Tis the season

It's an interesting fact that the most important season of the Christian calendar is one of the most overlooked. Most people in the US grow up with Christmas being the highlight of their calendar with months of advertising and decorating, sending and receiving cards, and parties galore. While it's certainly important to recognize the fact that Jesus was born, that's only a small part of the story.

In fact, there are thousands of people born each day. While we celebrate many birthdays in our lives, we recognize that the actual day of birth is only a starting point. The more important days are the ones that follow that first day!

Today, for example, I was touched by two very simple cards that I received in the mail. One was from my Masonic brother thanking me for sharing a lunch with him (something I would gladly do any day) and the other was to my wife and me from Specialist Lottie Steere in Iraq. SPC Steere was thanking us for participating in my friend's You've Got Mail program (if you haven't participated, PLEASE DO IT NOW!!!) With these two simple actions, these two fine people have made a connection and improved my day dramatically which will then help me to try and pass that on.

Ultimately, we will be most judged on our last day. We will be remembered for how we spent all those days in between and NOT on how we appeared on our first day. A coworker was looking at a children's book about Easter and said that she didn't understand the big deal. The story, to her, was simple, Jesus died. This is true and we all do it. The "big deal" however, is that Jesus also lived. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the Resurrection (another REALLY big deal), His life's work was a remarkable demonstration of God's work on Earth and sufficient for us to remember him for.

Christians, however, DO believe in the Resurrection and that is the whole point of the message that started with Christmas. Holy Week, culminating in Easter, is THE high point of the Christian calendar and yet we have no Easter Parties to attend, Easter Carols to listen to on the radio, or Easter cards to get in the mail. This is really contradictory to the message. THIS is the message that really should be proclaimed on the radio, at every party, and to everyone we know. Why isn't it? Because we can't make money off of it?

Thoughts anyone?