Personal reflections while waiting for my Christmas album

Waiting for my new Christmas album (Release: November 11, on Pandora, Apple Music and Spotify), the news we watch tends to focus on terrible and fearful things. The media has to do that, I guess, in order to keep ratings up and stay on the air. But that is not the whole story. If we rely on that for our sense of reality, our perception of society can become very twisted. The true reality is that there are so many everyday people who are just trying to live their lives while doing good and decent things.

Last weekend, I watched two volunteer moms shepherd a group of children through a play. As my 8-year-old granddaughter, dressed as an angel, solemnly watched over a baby Jesus, it occurred to me that there should be a special place in heaven for those people who calm children and help them put on their little plays.

Anyway—for those who might be struggling with a feeling that the world is going to hell in a handbasket—here’s a scripture to help push against the darkness. It’s one of my favorites. A recipe for mental health from Philippians 4:8.

“Whatsoever things are true, 

whatsoever things are honest, 

whatsoever things are just, 

whatsoever things are pure, 

whatsoever things are lovely, 

whatsoever things are of good report; 

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, 

think on these things.”