The Mirror: The Real Magic of Christmas

Leaving aside the eternal debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not (it is in my opinion), most people have a favourite. Christmas movies, in my opinion, are not only those about Christmas, but those set at Christmas time and those which capture the true spirit of Christmas. There is a huge catalogue of Christmas movies which are usually viewed at Christmas time, and so it was that as this Christmas approached we decided to watch a few. We kicked it off a little early with Christmas Jars: a new film for which we had a free double pass. Christmas Jars is a terrific film. Heartwarming and funny and completely safe for family viewing, unlike many modern PG films.

The next one we watched was a film on Amazon Prime called Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace. If you're allergic to Jesus and Christians and people praying in movies, or if you're resistant to the idea that people practicing Christian faith can actually have a major positive impact on their lives and the lives of others, then give this one a miss. Christmas Jars is a Christian film but not explicitly so. It's a story about generosity. Lucy Shimmers is unabashedly evangelical, but lest that turn you off, let me make it clear that the theme of Lucy Shimmers is redemption and redemption is a also a major theme of Christmas. The birth of Jesus Christ was the first stage in God's plan to redeem us.

It's a little hard to talk about Lucy Shimmers without giving the story away, but switched on viewers will figure it out quickly anyway. Spoiler alert. Lucy is a five year old girl who is dying. She starts seeing and talking to her dead grandfather who is an angel. He helps her, more than anything or anyone else, to deal with her illness. In hospital, she meets Edgar a convicted criminal who is also dying. Lucy visits other patients in hospital as well, and makes friends with them all, blessing them with kind words and time. Lucy also writes a book about a dream she had. The way all these threads are tied together is magical. As with Christmas Jars, you will need tissues to watch Lucy Shimmers. Unless you have a heart of stone, this film will mess you up. Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace perfectly demonstrates the power of love and grace.

In a different vein, Last Christmas is also rated PG but it's the kind of PG which makes you wonder what the film classifiers were drinking when they viewed the film. (Lots of sexual references, one night stands, a lesbian relationship, and bad language. While viewers will fall in love with Lucy Shimmers immediately, and not long after also feel great compassion for Edgar, in Last Christmas it's a struggle to feel anything but antipathy for Kate who, like David Lavender in my novel Loathe Your Neighour, is highly skilled at making bad choices. She comes across as reckless, selfish and oppositional. However, once the viewer learns the reason for Kate's behaviour, there is automatic compassion for her. There's real character progression in this story which, apart from the twist which blew me away, is what kept me interested. The catalyst for the transformation/redemption of Kate is her encounter and subsequent relationship with a mysterious person who (spoiler alert) it turns out is also an angel. Incidentally, if you're a George Michael fan, he provides the entire soundtrack for Last Christmas.

All of these films show the viewer something magical and Christmas is magical. It's over now for another year. As I write, we are heading into a New year in which everyone is placing their hope. COVID-19 wrecked 2020. 2021 will be better. It can't be any worse. This is what people are saying, but for me hope is in Jesus and the power of love and grace to redeem us, to save us. The magical thing about Christmas is that God became a man in order to deliver us from hopelessness. Not to make out lives perfect. Not to remove trouble and suffering but to show us the value of it.

It's easy to watch films like Christmas Jars and Lucy Shimmers and the Prince of Peace and dismiss them as corny, feelgood films in which the characters don't act like real people, and the outcomes are literally incredible. It's easy to watch the redemptions of Edgar in Lucy Shimmers and Kate in last Christmas and write them off as glib. It can't be that easy, and let's face it, happy endings only belong in fairy tales, not real life. That kind of cynicism traps people in circumstances which they don't like, but they needlessly accept. The hope of the producers of these kinds of films is not just that the viewer will be entertained but that they will be transformed.

Why not give anonymous gifts (Christmas Jars), befriend lonely strangers (Lucy Shimmers) or volunteer at a homeless shelter (Last Christmas)? Why not try to solve your problems by looking beyond them? Irrespective of whether you believe in angels or not, why not talk about them as though they were real? Why not let hope so take root in your heart that you fell invincible? Why not share with others the grace God has shown you? What harm can be done by being more loving, more kind, more thoughtful and more generous?

