These are thoughts that I have expressed before, but just like saying “Merry Christmas”, it does no harm to repeat.

I am a happy ending guy.  Every Christmas I trot out some old favorite movies and see them again.  My beloved wife and I watched them together scores of times, and now I share them with my children, grandchildren, and friends.  I could probably repeat the dialog or act out a part in some of these movies, and they continue to warm my heart year after year.

Above all, I favor those stories with a good Christian message: faith, hope, love, family, comradeship, compassion, redemption, and forgiveness.  As the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things .. . practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”  (Phillippians 4:8.)

God bless you this Christmas tide and throughout the coming year.