As winter settles in at the farm and work slows there, things pick up at home. For the young folks in my life the run up to Christmas is all about winding up the fall semester at college and planning for seasonal parties and gatherings with friends and reaching out to those who have slipped into the backgrounds of their lives. For a parent of those youngsters life seems to be about trying to manage the ensuing chaos. With some time over to reflect on the joys of the season.

I am re-reading a book given to me about eight years ago by a woman whom I met while I was taking an Alpha course at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church in Maple Ridge. Mary Zanata was such a welcoming guide in my journey back to the church. In her late seventies at the time, she was tireless in living out her call to reach out to those trying to find their way back onto the path of an interrupted faith journey.

The book, by John Bevere, has the rather lurid title of, The Bait of Satan. The title doesn't do justice to the contents, which I think would be of value to every one, particularly Christians. The heart of the message in the book is that we must not take offence. The biblical antecedents of this message are well known to most Christian's, but John has written a book that wonderfully leads the reader through the ways in which we burden our souls and poison our hearts by holding in ourselves the hurts and judgements that rise in us daily. He offers good solid advice about how to continue to reach out with Christian love to those by whom we have been hurt, rejected or judged and how to do so while at the same time letting go of all of the feelings of being offended that rise in most of us when we are hurt. A wonderful book that I am reading with new eyes.

Just prior to picking up this book to read, I read one by Jimmy Carter, called Our Endangered Values. A compellingly lucid exposition on how conservative American Christian organizations have gone political and how they have used politics and, in turn, been used by politicians, to advance what in many cases are regressive and damaging civil changes. Carter speaks clearly from a perspective developed throughout a life of service to his country and faith. While he may not always be right in what he says there is a chord of truth that rings through his writing that is clear and pure.