I got to the church 45 minutes early because I wasn’t sure of the call time this morning and thought it was better to be early and hang out in my office if I was wrong than oversleep. I only got about five hours of sleep last night… more than most parents still putting toys together, but less than I really wanted. I couldn’t fall asleep. I opened all of my presents save the one marked “Do Not Open Until Christmas Day” because my plan is to leave church, get some lunch, and go see Rogue One. I saw The Force Awakens last Christmas Day, so apparently now it’s a thing. In order to be a good Jew, lunch will be Chinese food.
I wasn’t technically raised Jewish, but twice in my life I’ve had Jewish next door neighbors and we’ve celebrated both holidays. The first time was when I was in kindergarten/first grade, and my parents were going to let me go to Hebrew school with the neighbor kids (if it’s allowed- I don’t know) when we got the announcement that we were moving to Naples from Galveston. I cannot imagine how far ahead I would be in life had I learned Hebrew as a child, because learning a language is so much tougher for adults than it is for kids, and both Hebrew and Greek are MDiv requirements.
The second time I had Jewish neighbors, “Mark” showed up on our front doorstep in Ninja Turtle boxers (only funny because he was in his 40s at the time… maybe still is, I’m not good with age) on a Jewish high holy day (I think it was Yom Kippur, but don’t quote me on it) and said, you want some Jew food? Yes. Yes, we did.
As t-shirt wisdom dictates, I am not a Jew, but I am Jew-ish. As Christians, we all are, really… It pains me to think of just how many people there are in this country that don’t know it. But the important thing is that I do.
In other news, today is “Ugly Sweater” day at church, and I do not have an entry in the competition. By the time I found out it was “Ugly Sweater Day” (last night) it was too late to find one. I had to make due with a plain green sweater instead, but underneath I am wearing my t-shirt that has Darth Vader walking AT-ATs on a leash like puppies. If only I’d found THAT in an ugly sweater variety. As Matt said when he walked in this morning, not that it’s a competition, but I’m going to win. If he broadcasts today, I’ll post a picture of him, because his sweater is truly…. memorable. However, if I’d managed to find a Star Wars ugly sweater, I think I could have beaten him…. Win, I would have….
I know this sounds ridiculous for an almost 40-year-old adult, but my favorite ugly sweaters and t-shirts must have dinosaurs. I went through a phase in elementary school where dinosaurs were all I talked about, so it must be a “throwback” to that time in my life. I have ordered all the dinosaur t-shirts on 6DollarShirts.com, but they were lost in the move. My favorite, which got the most comments from others, had a T-Rex lying horizontally across it and said T-Rex hates push-ups (Big head, little arms)…. another ugly sweater contender had it come in such a variety.
Now that we’ve gone from Star Wars to Jews to dinosaurs, it’s time to grab my music and get to the sanctuary. I can’t believe I just left here 12 hours ago… however, it feels like a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away….
Have a Merry Christmas you will, ya’ll.
Stories That Are All True 