I talk a right smart about faith around here...keepin' it, losing it and finding it again in the oddest places. By its' very nature, faith is capricious and magical and never moreso than it was all those years ago when an angel came along and said to Joseph " Dude, she hasn't been messing around on you. Just pack up and go to Bethlehem to pay your taxes and you'll see what's up." Umm..okay, then. Can you imagine the surprise on his face when the wise guys showed up with all the goodies after following that star?

Jesus was a humble sort of guy partly because of his humble beginnings. Born to an unwed mother in a cave surrounded by farm animals with nothing to wear but rags, He grew into a man who performed miracles and looked after the least of these every day of his life. Then along came another hard-to-believe kind of deal with his death and resurrection and the persecution of His believers.

I happen to be a Christian, because that is the theology that works for me personally. Does that mean that I think others are wrong in their beliefs? Not at all. I believe that we all worship the same God in different ways and that the basic rules are the same no matter what the name of the religion. The rest is just details.

Which brings us back to faith. I realize that I haven't been through near the hardship that some have endured, yet life has been tough and continues to be filled with spots that require great faith to navigate. I passed on the church service and dinner with cousins last night and treated myself to a string of Christmas movies that I haven't had time to sit and watch and right there towards the end of "Miracle on 34th Street" Maureen O'Hara delivered the best definition of faith that I have ever heard to little Natalie Wood....

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.

I've enjoyed keeping it with all of you. Let's do it again next year!

^j^