Articles by Charlotte Barres at Heartlight

The Place of Christmas

irene1949@aol.com (Charlotte Barres) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Back in the purer days of television, probably the 1960's, a beautifully gowned actress named Loretta Young came sweeping upon the screen every Sunday night announcing her show in which she played a very different character each week. One I will never forget was one of a Japanese servant girl working for an American family living in her country.

The plot centered on this homesick family's very evident disappointment at not being able to celebrate Christmas back home with the rest of their family and friends. After hearing just so much complaining, the little Japanese maid said to the mother, "You all so unhappy because you cannot celebrate Christmas in America," then she added in her humble servant manner, "but I think you celebrate Christmas in the heart, yes?"

As many celebrate the birth of Christ this time of year, we are reminded that he himself warned the people of his time not to expect him to set up a visible worldly kingdom. He insisted that the Kingdom of God would be established in the hearts of people.

When we get to heaven and rejoice at being united with family and friends of faith, what would it be like if we don't know them by their familiar appearance or voice, but by the content of their heart?

"O, yes, I know you," we might say, "you are the one who had a heart for the poor." Or to another we might say, "I know you, you had a heart for the sick." Or to one who had a heart for the lonely, or for the children, or the elderly, or the homeless, or a heart to serve those not noticed by others ....

Perhaps this season in the midst of all the lights, trees, music, gifts, games, and food, we can say an emphatic "Yes!" to the Japanese servant girl's question. "Yes, we will be celebrating Christmas and the New Year in our hearts for that is where the Christ of Christmas really is and what the basis of anything truly new is all about."

May Jesus be in every aspect of your celebration this holiday season, for He alone is the light, the song, and the gift we most need. Only He didn't give this gift under a Christmas tree, but instead gave it on the cruel tree of Calvary. And He did so to make every day of the New Year a joyful, Jesus-filled celebration from our hearts.

[Jesus said] "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40 NKJV)

Charlotte Barres is Mike Barres octegenarian mother who says: "Through the years I have been putting into writing the thoughts I would have concerning my life as it relates to my faith in God's word. Now that we are in a different environment -- a life care facility where we moved after living in the same house for 43 years -- I have a new perspective and point of view about how we live our daily lives and I believe it shows in my writing. I believe that I might be able to reach other people in my age range and situation."

Sandpaper

irene1949@aol.com (Charlotte Barres) — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 00:00:00 -0500

One day when our oldest son was about 6 years old, he came running into the house crying and very angry at Billy, the boy next door, who had roughed him up a bit. I tried to tell him he should try to forgive Billy, because God loved Billy just as much as he loved him. So if God could love Billy in spite of what he had done, then he should love and forgive him too. The answer he so quickly shot back at me just about surprised me speechless. "But Mom, God doesn't have to live next door to him," he said.

In his young mind, God seemed that far away from this problem. However, we know that is not true. God is not only next door, but his Spirit also lives in us. While we still do things that must irritate him -- like the boy next door irritated my son -- God stills loves us.

We are the ones who have trouble forgiving the "people next door," but God found a way to freely forgive all his "neighbors" through the sacrificial death of his only Son.

Those of us who claim to be adults often need to hear the same message I was trying to get across to my son: if God can love and forgive, we can too. In her book Reduce Me to Love, Joyce Meyer writes about people God puts in our lives to act as sandpaper. They can be very abrasive, but they are also very necessary to achieve that beautiful polished finish God wants in our lives -- and the harder the rub, the better the finish.

So when irritating and frustrating people come our way, let's think of them as sandpaper. Let's realize that most of all, they are the neighbor that our Lord told us to "love as ourselves."

September Song

irene1949@aol.com (Charlotte Barres) — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 00:00:00 -0500

In years past, when an older man fell in love with a young girl, it was referred to as a "May and December" romance. In the 1960's, there was a popular song from a Broadway play based on this idea called September Song:

For it's a long, long time from May to December,
But the days grow short when you reach September.
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game.
So the days dwindle down to a precious few, September-November.
But these few precious days I'll spend with you,
These precious days I'll spend with you.

Years later, I realized that the words to this song could apply to my life and my love affair with God and his Son. I was in the September of my life when I really came to know God and his Son. These remaining years that I spend with them are precious.

For forty years, Brother Lawrence was a monk serving in the kitchen of a French monastery in the 1600's. His previous forty years he spent searching for that which he did not even know. In the last forty years of his life he wrote many letters about his "Practice of the Presence of God." These have been preserved and still read around the world. The preface to these letters contains the following powerful words:

There are all too many of us now past middle age -- living a life (seemingly) more mediocre everyday. It comes like a second wind to consort with a man who found heaven on earth among the pots and pans of the institution's kitchen.

Like the popular song, Brother Lawrence speaks of these precious days: "Let us make the most of the days of grace; let us redeem the time that is lost, for perhaps we have but little time left."

When Jesus spoke of the workers who all received the same day's wages, even though some started early and some late, we are reminded that it is never too late to make the most of what can be our most precious days.

Wisdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding. (Job 12:12 NKJV)

Wonder Working Power

irene1949@aol.com (Charlotte Barres) — Tue, 10 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0600

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy. (Colossians 1:9-11 NKJV)

Most of the time we associate the word "power" with authority, great and noble deeds in military battles, influence in governing people, knowledge in making scientific and medical discoveries, leadership in being the CEO of a big corporation, etc.

As Christians, we also associate "power" with the visible display of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and how those present that day eventually changed a world that continues to change because of their influence.

We usually think of power in big letters -- "POWER" -- but there is also a display of "power" in small ways. God did not express his pleasure in his Son at his baptism with a bolt of thunder and lightening, but with the flutter of wings of a dove that came to rest upon him.

But what about power for those of us who face the confinements of daily life or old age? Can we no longer go out and change the world for the Kingdom? Do we think that Holy Spirit "POWER" does not apply to us? Can't we still be empowered to do the work of the Kingdom in small, but important ways?

One very small, but powerful way is to be an example to others of what "Christ in you" means. (Colossians 1:27) Directed by Holy Spirit power we can speak softly, bring encouragement, judge fairly and wisely, omit gossip, offer prayer for others, love others as ourselves, and actively display and use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us.

Acknowledging that the Holy Spirit is working in this way may take away the frustration of those who feel trapped by their circumstances. Circumstances are really the situations God has created for us to serve him and others. The Holy Spirit is the means by which we accomplish it. Don't forget to trust in God's wonder working power found in the Holy Spirit no matter your life circumstances!