Puffs

January 4, 2024

I thought it fitting to start the New Year with a comment by Pope Francis. “My hope is to remind people that the ‘Christmas Spirit’ is not over.” The Christmas season extends far beyond the commercial season we’ve been taught to believe is the reason for the season. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas Day and the message below stays with you all the yearlong.

The message of Bethlehem is indeed “good news of great joy.” What kind of joy? Not the passing happiness of this world, but the joy that consoles hearts, renews hope and bestows peace. It is the joy of the Holy Spirit: the joy born of being God’s beloved sons and daughters. - Pope Francis

A O

I am amazed at times of how I learn new things. Now, I admit that I learned a lot during the time our family was growing up at home, but I don’t mean that.

Since retirement I’ve had the chance to read a lot more than I did during the previous 40 years. From that reading I’ve picked up many a tid-bit of knowledge about a variety of things, both of the world and locally.

The latest book I’ve been reading is about a man from Ukraine who suffered from imprisonment from the Russian government in the 1970’s – 1980’s time period. The USSR still controlled vast amounts of land before the breakup of the USSR.

What I learned was that my impression of Ukraine always being a part of Russia was wrong. I got that impression, I guess, was because Russia always seemed to control that land known as Ukraine. However, I’ve learned that the area of Ukraine was taken into the USSR by Stalin in the early 1900s, but before that it was its own country and had its own history.

That bit of history helps explain why the current Russian attempt to reclaim the area is being so bitterly fought by Ukraine.

It leads one to think, also, about the war between Israel and Palestine.

Israel, it seems from the national media, is being blamed for the war even though it seems to me that they are simply responding to the initial attack by Gaza’s fighters that killed well over a thousand Israel’s citizens.

This is another case of “whose land is it anyway?” Israel had claims on the land from more than 2,000 years ago and some of the land was officially given back to the Jewish people after WWII.

It seems that at times, there is always a reason someone wants to start a war for some reason. It is too bad those people don’t understand the message that Pope Francis brings to all of us.

A O

Yup, we had a good Christmas – New Year – Birthday celebration over the weekend. We combine the three events into one celebration so all of the family can come.

It works out well and Nancy and I didn’t have to do any of the organizing, or work, and no, I did not stay up on New Year’s Eve to see the New Year in.

I learned many a year ago that it will happen whether or not I stay up past midnight on Dec. 31.

But, Happy New Year to all.

A O