*This was issued in their weekly sales ad on Sunday.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve 2009 (The email You didn't get because I don't have your email)
Hello friends and family.
Last year was a crossroads for me. Not the kind that Robert Johnson sang about, but one that would help me decide whether to continue to write all those on my email list the annual Christmas Eve email. I decided, hopefully with your welcoming reception, to continue.
I compose this note to you from the nearly-debilitating heat of Melbourne, FL, where the high was 80 degrees today. I have not spent a Christmas anywhere else in the world other than where I grew up and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Christmas here reminds me of holidays past, and the many memories of family I have to cherish with them. Each year I get older, my heart grows a little colder and it becomes more challenging to feel the way I felt as a child, teenager or even young adult. And, in the last year of my roaring twenties, I predict this phenomenon of aging will ever increase my inability to feel carefree with indescribable amazement around Santa, the Christmas tree, and all that it represents. Nonetheless, I hold steadfast to the promise that, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, KJV). It’s the only peace I can truly have, that somebody greater than myself will have a way to save me from my sin and selfishness. That verse in the book of Isaiah is foretelling of Jesus and subsequently his plan for salvation.
Christmas means many things to many people. This type of relativism is crippling when one attempts to examine the true meaning of a pagan holiday that the Romans converted for the purposes establishing church-state relations. Even with its potentially questionable roots, Christmas was thus taken from the pagans in order to create a day of celebration and remembrance for the birth of Jesus.
Without decry, however, I think most will be comfortable with the assumption that Christmas, perhaps more than any other holiday, is a time for sharing and thankfulness. “No no, Jeff,” says you. “Giving thanks is already taken by a holiday known as Thanksgiving.” I disagree. It is my opinion that Christmas represents the spirit of both giving to those who ask of you and being thankful for what one receives. I often think about what that means when I see those less fortunate than myself. Much of my year is consumed with what I want and what pleases me. It is not often I take the time to think about how lucky I am. And, I am. I really am blessed beyond belief. I shouldn’t have it this good; I’m just not that deserving. Thankfully, though, I have received an abundance of love and support. This is why I write to you.
Some of you have known me my entire life, whilst others have only known me a short while. Without hesitation or ulterior motivation, I just want to say thanks. Thank you for all that you do. This year I am thankful for my Dad’s recovery from health problems last year; for my Grandmother about to celebrate her 87th birthday; I'm thankful that both my Aunt Shirley and Aunt Linda have gone on to be with the Lord. I’m hopeful that Dennis Russell is also in a better place. These things remind me to be thankful.
As I close, I want to leave you with some thoughts better written than my own. The American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, penned what would be become one of my favorite carols to be sung this time of year, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” I think it is relevant everyday but particularly has more sentiment when we think about what this time of year represents:
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill to men!"
With well-wishes of Christmas and a better New Year, I love you.
Jeffery G. Watkins
Last year was a crossroads for me. Not the kind that Robert Johnson sang about, but one that would help me decide whether to continue to write all those on my email list the annual Christmas Eve email. I decided, hopefully with your welcoming reception, to continue.
I compose this note to you from the nearly-debilitating heat of Melbourne, FL, where the high was 80 degrees today. I have not spent a Christmas anywhere else in the world other than where I grew up and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Christmas here reminds me of holidays past, and the many memories of family I have to cherish with them. Each year I get older, my heart grows a little colder and it becomes more challenging to feel the way I felt as a child, teenager or even young adult. And, in the last year of my roaring twenties, I predict this phenomenon of aging will ever increase my inability to feel carefree with indescribable amazement around Santa, the Christmas tree, and all that it represents. Nonetheless, I hold steadfast to the promise that, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, KJV). It’s the only peace I can truly have, that somebody greater than myself will have a way to save me from my sin and selfishness. That verse in the book of Isaiah is foretelling of Jesus and subsequently his plan for salvation.
Christmas means many things to many people. This type of relativism is crippling when one attempts to examine the true meaning of a pagan holiday that the Romans converted for the purposes establishing church-state relations. Even with its potentially questionable roots, Christmas was thus taken from the pagans in order to create a day of celebration and remembrance for the birth of Jesus.
Without decry, however, I think most will be comfortable with the assumption that Christmas, perhaps more than any other holiday, is a time for sharing and thankfulness. “No no, Jeff,” says you. “Giving thanks is already taken by a holiday known as Thanksgiving.” I disagree. It is my opinion that Christmas represents the spirit of both giving to those who ask of you and being thankful for what one receives. I often think about what that means when I see those less fortunate than myself. Much of my year is consumed with what I want and what pleases me. It is not often I take the time to think about how lucky I am. And, I am. I really am blessed beyond belief. I shouldn’t have it this good; I’m just not that deserving. Thankfully, though, I have received an abundance of love and support. This is why I write to you.
Some of you have known me my entire life, whilst others have only known me a short while. Without hesitation or ulterior motivation, I just want to say thanks. Thank you for all that you do. This year I am thankful for my Dad’s recovery from health problems last year; for my Grandmother about to celebrate her 87th birthday; I'm thankful that both my Aunt Shirley and Aunt Linda have gone on to be with the Lord. I’m hopeful that Dennis Russell is also in a better place. These things remind me to be thankful.
As I close, I want to leave you with some thoughts better written than my own. The American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, penned what would be become one of my favorite carols to be sung this time of year, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” I think it is relevant everyday but particularly has more sentiment when we think about what this time of year represents:
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill 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, goodwill to men!"
With well-wishes of Christmas and a better New Year, I love you.
Jeffery G. Watkins
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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