A Dog's Eye: No worries mate

Everyone strikes some sort of trouble at one time or another in their life. Even those who don't court disaster, sometimes find themselves buffeted and shaken by misfortune. Those who do like to flirt with problems tend to form solid relationships with them. They usually receive more than they bargained for and wind up blaming everyone else for what they brought on themselves.

There's a classic little saying employed by wiser heads when tragedies of varying degrees strike. "There's always someone worse off." It's a way of keeping things in perspective which enables someone who is suffering to endure with good grace. It is also used by less sagacious well wishers who, despite their insensitivity are typically well-intentioned. However, suffering is a really personal thing.

I've had my share of misfortune and disappointment, and I would classify my divorce as a tragedy; likewise the death of my father aged just 74, but now I find myself in such happy circumstances that all I can do is give thanks to God. I joke now when asked how I am. My problems are so trivial that I'm occasionally reticent to voice them.The person asking me may well be in the midst of a hammering from cruel and indifferent happenstance. Should I keep silent?

Is it okay if I, in the process of explaining how blessed I feel, share my troubles in heavy tones of irony? My deodorant doesn't last all day. I'm using a different brand, and by the end of the day, sometimes not even that late, I begin to offend myself. My regular brand -Rexona original roll on- works until the very end. Even after an hour in the gym, I can still smell Rexona, albeit mixed with a little whiff of me.

Long silver hairs sprout from my nostrils overnight while I sleep, and my personal trimmer is less effective than a pair of tweezers, or scissors. A crop of similar follicular offspring has sprouted on my chest. More and more hair grows on my body, but I still can't grow a beard.

Three nights' accommodation recently cost me a bottle of Vodka, and I'm going to have to buy petrol this week. I loved not having to spend that $50 last week. And work? Oh, don't get me started. I had to work fifteen minutes unpaid overtime last week. I'm nearing my wit's end with this stampede of woe.

I hope this makes you happy. I hope you will at least smile, even if your world is falling apart. I've been at the bottom. I've cried my self to sleep at night. I've felt pain in my body and my heart, but I am in a season of blessing, and I am soaking it up. Being a worry wort, means I have an ongoing wrestling match in my mind, but I keep on speaking God's truth out loud. Sometimes I have to ignore what I see and what I feel, and trust God: my strength and my song. My anchor. My prayer is that the hope with which God fills my spirit, overflows to encourage others.

And I will make it my aim to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)

A Dog's Eye: detach/deconstruct

Once upon a time I had a wife, a steady job, a mortgage: a settled life. I was busy with family, friends, church and work, but not too busy to enjoy sufficient 'recharge' time alone. I felt somewhat in control of my life. I worked hard to control everything I could. I had plans. I had direction. I knew what I was doing and where I was going. I owned furniture, and lots of other stuff. I had a couple of dogs. I was thankful...most of the time. I thought I was a pretty normal bloke with a normal life.

Somewhere along the way, through a twenty two year marriage, raising two awesome children, studying for a degree and then two post graduate qualifications, establishing myself as a professional language teacher, writing my first novel and having it published, growing as a person, trying to be the best husband, father and friend I could be...at some point in the journey I forgot to be grateful, and I allowed discontent to fester.

Four years after I left my wife, I am still suffering the repercussions of that choice. Since immediately after Easter, I have had no fixed address. Between house sitting gigs, I stay with a good friend of mine. I own no furniture. My possessions fit in my car, with room to spare. I'm in debt, and uncertain about the future. I know what I want, but I am relatively powerless to do anything to achieve it. I don't know when things will change, when my life will turn around. I feel unsettled, anxious, uncertain and at times a little fearful.

The house I'm staying in now is a beautiful family home. Although the dogs are good company, I'm alone, and looking at all the family photos reminds me of what I don't have. They are echoes of what I used to have, and what I wish to have once more. I'm experiencing loneliness like I never have before, and I'm aware of the lack of gratitude I feel: focusing on what I don't have, instead of what I do have. I recognize this attitude is partially what brought about my down fall, and the end of my 'normal' life.

To top it all off, I am one love sick puppy. This lady, who I believe will become my wife, is a genuine gift from God. A clever and independent woman with a strong mind and a soft heart.The right person for me. Exactly who I need, and consequently the woman with whom I want to share the rest of my life. We've been in a long distance relationship for three and a half months. It's a tough gig. We haven't seen each other for six weeks, but we are committed to each other and learning to be patient (me not her).

