She was only 21years old and inexperienced. Lovely, witty, intelligent, curious, and talented, were the descriptors the gentle Pastor employed in his struggle to memorialize the precious and sterilize the horror. The descriptive adjectives were sadly familiar. They resurrected memories of three other memorial services that I have attended in the past too few years. All four young people, between the ages or seventeen and twenty-one, used a permanent solution on a temporary problem.

The child that I mourn today was diagnosed with Bi- Polar 1 Disorder. The root problem varies, but the decisional moment is common. The reasons and explanations are many, but hopelessness guides the fatal decision. A total void of hope decided the fate of these four lives. Hope is to the spirit as oxygen is to the body. It is life's breath and sustainer.

God's Word, the Bible, is a book directed to our spirit. Therefore, hope is a major theme. Job, while contemplating ending his life, said, “Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well being like a cloud” (Job 30:15 BBE). Position Job’s dreary assessment against the message given to the shepherds at the announcement of Christ’s birth. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10 NIV).

It is terribly ironic that more people feel hopeless during the Christmas season than any other time of the year. Ironic because the human birth of Christ is God's gift of hope to all people for all time. That Gift and the sacrifice that he made for us gifts us with new beginnings, no matter how badly we screwed up the last one. It is my hope that everyone who reads this exchange gifts with God this Christmas. Here is how that works: you give Him your sin and hopelessness, He gives you forgiveness, hope, and eternal life. His gift has a name, “The Lord Jesus Christ”, alias “Great Joy”.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS