Roughly twenty years ago or so I sat down at the computer night after night and pecked away at what would become a short novel...the link for which is to your left. I never even gave it a name and just refer to it as the name of the main character....Isaac Crockett. Isaac is a genuine rock star....and yet a Christian....who surprises his family....his band mates....and the world by leaving the world of rock music. He helps a young woman in distress....time passes and they meet again. She is not very religious. They fall in love....and the following is from Chapter 22....they're all short chapters....Isaac sees that this young woman has indeed come to Christ. The scene is Christmastime.....Isaac sees Christmas as I see it....I tried to describe Anne's epiphany as what I always imagined Sarah Edwards religious devotion to be....Sarah being the wife of the First Great Awakening's Jonathan Edwards. Either way, Christmas can refer to a holiday, or it can refer to the most glorious day that this earth ever experienced up to that time. This was but one of the reasons that the Puritans rejected it....that glorious day must not be trivialized. What cannot easily be trivialized is reconstructing in the mind what happened that day in Bethlehem a little over two thousand years ago. Surely....even on the other side of the globe....the birds must have sang out....the deer startled at the glory in the heavens.....and even the lions in the African savannah must have roared out a praise to the one who provides them with food.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Anne and Isaac had spent the day in Philadelphia. It was two weeks until Christmas and the first snowfall of the year had graced Penn's Woods, more commonly known as Pennsylvania. The plan for the day was to meet at Independence Hall, have lunch and then shop until they dropped. Anne didn't need a tour guide of Philly but Isaac served as one anyway commenting in detail on the development of our Constitution and most of those involved in it, also commenting on the faith, lack of faith, deism, Masonry and outright atheism of those to who it pertained. They stopped to take a picture of a statue honoring the Marquis de Lafayette complete with Isaac's commentary on the differences between the American and French revolutions, particularly as they pertained to the religious beliefs of those involved.
"Isaac?"
"Yes Anne?"
"Is it Christmas coming up....or the Fourth of July?"
"Sorry Anne. I get carried away in places like Philadelphia, Boston, Gettysburg...you remember 'Gettysburg' don't you?"
"Tooooche' my love. The Civil War brought us together."
Isaac's opinion of Christmas was more Puritan than Continental. He disliked the merchandising that put people in debt, worried about the children who thought only about gifts and dreaded the pagan influence but was not about to bring these things up.
"Is Christmastime a special time of the year for you Isaac?"
Well, so much for ignoring the issues.
"Anne, I hope to celebrate Christmas and enjoy it as much as I can and certainly hope that I can make it a special time for you...but my heart isn't really into Christmas. I do enjoy the Bing Crosby and Andy Williams type of Christmas songs and I really love the Christmas carols, some of which are nothing short of majestic. I love the snow and getting bundled up and sitting by the fire wondering what chestnuts taste like. I like building snowmen and having snowball fights...so much so that..."
Isaac bent over and started making a snowball, and then another...and another...
Anne figured out what he was about to do and started running while Isaac lobbed the snowballs at her. He caught up to her, turned her around and held her close.
"But you know what I love most about Christmastime?"
Anne thought that a romantic comment was coming.
"What would that be?"
"I love it that I have never heard the word or seen a...snowwoman. It must drive the feminists
crazy!"
Anne wrinkled up her nose and Isaac did indeed then get serious.
"Anne, I hope that you're not disappointed. I'm not a Scrooge...I promise. Every time that I see a manger scene the holiday comes back into focus. Handel's Messiah must be the most beautiful oratorio ever composed. I can't promise you Santa but I can promise you Angels We Have Heard On high."
"Oh Isaac, I'm not disappointed. This Christmas is most special to me."
Isaac thought it was Anne's turn for a romantic comment but she looked up to the sky with an angelic smile and said.
"Can you imagine what it would have been like with all those angels singing? Can you imagine how beautiful their voices must have been. I'm sure that the shepherds must have been frozen with awe! The snow must have been the whitest that it has ever been...and the sky the clearest when Jesus breathed his first breath...the Son of God come down to us...all the earth must have stood still at that moment...even the animals near the baby must have been blessed!"
Isaac thought about how his Dad described Anne's burgeoning faith as her eyes were still looking up to the heavens. They walked on in silence, hand in hand.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Anne and Isaac had spent the day in Philadelphia. It was two weeks until Christmas and the first snowfall of the year had graced Penn's Woods, more commonly known as Pennsylvania. The plan for the day was to meet at Independence Hall, have lunch and then shop until they dropped. Anne didn't need a tour guide of Philly but Isaac served as one anyway commenting in detail on the development of our Constitution and most of those involved in it, also commenting on the faith, lack of faith, deism, Masonry and outright atheism of those to who it pertained. They stopped to take a picture of a statue honoring the Marquis de Lafayette complete with Isaac's commentary on the differences between the American and French revolutions, particularly as they pertained to the religious beliefs of those involved.
"Isaac?"
"Yes Anne?"
"Is it Christmas coming up....or the Fourth of July?"
"Sorry Anne. I get carried away in places like Philadelphia, Boston, Gettysburg...you remember 'Gettysburg' don't you?"
"Tooooche' my love. The Civil War brought us together."
Isaac's opinion of Christmas was more Puritan than Continental. He disliked the merchandising that put people in debt, worried about the children who thought only about gifts and dreaded the pagan influence but was not about to bring these things up.
"Is Christmastime a special time of the year for you Isaac?"
Well, so much for ignoring the issues.
"Anne, I hope to celebrate Christmas and enjoy it as much as I can and certainly hope that I can make it a special time for you...but my heart isn't really into Christmas. I do enjoy the Bing Crosby and Andy Williams type of Christmas songs and I really love the Christmas carols, some of which are nothing short of majestic. I love the snow and getting bundled up and sitting by the fire wondering what chestnuts taste like. I like building snowmen and having snowball fights...so much so that..."
Isaac bent over and started making a snowball, and then another...and another...
Anne figured out what he was about to do and started running while Isaac lobbed the snowballs at her. He caught up to her, turned her around and held her close.
"But you know what I love most about Christmastime?"
Anne thought that a romantic comment was coming.
"What would that be?"
"I love it that I have never heard the word or seen a...snowwoman. It must drive the feminists
crazy!"
Anne wrinkled up her nose and Isaac did indeed then get serious.
"Anne, I hope that you're not disappointed. I'm not a Scrooge...I promise. Every time that I see a manger scene the holiday comes back into focus. Handel's Messiah must be the most beautiful oratorio ever composed. I can't promise you Santa but I can promise you Angels We Have Heard On high."
"Oh Isaac, I'm not disappointed. This Christmas is most special to me."
Isaac thought it was Anne's turn for a romantic comment but she looked up to the sky with an angelic smile and said.
"Can you imagine what it would have been like with all those angels singing? Can you imagine how beautiful their voices must have been. I'm sure that the shepherds must have been frozen with awe! The snow must have been the whitest that it has ever been...and the sky the clearest when Jesus breathed his first breath...the Son of God come down to us...all the earth must have stood still at that moment...even the animals near the baby must have been blessed!"
Isaac thought about how his Dad described Anne's burgeoning faith as her eyes were still looking up to the heavens. They walked on in silence, hand in hand.
