his wrath not because they wanted to seek his heart.

I have made so many ‘religious’ mistakes in the name of Christianity and I have not shown any of my heathen family the true Christ. Maybe because I am now just meeting him in the reality and true fullness of the gospel. Not a religion tainted with blessings, prosperity and ewey-gooey love but one that is solid and firm on the reality of who Christ is aside from all the religions of the world ~ including Christianity.

As I lay down on top of the bed to nap, I pulled the loose blanket on top of me and snuggled in. My mind was turning over events of my day so far. I pondered things, prayed a little and noticed my heart beat slowing down, my body relaxing and my thoughts subsiding. I was then brought back to reality by a slight chill. My first reaction was, ‘Oh Lord help warm me up so I can fall asleep.’ I lay there for another minute or two and the chilliness was still right there. I pondered why God wouldn’t want to answer such a small request like this one. I was then reminded in my spirit that there was another blanket within arms distance if I were to just roll over and grab it.

I suppose in our laziness we ask God to do things we are more than capable of doing ourselves. Maybe we do this to test him as if in a soft cuddly ultimatum to see if he performs to our liking it means that he really does love us. I know that in some denominations they teach you that God wants to be your jump-to-man, your puppet to perform feats of magic just for you. Why? Because you are a child of the living God and deserve nothing but the best as Kings Kids. Whichever reason, it is wrong, presumptuous and child-like ~ not Christ-like.

I grabbed the other blanket and prayed again. ‘Oh Father forgive me for trying to make you my private genie.’ My heart was broken and I grieved myself to sleep.

There seem to be holidays for every occasion. The secular folk and Christians alike celebrate anything that might symbolize something. There is Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Inauguration Day, Washington's Birthday, and Memorial Day. Halloween, Valentines Day, Saint Patrick and April Fools Day, Father’s day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Good Friday. Those are just a few of the holidays, which have been ‘created’ for one purpose or another.

For me personally, I am in a relearning mode in my life and Christianity and at this time I have chosen to not celebrate any of them. Until I can discover exactly why I am celebrating them other than for celebrations sake then I will abstain. I have many well-meaning Christian friends and family that think I have lost it. Forbid, maybe I am living in secret sin!

Of course, in my ponderings about why I should or should not celebrate some of the ‘special’ so-called Christian holidays I ended up having to write an article. It was not written so much for others to read as it was for me to see in black and white my thoughts and decisions up to that point. In my studying, I came across another’s writing online that made an interesting suggestion.

Regardless of whether I agree with his whole writings on why Christians should not celebrate Christmas is neither here nor there. It is noteworthy and it did spawn a piece of art!

J. Beard writes: “Realize that Christians Celebrating Christmas as the Day of Christ's Birth Makes No More Sense than Adding Any of the Following Days as Special Days of Christian Celebration:

1. Baptism Celebration -- Why not have three days of swimming parties in the summer in order to celebrate/symbolize Christ's three days in the grave? We could even pick a time based upon our speculation of when John the Baptist baptized Jesus!

2. Ascension Celebration -- Why not have one day set aside every year for hot-air balloon rides in order to celebrate Christ's ascension to heaven?

3. Miracle Celebration -- There is considerable Biblical focus on Jesus' miracles (even more than on his birth), so why not have one day set aside every year to celebrate the first of Christ's miracles? And since that was the turning of water into wine (John 2), why not have "Christian" wine-tasting parties?”

I am sure there are a few of you over-religious or righteous folks that are gasping for air... forbid… to suggest such things. Sacrilege! (The French are known for their romantic language but growing up with a French family, when they said that word… it was not romantic and you needed to duck fast for fear that ‘Gawd’ was going to send lightning at that very moment to someone in the room!) It isn’t blasphemy or disrespect in any way. Come off your high horse and ponder this for a minute. (I won’t tell anyone that you are pondering such awful things, I promise.)

Why don’t we celebrate Ascension Day? Or the baptism or miracles? Or any other of the many various things Jesus did? The ascension was just as important to our salvation as was the death on the cross and the resurrection. Maybe, just maybe Gawd didn’t institute these holidays and man decided it would be a good, righteous and religious thing to do?

~ If you would like to see a bigger version of the piece of art that I have posted here called ‘Ascension Day’ feel free to pm me and I will email it to you.

I believe the bible should be a guideline to be used in all practicality where and when it applies to us in a historical and contextual way. I do not believe God truly intended it to be broken down into chapters, paragraphs and verses to be picked apart like pulled pork. I do not believe it was ever intended to be used in a cut/copy/paste mode (to be referred to as CCP in the future) to provide for our self-serving purposes. I do not believe specific verses were ever meant to become ministries.

One could prove any point they wanted to by using the biblical cut and paste method. An example of this would be if you took Matthew 27:5 and couple it with Luke 10:37. “And he [Judas]…went…and hanged himself. Then said Jesus… ‘Go and do the same’ “. This is a wild example but unfortunately, there are other ones that are being CCP and turned into whole ministries that are fooling a whole lot of folks and generating even more money from it!

I wonder when the foolishness will end but if you read the bible you will notice it contains a very large smattering of records of really dumb things folks did… in the name of Christ. Many of the letters written by Paul were to these new churches that would hear rumors and instead of believing what they first believed upon they would meld back into their old ways and practices. Paul had to keep saying, guys, guys! Why are you going back to your weak and miserly principles? Why do you keep thinking your old gods, that could not even speak, will perform for you?

I believe that when we don’t get our magical answers that we think are due to us from the cosmic gumball machine in the sky (God) then we begin to reach out to whomever or whatever will give us our pleasures. We are spiritual whores always looking for a better deal. How this must break Gods heart, after all he has procured for us with such a love when knowing we had not much to offer in return.

I believe in Jesus, as God’s only Son that died for MY sins (and yours) and that he loves me with an everlasting love that I could never in my earthly body truly comprehend.

I do not believe the religiously religious religion some call what they do in the name of Christ and Christianity.