I’m 67 years old, and I have a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. I have designed many electronic circuits, and written the software to make them function. In my career, I helped design CT scanners, I designed a custom integrated circuit, and I have two patents. I am currently assisting a company to develop a safe, green method to produce Hydrogen for energy production.

So why do I feel I’m just starting Kindergarten? As we have been investigating emotions, I was ready to write on emotion and reason. No one should argue that to live a balanced life, we need to consider both emotion and reason to make decisions.

But looking back on the recent poor decision-making that resulted in me being scammed, I realize I am NOT using reason adequately. And why is that? It is because my reasoning is not sufficient. I am doing the reasoning. I am deciding whether my emotion or reason takes precedence. My reasoning is faulty and my emotion is strong.

So where do I turn? How can I avoid more scams and poor decisions based on my insufficient reasoning power? “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD…” (Isa 1:18) I confess, I am using this verse out of context. Isaiah is speaking about obedience to God. But, maybe this applies.

There are two main topics in the Bible about life: eternal life with God (AKA salvation), and fruitful life on earth. We are told to trust Jesus for our eternal life, and we are told that a fruitful life also comes from Jesus.

When Jesus used the imagery of a shepherd and his sheep in John 10, he contrasts Himself with the thief who wants to steal the sheep. In verse 10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

When the Bible says we obtain life through Jesus, it is clearly saying our eternal life starts when we believe Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life”. But for some of us, a life of peace, harmony, and abundance does not seem to begin with our salvation. So, what are we supposed to do?

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Pro 3:5-6) This proverb contrasts our own understanding (emotion and reason) with God’s understanding (transcendent wisdom). Isaiah spoke of obedience. Acknowledging God’s ways as best for our life is an act of obedience. So how do we obey Jesus when we are struggling with emotion and reason?

You have heard it said, “Knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing when to say it.” [Link] Fundamentally, knowledge is knowing facts that come from our education, emotion, and reason. An emotion such as anger teaches us that an injustice we observe is wrong.

But anger can also result from coveting the bigger truck your friend just bought. Reason tells you that if you buy a bigger truck your budget will suffer. But we all know how strong emotion can be by the number of big, new trucks on the road.

“Wisdom involves a healthy dose of perspective and the ability to make sound judgments about a subject based on experience, evaluation, and lessons learned.” [Link] But the God that created us has the upper hand on experience, evaluation, and lessons learned.

So maybe I’m not in Kindergarten anymore but I’m a teenage boy whose pre-frontal cortex hasn’t fully developed. Until the age of 25 or 30, when the frontal lobe is fully developed, we guys may still be ruled by the amygdala, which controls emotion, impulsivity, and an inability to fully comprehend the consequences of our actions. [Link] (Women have a five-year advantage over us.)

In the way parents want to share their acquired wisdom with their teens, God asks us to trust His wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)

So, as a spiritual teenager, I need to consistently go to Jesus and ask for wisdom. I can go to Him and say, “I am feeling ______ and I think I want to do ______, but You know what’s best. I am asking for Your wisdom before I make this decision.”

I sympathize with all who find this difficult. Even when we know our fallibility, it is a struggle to connect with God. Fortunately, He understands. He is ready to forgive our failures because His mercy is unmatched. Commit with me to keep trying, again, and again, and again. God is eagerly waiting to help.

I ran across a YouTube video channel entitled Carving a Path. It shows the homestead life of a small family in Arkansas. As a wood and metalworking wannabe, I enjoy watching videos demonstrating such skills.

As I watched the episodes from the beginning, I thought it odd that no names were used. When I viewed the latest (and perhaps last) video I understood why. Rather than retell their story, I encourage you to watch it yourself.

When watching the video, your heart may break and you may get angry. Isn’t it odd that people on two sides of a dispute all think they are doing the right thing?

You each know the political state of our country and of the world. Rest assured, what we are experiencing now is nothing new and has not taken God by surprise. Strife within and among families, communities, and nations has existed since the beginning of time.

As I listened to the story, I recognized that while the family was performing a great community service out of love and concern, they were legally wrong. Again, I will let you watch the video for yourself to understand the two sides.

Please understand there is a great war between good and evil. The problem is, the good is often imperfect. The Bible tells us that our best human efforts are as filthy rags compared to God’s loving nature and desires. Without Him, we can do nothing. With Him, we can do more than we can imagine.

My heart goes out to the families involved. But I must recognize that for each story we hear, there are countless more that are unheard. No one can help everyone, but each of us can help someone in our local community. At the very least we can be kind, accepting of differences, and understanding. Beyond that, any help we can provide will be appreciated and will reflect God’s love and mercy.

