Dear Friends in Christ,

     Well, Linda and I were making our list, checking it twice, and determined most of our family members hadn't been naughty, most had been nice, and we were getting ready for a wonderful Christmas with my parents in Florida this year. Linda headed out to Winston-Salem to take presents to her siblings and in-laws. Then I received one of those calls you hope you never get-- "There's been an accident . . ." Your heart skips a beat or two, you suppress the lump in your throat, and then are immediately thankful that the voice on the other end of the line is your loved one. At least she can talk (that will be the last ability Linda loses, I'm convinced, on the day the Lord does call her home.) I jumped into the truck and took off up Interstate 77 to Interstate 40 and headed east. When I arrived at the scene, Linda was sitting in a Highway Patrol car talking with the officer. Her car was pretty thoroughly demolished, and the officer was courteous and concerned. Couldn't figure out why she was alive. Her car had flown across the median, across two lanes of what should have been heavy oncoming traffic and stopped just short of a concrete bridge support. It was as though a window had been opened up for her between one group of tractor trailers and cars and the next group coming up the road. And through it she went, without collision.

     The mechanic who came with the wrecker to retrieve the car, walked the accident site with me and was full of concern about Linda's well being. Before I left to take her to the hospital to be checked out, they both expressed genuine concern for her and expressed how thankful they were she hadn't been injured more seriously. And they both wished us a Merry Christmas.

    We arrived shortly after at Lake Norman Hospital's Emergency Room, and we encountered the very same genuine concern and gracious attention to Linda's needs from the intake nurses and the physician's assistant who examined her. X-rays followed (nothing broken) and the prognosis was made that she would be pretty sore for a few days. And before we left, they wished us a Merry Christmas.

     I called the insurance adjusters (you know, you go through the automated system for hours it seems before you get a live voice . . .) and when I heard that voice on the other end of the line, it was full of genuine concern about Linda before any "business" discussion took place. At the end of the phone conversation, the adjuster wished us a Merry Christmas.

     For all the discussion out there in the culture about political correctness and the wishing of "Happy Holidays" in place of "Merry Christmas," our experience this year was quite reassuring. Everywhere we went, people were wishing us a "Merry Christmas," even store clerks--without apology. "Ah," I thought, "common sense has returned to the land." Linda hated the car had been demolished and right here at Christmas time (she gets emotionally attached to them). I took her in my arms and told her that I had received the best Christmas present I could ever have hoped for--she would be sharing Christmas with me. It could have turned out quite differently.

     So I've reflected a lot these past couple of days. The richest blessings of Christmas are found not in the things we get or give, but in the relationships we cherish. We had a very powerful reminder this week that life is precious and fragile and each day is a wondrous gift. So, when Christmas is over, I hope you will have held those nearest and dearest to you a little closer. And as you begin this new year, resolve to live each day with gratitude in your heart for the gift of loved ones in your life.

Yours in the Service of Christ and the Church

Bob

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