EDITOR:

What do you need to be rescued from? Everybody needs to be rescued from something. During the holidays, especially, wounds and deep hurts seem to make themselves known at a higher level. If it is the first holiday without someone, perhaps the most difficult thing is to be alone with your own thoughts.

It is here where thoughts can sound something like this: “Will I ever feel normal again…the hurt, the pain, the uncertainty, the grief, the loneliness, the depression, my children, my grandchildren, the anxiousness. I am a real person with real pain. Is there any hope for me?”

Thoughts are powerful. The Judd’s gave voice to a song about how the mind prefers good thoughts: Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days. Sometimes it feels like this world’s gone crazy. Grandpa, take me back to yesterday when the line between right and wrong didn’t seem so hazy. Did lovers really fall in love to stay and stand beside each other, come what may? Was a promise really something people kept, not just something they would say. Did families really bow their heads to pray? Did daddies really never go away? Whoa, grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days. Grandpa, everything is changing fast. We call it progress, but I just don’t know. And grandpa, let’s wander back into the past. Then paint me the picture of long ago.

Long ago Christmas meant salvation has come into the world. The Christmas story is the greatest story in the history of mankind. Oh, we have done our best to change the meaning of Christmas, but the story of Christ is too big to be changed. We may have blurred the lines by all the commercialization, however, the message of Christmas has not changed. City councils may have banned the Nativity scene from the public square, but it cannot ban God from speaking to the heart.

The real meaning of Christmas and an answer for all those that may grieve at this time of the year can be found in an obituary I read not long ago. I discovered a very dear friend of mine, Melanie Chiconsky (Stanchina), had died of ALS. In the midst of battling the most hideous disease imaginable, she certainly spoke to my heart and perhaps yours as well, she said, “Always hope, God decides! The nicest place to be is in someones thoughts. The safest place to be is in someones prayers. The very best place to be is in the hands of God!”

For all those who may struggle at this time of year, really any time of year, be assured there are people who are thinking about you. There are people who are praying for you every day. And, simply put, they pray that you will be sustained by the hands of God. Unquestionably, this is the true meaning of Christmas. After all, is there a greater gift that can be given…Today, a savior has been born to you, Christ the King.

Mike Cousineau

Escanaba