For many of us, the holiday season, as an expression of our feelings to those we love and vice-versa, is a source of great joy.
But often negative moments, passing a homeless person, or thoughts, of the misery of others, cloud over the holiday joy.

Don’t fight it.
The sadness is part of the season’s experience.
Or should be.
Perhaps if we can sustain continuous joy for twenty-four or forty-eight hours without reference to others less fortunate or without thought of a lost loved one we’re missing something.

The holidays, however, impose on us the single thought of Christ, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Not some unknown person; not acquaintances, at least not primarily.
Love ourselves first.
Love ourselves.
We’ve done good.
We can do better.
Yes.
But let’s not focus on things about ourselves that we want to change until next week at the start of the New Year.
Stay with the holidays.
Celebrate the good things we’ve done.

Now let’s focus, strongly, no, intensely, focus on loving our intimate family and friends.
Intimate.
Who is really in our lives?
Who did we see yesterday?
Within the last week?
Who is really in our lives?
These are the ones to whom we must express our deepest love.
Ask what we can do to add joy to their lives today; or tomorrow.
A gift.
As a reward.
A thank you.
An act of love?

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Sunday, December 23, 2018
My 255th consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
Time is 12.01am.
Today, Boston’s temperature will reach a high of  42* with in a feels-like temperature 39*. Sunny to partly cloudy.


Dinner is Saffron Curry with seafood and oysters.

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Question of the Day:
Who was Jesus Christ?

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Love your notes.
Contact me @ domcapossela@hotmail.com

From Tommie Toner: 

Dom,
Christmas has always been low on my priority of celebrations.
I went through all of the religious celebrations with our children in the United Methodist Church and at home.

BUT I was always stressed to the nines trying to be all  - to meet all expectations of family, the bruh ha ha of the season.
We always had Christmas at our home and then traveled after Christmas day to Birmingham to be with extended family.

Keep in mind that I had a full-time job and was always working on another certification or advanced degree.
So January and February were always moments to be savored.
I loved the quietness of those winter months even though I have a difficult time dealing with cold weather.
But I take what I can get during these months- quietness often in snow or ice, a warm fire in the fireplace, and the great food of winter - soups, stews, hot cornbread. 
During this time was (and is) a time of reckoning- sorting, culminating, organizing - everything - notes, files, clothes, books, recipes, clothes, taxes. 

The most important - and probably necessary- of these cold winter months is the time spent on reflection of one's being on this planet Earth. . . .
What is important?
What is necessary?
Who is important?
What does the past reveal?
What do we want and or need for the future?

Web Meister Responds: Lovely. Perfect. Thank you for sharing.

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Answer to Question:
Who was Jesus Christ?
Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30 / 33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader.
He is the central figure of Christianity.
Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.

Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically, although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus.

Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry, preaching his message orally and often being referred to as "rabbi".
Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers.
He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, turned over to the Roman government, and was subsequently crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect.
After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and the community they formed eventually became the early Church.

The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually on December 25th (or various dates in January by some eastern churches) as a holiday known as Christmas.
His crucifixion is honored on Good Friday, and his resurrection is celebrated on Easter.
The widely used calendar era "AD", from the Latin anno Domini ("in the year of the Lord"), and the alternative "CE", are based on the approximate birth date of Jesus.

Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, from where he will return.
Most Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God.
The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology.

The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of the Trinity.
A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural.

Jesus also figures in non-Christian religions and new religious movements.
In Islam, Jesus (commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets and the Messiah.
Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin, but was not the Son of God.
The Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity.
Most Muslims do not believe that he was crucified, but believe that he was physically raised into Heaven by God.
In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, and was neither divine nor resurrected.

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Good morning on this Sunday, December 23,

Santa’s sleigh has been cleared for takeoff.

Today we talked about the holiday spirit and its concomitant cloud and we got a timely Christmas remembrance from Tommie Toner.

And we talked about Jesus, the historical and divine Jesus.

Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?

See you soon.

Love

Dom