Monday, December 31, 2018

WHAT GRIEVING PEOPLE WISH YOU KNEW AT CHRISTMAS!
“Happy Thanksgiving!” “Merry Christmas!” 
“Happy New Year!” 
As the end of the year approaches, everywhere we turn someone is telling us we should be happy.
But for those who’ve recently lost someone they love; the holidays can seem more like something to survive than to enjoy. The traditions and events that can add so much joy and meaning to the season are punctuated with painful reminders of the person we love who is not here to share in it. Many have (like myself), wished they could find a quiet place to hide until after January 2nd.
While those of us who surround grieving people can’t fix the pain of loss, we can bring comfort as we come alongside those who hurt with special sensitivity to what grief is like during the holidays. Grieving people wish we all knew at least five truths, among others, at Christmas.


1. Even the best times are punctuated with an awareness that someone is missing.
I remember a conversation I had with a friend as we prepared to head out on a holiday trip shortly after our daughter, Hope, died. “That should be fun!” she said. I sensed I was supposed to agree wholeheartedly with her?
What I didn’t know is how to explain that when you’ve lost a member of your family, even the best of times it is painfully incomplete. Someone is missing? Even the best days and happiest events are tinged with sadness. Wherever you go, the sadness goes with you.


2. Social situations are hard.
I have never been able to figure out why crowds (for me Churches), are difficult when you’re grieving, but they are! Small talk can be unbearable when something so significant has happened. Meeting new people will likely bring questions about your family. To walk alone into a room full of couples when your husband or wife has died, or into an event filled with children when your child has died, can be a soul-crushing reminder of what you have lost.
“For those who’ve recently lost a loved one, the holidays can seem more like something to survive than to enjoy.”
 

If you’ve invited someone in the midst of grief to your holiday event, let them know that you understand if it seems too hard at the last minute and they have to cancel, or that they may only be able to stay for a short time.
If you’re going to an event, give a grieving person a call and ask if you can pick her up and stick with her throughout the event for support. When you come upon a grieving person at a holiday social event, let him or her know that you are still thinking about the person he or she loves who has died, and invite him or her to talk about their memories with that person. Don’t be afraid to say the name of the person who has died. It will be a balm to the grieving person’s soul.


3. Extended family can be awkward and uneasy.
Grief is often awkward even, and perhaps especially, with those to whom we’re closest.
My husband and I host weekend retreats for couples that have lost children, and the difficulty of being with family at the holidays is often a topic of conversation among these couples. They know that some family members think they’ve grieved long enough and want them to move on. Others want to initiate a conversation about the person who died but aren’t sure how. What often happens is that the name of the person who died is never mentioned, and it feels to the person who is grieving that they have been erased from the family and or the whole world.
https://youtu.be/x22ems1U3JA

Do you know a grieving person heading to a family gathering for the holidays? You might ask about their expectations when they’re with family. For if they have a strong desire for their loved one to be remembered in a certain way, combined with a fear that it may not happen, you might encourage and help them to write a letter to their family in advance stating clearly what would bring comfort, rather than expect that their family will instinctively know, then also why they do not also go!

4. Tears are not a problem.
For most of us, grief tends to work itself out in tears tears that come out at times we don’t expect. Sometimes grieving people sense that people around them see their tears as a problem to be solved that tears must mean they aren’t doing very well with their grief but it makes sense that the great sorrow of losing someone we love would come out in tears. Tears are not the enemy. Tears do not reflect a lack of faith. Tears are a gift from GOD that help to wash away the deep pain of loss.

It is a great gift to let grieving people know that they don’t have to be embarrassed by their tears around you that they are welcome to cry with you. An even greater gift is to shed tears of your own over the loss of the person they love. Your tears reflect the worth of the person who died and assure them that they are not alone in missing that person.

5. It can be hard to remember why Christmas should be so merry.
In “O Holy Night,” we sing, “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” Grieving people around you feel the weariness of life and death in this world and wonder how anyone around them can rejoice. They are in desperate need of the reality of CHRIST to break through their loneliness and despair. While we don’t want to preach at them, we do look for the opportunity to share with them the comfort and joy to be found in the coming of GOD himself in CHRIST to rescue us.
“Tears do not reflect a lack of faith. Tears are a gift from GOD that help to wash away the deep pain of loss.”


The life of JESUS that began in a wooden cradle will culminate in death on a wooden cross but it will not be a senseless, meaningless death. It will be a death-conquering death, followed by new resurrection life. The writer of Hebrews explains, “The Son became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14 NLT). The power death has now, to bring so much sorrow, will not be the way it is forever. What CHRIST set in motion when He defeated death at his first coming will come to its full fruition when He comes again!

