Christmas

Last night Carol and I put up our Christmas tree and decorated it. She is very familiar with my bah humbug attitude toward Christmas. She asked why I hated Christmas. I thought about how to answer that as I was walking Rose and Lily this morning. You can do a lot of thinking when you are on a long walk.

I don't hate Christmas it is more that I am disappointed in what Christmas has become. It seems to be the one holiday where the fullness of our excess is on display. When I was young we spent Thanksgiving as a family. The only people who had to work were folks like police, firemen, prison guards and hospital workers. All the stores were closed so that everyone could spend the day with their family and reflect on how thankful they were for what they had. Now it seems that we spend less time being thankful for what we have and more time trying to figure out what else we want. I'm not talking about things like a more inclusive society or peace with others. It's about how much more crap we can stuff into our homes. Maybe we have so much we need a storage unit for the excess. We rush through our Thanksgiving meal so we can go out shopping or get on line and buy stuff. Can't miss out on those deals. Can't we take a day and be thankful for what and who we have in our lives?

It seems to me that modern Christians want to celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus while they ignore everything he tried to teach them about how to live. Pastors stand behind the pulpit and preach that if you give more money to them you will be rewarded with more money for yourself. The so called prosperity doctrine. The first part is true. If you give them more money they will have more. Then they claim to need things like expensive jet planes so they can reach more sinners. It seems the logic they use has seeped into our politics. If you don't have money, a nice house and car it must be your fault. You are doing something God doesn't like. It couldn't possibly be anything else. So many in politics believe you are poor because you are a sinner, or of poor character, or just plain lazy. None of those may have any basis in reality. Many Christians wear those wrist bands that say WWJD. What Would Jesus Do. It appears for many the answer is that Jesus wouldn't give a shit about you. They got theirs because of their faith and you didn't get anything because you don't have enough faith. It is like those who claim to heal by faith. They lay hands on you and pray for your healing. At the end of the prayer they say that your faith has made you whole. You die a week later from that cancer that was eating you up just like the doctor said would happen. The faith healer says that you died because you didn't have enough faith to claim the healing God had for you.

So simply put my Christmas problem is twofold. We lack thankfulness for what we have while we shamelessly pursue more stuff. We celebrate the birth of Jesus while we spend our time ignoring all the deeds we should be doing that would make us true followers of Christ. Christmas has his name but it has lost his spirit.

Mystery of History

The picture above is one of hundreds I'm working through in totes of family history. I know her name. The back of the picture says she is Margarette Morton of Fairbury, Illinois. A search on Ancestry indicates she was born in Ireland on January 18, 1855 and died on September 25, 1929 in Fairbury, Illinois. She was the daughter of Kathryn Lytle and Edward Morton. There begins my questions. My great great grandfather John Sutor was married to Martha Lytle and emigrated to the United States from Ireland. Was Kathryn Lytle related to Martha Lytle? I can think of no other reason for this picture to be included with all the other family pictures. Why have a picture saved of someone you don't know? She will, for now, remain a mystery.

The two little girls pictured above are even more of a mystery to me. Genevieve Lucy McKenzie was born on July 3, 1896 and died on April 25, 1978. Her sister Gail McKenzie was born on November 12, 1897 and died on April 23, 1976.  It appears from records in 1900 they lived on North Prairie Street in Galesburg. My great grandparents John and Emma were married in 1900. John would have been living on the family farm near Wataga and to the best of my knowledge Emma would have lived on her family's farm near Henderson. In this case I can find no possible common relative. Was Emma a friend of their mother from the time she attended Knox College in the 1880's? It is now and perhaps forever a mystery how this picture ended up in one of the totes. In checking on Ancestry the same picture is available and ensures I am accurate with the birth and death dates of both individuals.

I have in the past advocated for everyone to take a few moments to identify individuals in the pictures they have. It is clear that more than that is actually required. If possible some context for the picture. How do you know them? Why was the picture taken? Why do you have a copy? As you can see, sometimes these pictures survive and we are left with mystery.