Through it all, I see God's hand: his mercy and grace. I feel his hands deconstructing me, ripping away my self reliance and my need to be in control. He's removing all my worldly attachments, burning away what I don't need. Teaching me to really trust him. Drawing me closer. Blessing me in spite of my resistance to change. In my struggle, I feel his strength being perfected in me.

I will choose gratitude every day. I will choose purity. I will choose integrity. My heart quavers, my stomach rumbles, and my mind wearies itself with the battle. I feel uncomfortable and unsettled, but I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and God is with me. I have the promises of God's word on which to stand, and I choose to stand. I choose life. I choose love. I choose hope.

Once upon a time I thought I knew stuff. I thought I was in control. I thought I was on the right path.

Glory to the God of endless second chances.

Available now

Roughly three years after I began writing it, my most important novel so far, I am proud to announce that Love Sick Love, published by Rogue Phoenix Press, is now available to purchase.

Angus has battled an obsession with sex throughout his adult life. Although outwardly a model husband and father with a respectable life and a well-paying job, he has a shameful secret life which he has become highly skilled at hiding.

Cassy is married to Angus and has no idea about his secret life. In fact, with her own worries she has been pulling away from him, emotionally and physically which is making his behaviour worse. Although she does not know it, Cassy is fanning the flames of an inferno which threatens to destroy their marriage.

Lovesickness: the eternal bane of humanity, the inescapable affliction which we simultaneously crave and fear. For Angus and Cassy, already in the thirteenth year of their marriage, the painful journey to true happiness has only just began.

Love Sick Love is a brutally honest and confronting story of love, sexual obsession and hope.

Get your copy here Love Sick Love

The Worst Christmas ever

I love Christmas. I think I love it more as an adult than I did when I was a  child but I can't really remember what I thought when I was a child. I love Christmas because it is a celebration of everything good. It represents the things we all want from life. Hope, peace and happiness. It is meaningful because of Christ. For me, nothing is meaningful without Jesus.

Sadly, Christmas like all things in this corrupt and fallen world has become, for many people, a sad time. For example, people who have had bad things happen at Christmas: loss of loved ones, relationship breakdowns etc. Someone told me recently that she did not want to put up a Christmas tree because it brought bad luck, and I scoffed even as I struggled, and am struggling to find joy this Christmas. I'm trying but it's really hard.

In 1991 I was alone in Thailand where they do not celebrate Christmas. That was my worst Christmas. I fear this year will surpass it. My personal life is a mess, and I am unhappy most of the time. The extreme emotional highs and lows I have experienced this year have left me jaded and anxious about the future. I have made some bad decisions this year and I am living with the consequences of those choices. I have to accept this, and try to find myself again. I have to remember who I am in Christ.

I pray that things will get better and I believe they will, but it's hard. Very hard. Peace, happiness and hope. God help me to have a Merry Christmas. Maybe I should stop thinking about myself so much.

Faith

It's raining again today. Although I can't see the sun or feel its warmth, I know it's there: doing its job. There is light. It is not dark. It is day time. I am alive and today will be a good day. A productive day. I don't need to see to believe. Jesus said those who believed without having seen, would be blessed. This is my hope.

The sun just broke through the clouds and rain to justify my faith.

'tis the Season

It has always interested me that the Christ in Christmas is ignored, or at best downplayed significantly, by so many Australians. There are some people of other religious faiths who naturally do not celebrate Christmas. Then there are the majority of Australians who do celebrate Christmas, but would describe themselves as not religious. The latter often use the line "I have my own beliefs".

What is particularly curious is the deliberate exclusion of Christ from Christmas. Someone recently said to me that Christmas had nothing to do with religion. She meant for her personally, but it sounded so dismissive that it made me wonder. I understand if people don't want to emphasize the religious aspect of Christmas. If they do not want to acknowledge that the birth of the single most influential person ever is personally significant; fair enough. However you can't say it is not important. To deny the poignancy of this historical event, and its subsequent, and continuing impact on billions of people seems a bit ludicrous. Whatever else it may be to people, Christmas, as the name suggests, is patently about the birth of Jesus Christ. To say otherwise, is insulting and offensive.

