First Congregational Church and Society, United Church of Christ, 6 Payson Hill Rd., Rindge, NH 03461 Mailing address: PO Box 451, Rindge, NH 03461 Phone: 603-899-5722
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved.
12 Days of Extra-Terrestrial Giving continued
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me 7 secret sayings.
You know it is good to bring joy into the world. It is fun to bring happiness and laughter to strangers. During this season of extra-terrestrial giving will you give the gift of bringing light and love into the world? Our challenge for you is to find 7 sayings of joy and delight and then secretly leave them in unexpected places where they can be discovered and bring a smile to a stranger’s face.
This is a fun way of bring joy to the world and we all know that our world is in desperate need of some joy. So go laugh, be silly, be secret and be you. Go into the world this week and plant joy and love for others to find,
because …
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me 7 secret sayings.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 8 acts of compassion.
You get a lot of freedom here. Compassion comes in many ways…from making a donation…to giving a blanket…to sharing a word of hope…to helping someone in need. Compassion is the act of having concern for the suffering or struggle of others. When we fill our heart and soul with compassion something amazing happens. We become compelled to act, to do something to bring some ease to the sorrow and suffering of others.
During these 12 days of extra-terrestrial Christmas we challenge you to walk outside your norm…to push beyond your discomfort…and to reach out with compassion, because…
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 8 acts of compassion.
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 9 kinds of compliment.
A kind word makes all the difference. When someone makes an intentional effort to bring light into your day you can’t help but feel better….better about yourself…better about your day….better about life. The key to this extra-terrestrial giving is intentionality. Will you be focused on giving 9 compliments every day for 12 days? Imagine what joy and light you can bring to the world just by focusing on being kind.
This is gonna be fun….because…
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 9 kinds of compliments.
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 10 minutes of meditation.
Living out our faith is not always about doing something much of the time it is about being….being still…being quiet….being present to God. And yet for many of us it is hard to just be. We fill our every moment with activity and experience. What if for the 12 days of extra-terrestrial Christmas you did something truly out of the ordinary. What if you committed to 10 minutes of meditation every day. Maybe it would happen early in the morning before everyone else wakes up. Maybe it is the last thing you do before going to bed. Or maybe you find a way to steal away in the middle of the day to just breath…sit quietly…and be open to the Spirit of God.
What a Christmas gift to yourself that could be because…
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 10 minutes of meditation.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me 11 life lessons.
Believe it or not you have wisdom to share. Every single one of us walks through this world differently. We have experienced different things and faced different challenges and these experiences have shaped us. Far too often we think we have nothing to share, no wisdom to impart, but nothing could be further from the truth. So this extra-terrestrial Christmas Challenge is about reflecting on the lessons of your life and writing them down in gratitude and appreciation.
Over the course of these 12 days can you reflect upon your living? Whether you have walked on this earth for 30 years or 90,you have learned important life lessons. So why not share them! If you really want to be bold, write them down on little note cards and share them with the people here today. Can you imagine the wisdom that could fill this room if we all took a moment to share the lessons of life we have learned….the little pearls of wisdom we have gathered because…
On the eleventh day of Christmas…my true love gave to me…11 life lessons!
Here it is, the last extra-terrestrial day of Christmas…..
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 12 hugs a day.
Sometimes all it takes to make the world a better place is a simple hug. Hugs make us feel better,they make us feel safe and connected and loved. Our challenge for you is to give 12 hugs a day for the 12 days of Christmas. Count them out….keep a log…make a list…do whatever you need to do…but boldly give 12 hugs a day…..and…..if you go a little over….well that is okay….Because…
On the 12th day of Christmas….my true love gave to me…12 hugs!!!!
So there you go, the 12 days of extra-terrestrial giving. The 12 days of Christmas lived differently…boldly….out of the ordinary. Can you do all 12? Maybe, maybe not, but you will never know unless you try!
Merry Christmas to you….may it be truly extra-terrestrial….and may the force of Christmas be with you….now and always!