Purple Christmas Miracle

It’s been a while folks. But since we’re ~10 days from the holiday that celebrates the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, I thought it is a good time to tell y’all what I want for Christmas. A couple of weeks ago, I told my dad what I *REALLY* wanted for Christmas. For ‘Pops’: https://youtu.be/pITei8irmMg

The gift? I hope everyone who reads this will do a ‘random act(s) of kindness’ for someone in need during this Christmas season. It does not need to be financial, but it can be. Leave a large tip, or change a tire for an elderly person who is physically unable. It can, and will, change the world if we all operate in this space. Clay Walker calls it “Chain of Love”: I call it the “butterfly effect”. https://youtu.be/sTpiaE945To?si=

‘Gospel’ is defined as “good news”, although the dictionary misses that aspect – what a pity. https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-the-gospel.html

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gospel

~11-12 years ago, there was a ‘Christmas miracle’ which, although it made a media appearance, most of us seemed to have missed it. It involved Carlos Santana and one of his original band members.

To set the stage – the lyrics to this song tell the story of Marcus before it happened. https://youtu.be/0FmPg4lrBKc?si=

The story: notice Carlos asks Ted Turner (via the interview) to create a 24 hour “good news” channel. https://youtu.be/MKa5UsDz5kQ?si=

Funny how human nature is consistently unchanged. From the 1980’s: https://youtu.be/XTJcchmKhPw?si=

Now, for the impetus of this post, one final story to complete the ‘circle’. As Pops and I were leaving for trivia tonight, I made an observation which I found to be incredibly profound – probably more profound than my vocabulary and ability to explain.

Most anyone from a rural area who is my age or older knows what poke salad is. Years ago, my grandparents’ generation ate the leaves from the plant (after it was properly cooked). As I was entering Pops’ truck, I noticed a poke salad plant at the corner of our house: the leaves are long gone, but the stalk and dark purple ‘berries’ were still there. As we traveled, Pops and I discussed how many white t-shirts we have stained with those berries over the years. They stain everything purple – from hands to clothes. I was reminded that, around Easter, Jesus is associated with the color purple – the color of royalty.

For what it’s worth, the wonderful film “The Color Purple” was released on this day in 1985: there are no coincidences.

So, where does this leave us? Well, there is a line in the Christmas song “O Holy Night” that sums it up best: “Til He appeared, and the soul felt its worth”.

https://youtu.be/8UPar71vybk?si=

Jesus came and taught us we are all part of ‘royalty’, should we choose to follow Him. From ancient Tyrian dye, to the lowly, common poke berry. Used incorrectly, those berries are poisonous. Used correctly, they clothe us in the color of royalty. When dipped in the ‘blood of Christ’, we become “whiter than snow”. As we “pick up our cross and follow Christ”, we are dyed from white to purple. I just find that symbolism incredibly beautiful. Do we need to wear a cross around our neck if we carry our cross on our back? I’ll let the reader decide.

I’d like to leave you with one final thought, then a challenge. The thought is this: miracles surround us every day, though most of us walk right by them without even noticing. Joshua Bell performed a social experiment – I’ll let the song tell the story:

https://youtu.be/l2ttaZlrK7Y?si=

Here’s the challenge: change the world. See the miracles, be someone’s miracle. Don’t take the gift Jesus gave us for granted. Merry Christmas everybody.

https://youtu.be/q06AvQF5NOw?si=