There are number of universal values which are associated with Christmas aside from overtly religious ones. Omitting the few Grinches who dwell among us, most people, Christian or not, recognize the Christmas season as a time for family and friends, for giving and receiving, and a time for relaxing and reflecting. We all desire peace and we wish others well. There is a spirit of generosity and hospitality, a kind of communal bonhomie which permeates life, from the workplace to the market place, to our homes and neighbourhoods. It is a happy time, and a hopeful time for most people.

Generally, people will give the same basic answer to the question, "What does Christmas mean for you?" so it makes perfect sense to me, in identifying these common values, to also acknowledge their source. Values do not originate in vacuums. Are Christmas values not also Christian values, or religious values? Or do they spring from the hearts of men, as humanists would have us believe. What is the origin of faith, and hope and love? Where do these cherished and indispensable qualities come from? Are they human or divine?

Photo sources:
http://madjank.com/religious-christmas-cards-photo-wallpaper-hd-of-christmas/
http://www.commentscod.com/comments/religious-merry-christmas-graphics-picture/4

Risky Business

Teenager Thomas Kelly was walking along a King's Cross street on Saturday night, July 7, when he was king hit by an unknown assailant. This single random punch put Thomas in hospital where he subsequently died two days later, when his parents made the gut wrenching decision to turn off his life support. The assault was only one in a series of violent and as yet unexplained attacks on people on that night in perhaps Sydney's most famous night time entertainment district. Police allege that the offender, who is now in custody, spent an hour roaming around King's Cross bashing three other people besides Thomas. Parents like myself, cry for Mr and Mrs Kelly, and for their loss, and we think about all the times our children, regardless of their age, have risked death or injury simply by living. Life is risky business. At any time, in any place, we and our loved ones may be subject to violent misadventure. Driving our cars, walking along footpaths, sitting in our homes or places of work, surrounded by crowds or alone. The tragedy of Thomas Kelly screams a warning about our vulnerability.


Many questions arise in my mind and no doubt in yours as well, but the most troubling one is why? As yet, we do not know anything about motive, or whether the perpetrator was loaded with alcohol or fueled by illicit drugs. We only know that four people were assaulted and one died. It defies belief that the victims were chosen for any particular reason, although it is possible, so why those four out of the hundreds of others who were there, and why did Thomas die? News overnight has come in about a shooting at a cinema in Denver. The same questions explode in our minds: why? We will most likely find out why the gunman did it, but will we ever know why, of the hundreds of people at the cinema, those 12 were killed and another "unlucky" 59 were injured. Why those people? Movie goers were enjoying the premiere of the latest Batman film when their lives were taken, when their sense of security and safety was stolen. Life is risky business.


In this broken world, sin reigns and none of us are innocent. The fragility of our lives means we are under constant threat from physical, emotional and psychological trauma. Suffering is an unavoidable part of life, and living is an inescapable part of life. We cannot simply lock ourselves away and hide from the frightening uncertainty outside our doors. We must have faith and exercise it, as we confidently and hopefully live rather than hide, or merely exist. In the end hope is all we have, because although we can control some things in our lives, we are not the masters of our own destinies. Thomas Kelly's death proves that. In whom then or in what do we hope? May I suggest that if your hope is not in God then it is misplaced.

There's a Hole in my Life Jacket

Six asylum seekers have died and 90 more are feared drowned in the water off Christmas Island. The politicians have so far resisted engaging in their usual pathetic bagging of each other's boat people policies out of sensitivity for the deceased, but they won't hold their tongues for long, rest assured. The ignorant and politically opportunistic will soon screech again about us being overrun by illegal boat arrivals despite the fact that the UNHCR calls the numbers of arrivals modest and manageable. We can only hope the babies in Parliament mature quickly and begin to make rational, humanitarian and bipartisan decisions. Hope.


There was some hope initially for more survivors until Home Affairs minister, Jason Clare, talked about the search being scaled back after the critical 36 hour period had elapsed. He talked about victims surviving if they had life jackets. I thought his comment was ridiculous. The safety of the passengers was probably not a priority for either the captain or crew of that boat. I don't think they get paid delivery bonuses for their illegal human cargo. Apparently there were some life jackets on the boat as they were seen floating around in the water. Shows you the benefits of a life saving device when you don't know how to use it. Fat lot of good those life jackets were. There probably weren't even enough of them.


