grafted in and on the journey

Hello Grafted In Reader, I wanted to share a Scrooge-type story typical for the season. The idea is not original, but that of a mentor of an online story group in which I participate. The story is original, under 800 words, entertaining and reminds us to balance personal achievement with compassion for another. Names, places and entities are truly fictional. Please enjoy and may we live out the story's purpose today and always. D Minor For Tact Part 1 by David Russell Copyright David Russell "This morning we have Beatrice Walker as guest on the Open Line show, and are sure we will hear from several interested gracious callers. Ms. Walker is the resident conductor of the International Philharmonic and will be leading the 50-piece orchestra on a December tour through North America and throughout Ontareo," announced the host of the morning network talk show. "I am pleased to be directing this orchestra as we will be performing piano concertos by Beethoven ...

Hello Grafted In Reader, Today is December 3 in my corner of blogland. Holiday music is in full hearing on many radio stations across North America, and Cyber Monday and Black Friday are now historic cultural occurrences. This month, I want to encourage our focus to return to the first century and see our heritage not in a Roman Catholic 3rd century phenomenon, but a small town known as Bethlehem where people made yearly pilgrimage, observed Hanukkah, and identified one another either by name and birth place, or name and son of or daughter of ... I commend to your reading an article pasted here from an online copy of Slate Magazine from 2008 which I believe to be timely. Until next time, Kevod Yeheveh, His presence enfold you today and always. Yeshua is with us! Was Jesus a common name at the beginning of the first century? By Brian Palmer Jesus Christ Painting by Ary Scheffer, 1851. Photo courtesy Walters Art Museum via Wikimedia Commons Christians will soon celebrate th...