Cook Clan vs. ALS: Philosophical Ramblings

Yesterday, mom, dad, and I went to the ALSA Support Group holiday party. The group meets once a month at a church in Central Austin and this time we had a special treat...the minister from the church came to speak to us. He had a lot to say and I'll not go into all of it but in essence, he told us his story and pointed out some points that especially hit home for me.

First, the Christmas Story...we celebrate Christ's birth this time every year but it is often obscured by all the secular hype of Santa and snowmen and shopping til you drop. I was telling the boys last week about how the Magi visited baby Jesus in the manger and the wonderful gifts they gave to him. Of course, they wanted the WHOLE Christmas story and I obliged (with maybe just a few embelishments created just for them).

Anyway, the minister reminded me of something I'd forgotten. The Christmas Story occured during a very bleak time in history. The king in power (Herod) was so anxious about his throne that when he learned of the birth of the Messiah, he ordered all male children under 2 years to be murdered. He sent his soldiers into the city of Bethlehem, going door to door and yanking babies from thier mother's breasts, massacring them without regard.

Now, many people would look at this story and see the glass half empty, so to speak. But, I am reminded that God's promise to us is not to protect us from the sorrows of the world but to be our faithful companion as we endure and hopefully even rise above our troubles. It is our reaction alone to tribulation that defines who we are now, who we will become, and what the world sees in us. We can allow ourselves to be beaten down by this world, we can allow this world to make us hollow and bitter, or we can color the world by responding with a totally new reaction, one of love and hope.

Which brings me to my next holiday thought... fellowship. Really, fellowship with one another is what gets us through our days and gives us hope about our future. Picture a world without all the people you encounter every day: your spouse, your children, your parents, your co workers, even the little people that you have only minor interactions with. Without these interactions, we would lead a bleak life. Yes, sometimes we feel overwhelmed by these very same people but if they weren't around, we'd not have the same daily experience.

It is people and our fellowship with them that makes our lives full. Sharing love with each other is what gives us hope and a desire to get up each day. We are all dying (ALS or not) and some of us will leave this world sooner than others but we are all given the gift of fellowship. Sometimes we choose to embrace it and sometimes we choose to be burdened by it.