May I wish

you, all my readers, a Merry Christmas. I sincerely hope your house will

be filled with good food, good friends, and good tidings this Christmas

Season. I don't say it often, but let me thank you for your readership.

Thank you for stopping to speak to me in the travel lanes of Fayette.

Every time you do it, it blesses me and encourages me to keep on writing

with you in mind. Now, here's my full Christmas wish for you and your

house.

First, that

your faith will be stronger than ever before. Your limbs may not be. Your

muscles may not be. Your finances may not be. Your vocational prospects

may not be. But, that your faith may be stronger. Of course, not faith

in yourself. Why have faith in that which begins to fall apart at age

25? I mean, of course, your faith in God. With stronger faith in God,

your prospects in all respects are brighter.

Second, I wish

that your faith will shine with the brightest and most beautiful quality

called hope. In talking to folks around the Fayette area, I feel that

times are tough. Perhaps sales are down. Attendance is a little off from

last year. Our portfolios are sizably smaller. But there's hope. Hope

is what we all need during the long stretch through ulcer gulch. Hope

is what we all need when sales are down, attendance wanes, and the worries

seem to have a grip on us. There's hope. Not a rainbow coalition. But

hope that pulses from a faith centered in the born and resurrected one,

Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Neither Arafat nor Barak know it, but their

hope for peace in the Middle East can be found in a hometown Boy. So,

hang on but hang onto hope from the faith in the One.

Third, I wish

you lots of joy. I reminded my church folks and myself the other day that

to rejoice is a decision we make every minute, every hour, and every day.

You and I are generators of joy. People will walk into your home and they

will know immediately whether you are full of joy or full of something

else. Our Brother Paul, Apostle out of time, commanded us "to rejoice

and again I say, rejoice." Since it's a command, we can obey or disobey.

The devil has sold many of us a bill of goods that says others determine

if we are joyful or not. Not so, or sad or mad or bad one. We decide.

So, decide for glad.

Finally, I

wish for you and your families as much love as you can shovel for yourself

from God's big heart. A lot of people would prefer to skip Christmas because

it's just too darn painful. They feel alone, isolated, and unloved. But,

they are so very wrong. Christmas is a love story not a commercial fiesta.

God so loved you that he came himself to show you it was not just a bunch

of talk. He showed up. Let him wrap his big, warm loving arms around you.

You are loved. And I like the line from Gaither's song, "and the

one who knows you best loves you most."

Merry Christmas

from John, Mary Ann, and Anna Hatcher. Hope to see you next year.

Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor

of River's Edge

Community Church in Fayetteville.

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