This is our great hope at Christmas, and the hope we have to share with those who are grieving at Christmas that “yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” The CHRIST who came as a baby and died as our substitute will one day return to consummate His Kingdom and when He does, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:4) https://youtu.be/9Z8-9WwjeqM
Written by Nancy Guthrie.
Along with personal additions by Richard Abbenbroek. http://bayo-hunter.blogspot.com/

Sunday, December 30, 2018

HAPPY CHRISTMAS! "THE SHEPPARD"

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
"THE SHEPPARD"

AS THE HANGAR FLIGHT MUSEUM HAS A VAMPIRE JET AND SOON A MOSQUITO. ADDED TO THE EARLY EARLY EACH YEAR CHRISTMAS!
"THE SHEPPARD"
WELL BETTER EARLY THAN NEVER!
"THE SHEPHERD" A CANADIAN CHRISTMAS RADIO CLASSIC.
HERE IS ALAN MAITLAND READING OF “THE SHEPHERD”.
https://youtu.be/j2_bLEqmBi0
Christmas comes but once a year and with it, for thirty-two years now in most celebrated holiday reading. Every Christmas Eve, since it first aired in 1979, we've been delighted to bring you Alan Maitland's reading of “The Shepherd”, by Frederick Forsyth.
The year is 1957 an RAF pilot is flying home from Germany for Christmas.
Fog sets in, and all radio communication is lost....
http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/206/The-Shepherda-Canadian-Christmas-Classic.aspx
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
From Sir Richard Hangar Flight Museum Photo by Sir Richard…
http://bayo-hunter.blogspot.ca/
 
 

Saturday, December 29, 2018

AS THE NORTH POLE IS ON CANADIAN ICE.

 AS THE NORTH POLE IS ON 
CANADIAN ICE.
We have supplied the pilots check list for our faster than the Avro Arrow. 
Santa's sleigh, this is top secret for your eyes only! Ho Ho Ho! R.C.A.F.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM WW1!
22 December 1917
https://youtu.be/2mP9T8BQ_bQ
Christmas at the front; a Soldier with two turkeys walking through the snow at Hesdin, Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.
Note; he appears to be wearing a leather RFC pilots coat underneath his great coat and leather gaiters as worn by mounted artillerymen and cavalry.
Posted by Sir Richard.
Photos not Mine

Friday, December 28, 2018

EIGHT YEARS CANCER REMISSION BUT NEVER FEAR, I HAVE ANOTHER DISEASE TO FIGHT NOW

EIGHT YEARS CANCER REMISSION BUT NEVER FEAR, I HAVE ANOTHER DISEASE TO FIGHT NOW
I wrote the below in 2010:
 
https://youtu.be/dm6qw_yeo6o
Thank you for your Caring and Love.
They say that they got it all out for now. Looks like a shark bit me.
I can not feel from my elbow down and only with my thumb and fore finger. Typing still with one hand. Surgical wounds on my other arm and chest in much pain. Much pain all around and almost had to be re-admitted to Hospital as I could not breath and was having Angina attacks the other night. Today I can sit up again but feeling a bit better. This will take a bit of time to get over and will still have to be looked over for Cancer... I have to stop writing now as it hurts, I will get back to you all soon.
https://youtu.be/HNjEPHvDxZQ
With Love,
Sir Richard.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

WARNING TO VISITORS OF CANADA AND IN WINTER; https://youtu.be/3KK6sMo8NBY
Winter Tips for your Kids ( 0f is 17.c ) Canadian T-Shirt weather. ( -27f is -32.7c ) Risk of frostbite in windy exposures. ( -35f is -42.7c ) frost bite is possible in 10-15 minutes. (-40f is -40c) Wind chill warning will be issued. Frostbite possible in less than 10 minutes. ( -45f is -42.7c ) Be ready to cut short or cancel outdoor activities. Frostbite possible in minutes. ( -60f is -51c ) DANGER! Frostbite possible in under 2 minutes, then hypothermia just before death. The coldest temperature recorded in Canada was recorded in Snag, Yukon, at (−62.8 °C is −81.0 °F) on 3 February 1947.
A CANADIAN WINTER POEM
It is winter in Canada
and the gentle breezes blow.
Seventy miles an hour,
at thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Canada,
when the snow's up to your butt.
When you take a breath of winter,
and your nose gets frozen shut.


Yes, the weather here is wonderful.
So I guess I'll hang around,
For I could never leave Canada,
cause I am frozen to the ground...


Merry Christmas!
from

Written and Photos by Richard Abbenbroek aka Sir Richard.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
https://youtu.be/Mj7Pr42rliI
Luke 2:9-11 = And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
“SO THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS is all about my Worldwide family!”
MERRY CHRISTMAS

From and Photos by Sir Richard
http://bayo-hunter.blogspot.ca/
 

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

AN EVIE DOG CHRISTMAS!

