Triple C News - December 26, 2020
Hey, everyone!
Happy Boxing Day!
December 26…”The Feast of St Stephen”!
You know the one you’ve heard about every year at Christmas time…
“Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even…”
Remember that one?
So…
Around the year 970-something AD, Wenceslas, the son of Vratislaus the First, Duke of Bohemia, was born. After loads of plots and palace intrigue and murders and poisonings and other awful things, he eventually became the King of Bohemia.
(I’ve never seen “Game of Thrones” but I get the impression it was stuff like that.)
Anyhoo…
He grew up to be a kind and good king…for a change.
And once on the Feast of St Stephen (aka the Day after Christmas, Dec 26) he was with Otto, his servant/page in the woods. It was super snow-stormy and the good king saw thru the swirling flakes,
a poor peasant, gathering whatever wood he could unbury from the drifts for his cottage fireplace.
The King’s kind heart went out to this poor guy struggling to warm his shivering family and he decided to take some good groceries to help them.
He and his servant Otto tramped their way thru the deepening snow towards the humble home.
Then Otto stopped.
“I’m done! ! My feet are froooooze!! Snow’s too deep! Can we just go back?”
According to the legend, Wenceslas the King answered…
“Was not His journey from Heaven a wearier and a colder way than this?’”
Otto answered not.
“Follow me on still,” said S. Wenceslaus. “Only tread in my footsteps…”
And the warmth of the King’s heart radiated down to his feet and melted where he stepped!
So his servant just had to walk in the royal melted footprints and he made his way easily to their destination of charity and love!
“In his masters step he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye, who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing!”
Nice!
So “Boxing Day” is the day after Christmas when boxes went up in England show you could give and show love for other people on the Feast of St Stephen in honor of the Good-hearted King of Bohemia!
Today’s weather on this Boxing Day is sunny and highs in the upper 30’s.
Tomorrow’s gonna be sunny with highs in the mid 50’s!
That should be a beautiful day for worshipping our Savior out in the park!
(If you really bundle up and sit in the sunshine, even better!)
I counted and we only have ten Sundays until March!
If we continue to try to worship and praise as a church family through these weeks of winter…
we’ll probably have a Sunday or two that’ll be just too cold…
Or a Sunday or two of rain or snow…
But the average high at 11:00 am in Oak Ridge is 49/50 through January…
and February is warmer than that!
If we keep our worship time to an “expedited” 40 minutes (we’ve had one that was 30!)…
And if we really bundle up…
(And we’ll always have our “online” service available if it works better for you!)…
And as the vaccine becomes more and more available…
with His help and His hand on us…
we’re gonna make it thru this!!
Our Governor has asked us to not meet in indoor places with more than ten people.
Altho’ I know he gives churches the right to worship indoors with more than that.
And rights ARE precious!
But giving UP our rights to show love and concern of our own community and friends in a global pandemic is…holy!
Giving up personal rights is what our Lord came to earth to do.
And since the Knoxville area presently has, for the second week,
the highest infection caseload in the country…
even tho’ it might be more of a sacrifice to sing to and praise Him outdoors rather than in…
and even tho’ it might be chilly sometimes…
giving up our rights for love of those in our town for His sake…
is…
well…
cool!
And maybe even…holy!
Thanks for your heart!!
Thanks for persevering!
Thanks for who you are!!