Pray for this family whether you agree with their actions or not. Always pray for those around you. Your prayers may bring them into your path and allow you to show them God’s love. Then they may become part of God’s family and can pass the kindness forward.

If you have learned anything about me, I hope you see me as unconventional. Well at least sometimes. As you will see, my Christmas Wish is a bit different.

What do I mean, “a bit different”? I was thinking about Christmas Wishes and realized a lot of wishes are like this:

I wish we didn’t have to go to aunt betty’s this year.

or…

I wish wierd uncle bobby didn’t come to the party.

or…

i wish we didn’t have to go to both parent’s houses this year.

or…

i wish we hadn’t spent so much money on presents!

or…

i wish christmas was over already.

Is there any room left for “We wish you a merry Christmas”? Are these even “Happy Holidays”?

I remember Christmas as a child. Discovering the closet where the presents were hidden. Shaking the package and wondering what could possibly be making the noise. Pine trees (real ones for a time), lights, decorations all over the house. And plenty of cookies. My parents made it a happy time. I grew up with Santa Claus and the reindeer (can you name them all)? Elves, hot chocolate, peppermint candy canes, and gingerbread houses.

I was also taught that Jesus was born on Christmas day. I heard the story of Bethlehem, the manger, shepherds and wise men. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

Please allow me to break this down. Scholars conclude that Jesus of Nazareth was likely born in late September. Historians say the December celebration of Christmas is just a morphing of the Winter Solstice with Christian beliefs. The story of Jesus being the light of the world is stolen from the Sun god stories of the days beginning to get longer again. Oh, and of course, the wise men didn’t visit baby Jesus in the manger.

So we have Christmas and the Winter Solstice essentially coinciding. We also have Hanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, and Kwanzaa, a seven-day African-American holiday. For a list of 18 celebrations world-wide including Festivus see here.

Maybe we should just say Happy Holidays. But then there’s another problem. We had better know what a holiday really is. The first known use of holiday or haligdaeg is from the Old English before the 12 century. It literally means holy day. So what does holy mean? 1a) set apart and dedicated to the service or worship of God or a god; 1b) dedicated to or laying claim to being dedicated to a sacred or selfless purpose. Additional definitions revolve around perfection, virtue, God-like, and pure in heart. [Source]

Me thinks we have distorted the idea of holiday. We certainly aren’t selfless. The common definition of holiday is a day on which one is exempt from one’s usual labor or vocational activity. [Source] Now that we like. And to that end, the 18 world-wide celebrations are holidays. But if your focus is on receiving gifts and grading a friendship on the cost or size of the gift, then I don’t think our common view of Christmas falls under holy day.

Now for my Christmas wish: I wish you would see Christmas as I do. The essence of the original Christmas is this: God Almighty, who created the heaven’s and earth, entered a newly formed human body untouched by sin to reconcile a sinful, faltering, unrighteous people with a holy, perfect, righteous God.

Remember that the worship of an Almighty, Holy, Creator God began with the nation of Israel. (Granted, we can follow the worship of God all the way to the beginning, but stay with me.) The record is that Jehovah God chose Abraham to be the father of a nation that would be guided by the Creator. He would be their God and they would be His people.

But every story in the Jewish Bible shows that humans rebel against God simply because we want to be self-controlling. When we take control of our own path in life we often find ourselves in tumultuous situations. God asks us to let Him guide us down the best path for our life. But we are too proud to relinquish control. Because of their rebellion against Jehovah, the Jewish people demonstrated their need for a substitutionary atonement. Their imperfect offering was in the form of innocent, unblemished animals.

But God said through the prophet Hosea, “I’d rather for you to be faithful and to know me than to offer sacrifices.” [Hosea 6:6 CEV] The problem was, appeasing God was limited, imperfect, and could not continue forever. The problem of un-holiness had to be corrected once and for all.

Almighty God the Father (Jehovah) agreed with God the Son that an intermediary between God and humans must exist. This must be someone who is human AND God. God the Son became Jesus of Nazareth to be the perfect mediator between God and humans. This is what Christmas celebrates, the birth of the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth.

To learn more about the nature of Jehovah God, please see my blog posting: World Religion – Christianity

As always, I appreciate your Likes and Comments. You are also welcome to email me at “info@JDRockel.com” Your email address will never be sold or used for mass marketing.

Mirror Mirror – Chapter 5 is coming up next. Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas, everyone!