R.I.P.

We called him "Pops"...He worked in the kitchen and always had a smile on his face. He saw the world through a distinct and unique view that didn't always match up with reality.
He would sit on the bench outside the TV room, soaking up "ray's" as he referred to it.
His face revealed the miles he had traveled in this life.
It had been a hard road if you listened to his stories.
Dreams were lost... Family was just a word that some people used to connect people to their past.
He was a pleasant man.
He left Rapha some weeks ago to return to his old life. It costs him.
Police found him dead this past Tuesday. He'd been shot.

Funny or strange as this may sound, this is the very reason we celebrate Christmas.
Death and sin.
If not for those two, then Jesus would never have had to come to this earth and be born.
If death and sin had never invaded the garden, then wise men and Shepherds would never have been a part of this Christmas pageant. As beautiful as we have tried to make Christmas, we need to remember that the baby that was born in Bethlehem's stable, came to this earth to die for the sin of the world.
Jesus was on a mission at the request of His Father and He saw it through to completion and beyond. It should be a time of rejoicing! Christ, the Messiah.......the ultimate Deliverer...has been born. A Savior for all has stepped into our time and space to break the power and the penalty of sin.
But we must never forget that during this season, people are dying all around us.
"Lord...don't let me become so numb and self centered in my own life that I never see those around me who don't know you. Those to who Christmas is just another day. A day to spend money on presents. Let me proclaim Your story........Your good news........Your gospel to all. A story that still resonates with power in the proclamation that "Unto you this day a Savior has been born who is Christ the LORD!
God on you......
mb