Christmas Makes Me Unafraid

Posted on December 18, 2008

I write this Christmas piece the day before my end-of-the-year, follow-up PET scan and brain MRI.  The tests are to assess the status of my lymphoma that has been in remission for a year and a half.
 
Christmas tells me that I can be more brave about this, and that you too, can be brave in your struggles.  Christmas tells us not to be afraid because God has become one of us.  His entry into our real time and space changed everything.  His birth as a human makes us the object of His immense love for us.
 
The historical fact of his birth recorded by the most reliable of any ancient documents -- not fantasy or myth -- is evidence that the Creator of the universe is for us and is with us.  He is with us in illness, divorce, or death of a loved one.  We're not alone when praying for a wayward child, abusive parents, or a life-controlling problem.
 
Christmas lets me know I can face the truth about myself, without condemnation, regarding a life-controlling problem.  I can confront the dark side of myself because of Christmas.  God arrived in human form to take away my sin and to bring healing to my soul.  (Read my 12/18/08 blog for another unique and powerful solution God has done for a reader, regarding his recurring memories of torment)
 
Jesus came as Christmas to rescue you and me of our tendency to create gods of our own inventions - the biggest false gods of all being pride and arrogance.
 
So, let's drop the unnecessary wall and open ourselves to Him.  Let's search for Him.  After all, He wants to be found.  In fact, He's been in pursuit of us since the beginning of time.  (Hebrews 8:10b)
 
Our greatest gift this season is to find ourselves by resting in Him.
 
Merry Christmas!
Gary Chester Morse
By the way, my tests came back all clear.

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GETTING BEYOND MEMORIES OF TORMENT
Here's a response from a close friend about how to get beyond the memories and images of torment that I talked about in my 12/4/08 blog (READ BLOG).  A key is to redirect thoughts, just as you redirect TV channels.
 
Here is what my friend wrote to me:
 
I, myself, have overcome it to a great degree (maybe 98%) but still hellish, revolting, tormenting, and bad memories come back to me.  Things so bad that I swore to God I would never tell another human being.  I now have a clean, clear mind and sometimes the mind of Christ.  For months at a time, I can be free; then from out of nowhere, memories blast in from the past.  What I do when that happens is that I imagine the whipping scene from the read more


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