Christmas 2025
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Dear Family and Friends, Christmas 2025
Which generation are you? Does it even matter? Generational groups are comprised of people who possess certain characteristics which set them apart from other groups. My hope is through reading through this Christmas letter you will gain a better understanding of not only yourself, your generational group but those generations older and younger than your own generation. Why is this important? Sadly with all of the technological advances, variety of social media and various forms of communications- people in America and across the world are more isolated and lonely than at any other time. You are an integral and essential piece of this puzzle to turn this around. Your influence and contribution to our society is necessary to the making of your family, your neighborhood, city or town and country and world a better place. Let’s begin with the basic building blocks. Life is about relationships. We are made for relationships. We need each other. Why is it so difficult to have good relationships then? There are three main relationships: relationship with self, our relationship with others, and our relationship with God. All relationships are risky as they tend to expose our two greatest fears: 1) the fear of losing control and 2) the fear of being disconnected, separated or alone. Think back at your last argument or disagreement with someone. What made you upset? See, that person is not the real problem. They just pushed your “fear button.” Our natural response is to withdraw, be angry, devalue that person, exaggerate, blame, deny, become defensive, manipulate or attempt to fix the person. How do we stop blaming others or seeing them as the problem? Empathy is what is needed. What is empathy? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Do you see yourself suffering from people, rather than with people? Do you tend to avoid people to protect yourself from further pain, hurt or rejection? Take control of your feelings, rather than your emotions controlling you. You do have the power to choose and take personal responsibility for yourself. Focus on yourself, the only person you have a chance to change (with God’s help). Empathy requires you to see life from the other person’s side. This will require you to set aside your own agenda, turning on your emotional radar and demonstrate your care and concern for the other person. Demonstrate that you recognize and care for that person and that you are there to help, even if that person never changes. One thing is for certain is that you will change and that’s all that matters. Was it ever a time when relationships were without fear? Yes, there was, but it was a long time ago with the first two humans. Let's take a look…. In the beginning God made the first man, and He named him, “Adam.” God declared everything as “very good”, yet there was something “not good.” Isolation and loneliness are not good. “It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18) “The LORD God fashioned into a woman…and brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22) There's a hole in each of us, we all need companionship.
Which generation are you? Does it even matter? Generational groups are comprised of people who possess certain characteristics which set them apart from other groups. My hope is through reading through this Christmas letter you will gain a better understanding of not only yourself, your generational group but those generations older and younger than your own generation. Why is this important? Sadly with all of the technological advances, variety of social media and various forms of communications- people in America and across the world are more isolated and lonely than at any other time. You are an integral and essential piece of this puzzle to turn this around. Your influence and contribution to our society is necessary to the making of your family, your neighborhood, city or town and country and world a better place. Let’s begin with the basic building blocks. Life is about relationships. We are made for relationships. We need each other. Why is it so difficult to have good relationships then? There are three main relationships: relationship with self, our relationship with others, and our relationship with God. All relationships are risky as they tend to expose our two greatest fears: 1) the fear of losing control and 2) the fear of being disconnected, separated or alone. Think back at your last argument or disagreement with someone. What made you upset? See, that person is not the real problem. They just pushed your “fear button.” Our natural response is to withdraw, be angry, devalue that person, exaggerate, blame, deny, become defensive, manipulate or attempt to fix the person. How do we stop blaming others or seeing them as the problem? Empathy is what is needed. What is empathy? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Do you see yourself suffering from people, rather than with people? Do you tend to avoid people to protect yourself from further pain, hurt or rejection? Take control of your feelings, rather than your emotions controlling you. You do have the power to choose and take personal responsibility for yourself. Focus on yourself, the only person you have a chance to change (with God’s help). Empathy requires you to see life from the other person’s side. This will require you to set aside your own agenda, turning on your emotional radar and demonstrate your care and concern for the other person. Demonstrate that you recognize and care for that person and that you are there to help, even if that person never changes. One thing is for certain is that you will change and that’s all that matters. Was it ever a time when relationships were without fear? Yes, there was, but it was a long time ago with the first two humans. Let's take a look…. In the beginning God made the first man, and He named him, “Adam.” God declared everything as “very good”, yet there was something “not good.” Isolation and loneliness are not good. “It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18) “The LORD God fashioned into a woman…and brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22) There's a hole in each of us, we all need companionship.