AN EVIE DOG CHRISTMAS!
https://youtu.be/safoNysTrbE
MORNING AFTER SANTA HAS BEEN HERE! 
OH GOT HIM ON SECURITY NIGHT VISION CAM.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!! WOOF!!!
Posted and photos by Sir Richard..
P.S. Evie's Favorite Song.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, December 24, 2018

MIDVINTERBLOT AND YULE = CHRISTMAS?

MIDVINTERBLOT AND YULE = CHRISTMAS?
https://youtu.be/DPHh3nMMu-I
Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of JESUS CHRIST, who Christians believe is the SON of GOD.
The name 'Christmas' comes from the Mass of Christ. A Mass service (which is sometimes called Communion or Eucharist) is where Christians remember that Jesus died for us and then came back to life. The 'Christ-Mass' service was the only one that was allowed to take place after sunset (and before sunrise the next day), so people had it at Midnight.

So we get the name Christ-Mass, shortened to Christmas.
Christmas is now celebrated by people around the world, whether they are Christians or not. It's a time when family and friends come together and remember the good things they have. People, and especially children, like Christmas as it's a time when you give and receive presents to remember the Magi who followed the Star of Bethlehem at the time of His first coming…
The Magi brought gifts to JESUS upon his birth; which where Gold, which speaks of His birth for JESUS CHRIST is born the King of Kings. Frankincense which speaks of the fragrance of His Life’s Beauty and His Resurrection. Myrrh speaks of His death, as that was the embalming fragrance that was used at the time.

No one knows the real birthday of Jesus as the actual date is not given in the Bible and the best guess currently that I know of is due to the birthing of lambs and herding practices of shepherds which is around is around March 17th?
So why do we celebrate it on the 25th December? The early Christians certainly had many arguments as to when it should be celebrated.
Another point is that the birth of Jesus probably didn't happen in the year 1AD but slightly earlier, somewhere between 2BC and 7BC (there is no 0AD as the years go from 1BC to 1AD).

The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336AD, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor, well sort of). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be for and hence forth (anno Domini), celebrated on the 25th December.

Then again, there are many different traditions and theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. A very early Christian tradition said that it is the day when Mary was told by the Arch Angel Gabriel that she would have a very special baby, who will be named JESUS. This was called the Annunciation and is celebrated today on the 25th March. Nine months after the 25th March is the 25th December!

March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made by GOD and also the day that JESUS died on when he was an adult.
December 25th might have also been chosen because the Winter Solstice and the ancient pagan Roman midwinter festivals called 'Saturnalia' and 'Dies Natalis Solis Invicti' took place in December around this date so it was a time when pagan people already celebrated things such as Midvinterblot and Yule.

Midvinterblot and Yule, was called in Sweden and toward the time of the winter solstice (December 21st to December 25th), is when the days became the shortest and coldest. For them as it is now, the land appeared to be laid to waste, so to keep the fire of the life giving sun alight people often made sacrifices before a great oak tree.
St. Boniface is supposed to have stopped one such sacrifice and instituted the indoor Christmas tree at the same time. The burning of such logs in the midst of sacrifice has come down to us as the traditions of burning Yule logs and enjoying Christmas trees.

Our pagan ancestors, the holidays that marked the great seasonal changes were often fearful, terrible, and dark but with the coming of JESUS CHRIST came a great light that reclaimed not only individuals but also the holidays they celebrated. In the case of Midvinterblot and Yule, the holidays that once marked the terrible price required to provide light instead began to express the joyous arrival of GOD's true light!

Early Christians might have given this festival a new meaning to celebrate the birth of the Son of GOD the Unconquered Son. In the Bible is written the prophesy about the Savior, who Christians believe is JESUS CHRIST and whom is called “Son of Righteousness”.

The Jewish festival of Lights, Hanukkah starts on the 25th of Kislev (the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time each December). Hanukkah celebrates when the Jewish people were able to re-dedicate and worship in their Temple, in Jerusalem, again following many years of not being allowed to practice their religion.
In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvahobservance and belief in GOD. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of GOD.

JESUS CHRIST was a Jew, so this could be another reason that helped the early Church choose December the 25th for the date of Christmas. During the spring (in March or April) there's a Jewish festival called 'Passover'. This festival remembers when the Jews had escaped from slavery in Egypt about 1500 years before Jesus was born. Lots of lambs would have been needed during the Passover Festival, to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the Roman Empire travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, so it would have been a good time for the Romans to take a census. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census (Bethlehem is about six miles from Jerusalem).

In the autumn (in September or October) there's the Jewish festival of 'Sukkot' or 'The Feast of Tabernacles'. It's the festival that's mentioned the most times in the Bible. It is when Jewish people remember that they depended on GOD for all they had after they had escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert. It also celebrates the end of the harvest. During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters (the word 'tabernacle' comes from a Latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut').
Many people who have studied the Bible, think that Sukkot would be a likely time for the birth of Jesus as it might fit with the description of there being “no room in the inn”. It also would have been a good time to take the Roman Census as many Jews went to Jerusalem for the festival and they would have brought their own tents/shelters with them. It wouldn't have been practical for Joseph and Mary to carry a shelter as Mary was pregnant.

So whenever you celebrate Christmas, remember that you're celebrating a real event that happened about 2000 years ago, that GOD sent his SON JESUS CHRIST into the world as a Christmas present for everyone!
https://youtu.be/o0lI-c6VlAY
Posted and Photo by,
Sir Richard
http://bayo-hunter.blogspot.ca/

P.S. Oh by the way, FYI = XMAS?
I have often wondered what the X in Xmas meant as well. I do not care for it but; X representing the initial chi of Greek Khristos ‘Christ.’ Contrary to popular belief, the X in X-Mas was not made up by the secular heathens in California (no attack intended). X-Mas was a shorter version of Christmas, first used in Europe around the 1500s. In Greek, Christ's name started with an X, Xristos. Thus, it is literally, "Christ-mas", or "Christ's Mass".
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Sunday, December 23, 2018

ONES THAT YOU LOVE

ONES THAT YOU LOVE
https://youtu.be/F756Mjxxrvc
We were at times, had a hard life full of working.
Overtime with lots or not nothing much to show,
A life of dreaming, with nowhere to go.
The crows are now in the kitchen.
The wolves are at our door.
Joyce out of pain and is with me no more…
Yet I cannot tell my daughters.
Of all the things that I fear,
In a whole world of shit, I am still alive but scared.
Though I am not afraid of that bright Glory from up above.
As Dying’s just another way to leave momentarily, the Ones Whom You Love…
 
https://youtu.be/PWfuoAmBgEs
AN UNCONTROLLABLE-EMOTION
Life for some are a series of losses and multiple losses that I have from my past has only extended my journey through Grief. Past losses have included the deaths of loved ones and pets, job displacement, marriages 3 not including Joyce, child abduction and not to forget to mention friends and family moving, or just stepping out of my life as GOD said that I need them not any more, as they served their purpose in His plans for me. These tangible losses include many other things which make me feel like a Biblical JOB clone or a bad self-written Country Western Song. So, if you have dealt with losses, you may have feelings of regret or sadness that will affect how you Grieve your current loss, as the old losses contaminate, intensify and for you complicate any new loss…

Once you understand that you will experience the effects of a lifetime of multiple losses, you will be better prepared for the depth and the different facets of Grief that may have been confusing at first. Understanding that at all time, your Grieving Process will help keep you moving forward and not backward. So, like the Boy Scout Motto “Be Prepared”, to Grieve all your losses on your life’s journey, just as I am learning this also the hard way.
For from inside myself, I can truly say that they create fear, depression, anger, loneliness, and despair, as these emotions come and go with dizzying unpredictability.
My life has become like a roller-coaster ride, one that at times it seems that I cannot seem to get off!
Then I'm told to do not give up and or leap off, as I still have purpose and meaning in my life.
Essentially this is what I am told and that I am to; “Stay the Course” on this ride, at the same time (please NOTE), one cannot hurry my Grieving Process. Each time one of these emotions comes flooding back, it is a sign, so they say is how I am recovering?

All my feelings, fears, despairing thoughts, and emotions rush back into my thought process, every second, minute, hour of every day. It's uncontrollable and yet my circle of people who care, shrink smaller and smaller. The reasons vary, from their illogic, spooked fears or just plain misunderstanding about me or at one of my many tormented tears.
Then on the other hand, I thank GOD for the people who do have the knowledge understanding without judgement as He helped me to forgive even the just plain, mean comments. GOD, who gives me strength and helps me keep things within and for those with judgmental misunderstanding again, I still forgive.
So, this year again I am not celebrating Christmas, no tree, no decorations, no wreaths, maybe only a few small gifts that I may give or thankfully receive. No Christmas dinner, again just me/my Evie Dog and my roommate JESUS CHRIST; for whom this day is really all about.
This Christmas I can honestly say that my Ghosts of Christmas Present, Future and Past; I shall have no Jacob Marley to visit me as I know thanks to Christ, that in my life’s business I do have Caring and Love for my fellow man and another thanks to JESUS, I am attached to no self-made sin chain!

SO HAPPY CHRISTMAS!  
https://youtu.be/ZVrh5HM3j-U
With Love From,
Sir Richard, & Evie Dog.