What desperation drives people to hand over their personal fortunes to smugglers and risk their lives in long and dangerous boat journeys? The ill informed and the heartless criticize these "queue jumpers" without realizing that there is no resettlement queue for refugees. Only 0.77% of the world's 10.4 million refugees gained access to resettlement last year. Hope makes people strong and brave and irrational. Hope makes people ignore reality and danger. Hope is, sometimes, the only thing a person can cling to when everything they have has been stolen from them. Hope can kill people but it's better than dying, or living for that matter, without hope. Hopeless, like those life jackets floating in the water, of which there were no doubt too few to save everyone even if they did know how to use them. Hope is a life jacket.


For more facts on the issue of boat people or IMAs (Irregular Maritime Arrivals) as they are officially called, you might like to follow the link below.

http://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/sp/asylumfacts.pdf

The Necessity of Lies

In the Ricky Gervais film, The Invention of Lying, nobody in the whole world tells lies. They don't even know what a lie is. There is no word for truth because truth can only be defined in relation to its opposite. There is no trickery, no deception, no falsehood, no pretense and no fiction.

Imagine such a world where advertising is factual and straightforward. The slogan for Pepsi is: when they don't have Coke. Visualize a world where there are no movies other than historical documentaries made by the Lecture film company, and read to camera by serious academic looking types. Think of a world where people are offended, wounded and humiliated on a daily basis because of the dearth of sensitivity and tact. Put yourself in a world where everybody says exactly what's on their mind whenever they want to. Where truth is the only option. Anybody want to live there?

Truth is upheld by most people, in most societies, as a quality of infinite worth. It is to be cherished and treasured, honored and protected. However, there is nowhere on earth like the fictional town in The Invention of Lying where there is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The people there are uncreative, motivated by pure selfishness, and are without hope because there is only absolute truth.

When Ricky Gervais' character lies to his mother about the after life in order to comfort her on her death bed, she dies in peace. Her fear disappears and she fades blissfully into eternity. When news of this lie spreads from the hospital to the whole town and then to the whole world, it's a mind blowing revelation which shows us how desperate people are for hope. They latch on to the lie about a wonderful afterlife and hold it tight because it's a beautiful lie. It gives them hope and makes them happy.

The Invention of Lying is a very funny film, but it is also very profound. A world without lies would be horrible but a world without truth would be equally bad. A can of worms has now been opened. When is a lie okay or even necessary? When is it vital? And if truth is absolute then how can we draw lines of relativity in the sand, and allow everyone to decide for themselves when truth should be used? How can we safely allow the selective application of such a powerful instrument? Is truth a healing balm or a hammer?

Does anyone see a problem here?

The Power of Humanity

I love how people ascribe greatness to human accomplishment; giving all the credit to mankind without so much as a tip of their collective hats to God. There is a phrase which always makes me cringe: triumph of the human spirit.

What keeps a person alive in a desperate situation? Is it determination? Physical strength? The power of humanity? No. It's hope. Where does hope come from? Circumstances? Positive thinking? The triumphant human spirit? Think again.

What makes people confident enough to share the road with other motorists, tens of thousands of complete strangers? Faith in other people that they will obey the road rules and drive safely, and faith that cars will do what they are supposed to do. Would people bungee jump without faith in the strength of the elastic cord? Does faith come from positive thinking?

What is it that makes people sacrifice themselves for others? Their time, their money, their very lives? Love. Is unconditional and sacrificial love a human quality? Does it emanate from within the almighty human spirit? Is it yet another accidental by- product of evolution?

What is the origin of these three life sustaining immortals: hope, faith and love? The motto of the Australian Red Cross is 'the Power of Humanity' but I don't think humanity is all it's cracked up to be. All goodness originates with God because God is good. All love begins and ends with God because God is love. On what grounds then can we boast of triumphs of the human spirit? We can help people, even save a few but we can't save everyone. We can heal people of diseases but in the end they'll still die. 'We spend all of our lives going out of our minds, looking back to our births, forward to our demise.'(They Stood Up for Love by Live)Desperately clinging to life because we know we cannot avoid death. Pretending we are the masters of our own destinies.There is no life without faith, hope and love and these three come from God. Therefore there is no life without God.

Humanity is not powerful. It is weak and foolish. Paul says that the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom , and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)