Two of the ‘Ber’ months are over. My favorite months whiz by like a weaver’s shuttle. During my halcyon days, November and December were called the Holiday months. Time for turkey and gravy. Dressing and pumpkin pie will be a staple food group this month. Now we get down to the serious business of celebrating the close of 2025 and looking ahead to 2026. I write a few checks, but when I do, 2025 seems like a science fiction story. This is the future Ray Bradbury wrote about. We live in interesting times. The Holidays will aid us in securing our sense of place. We have been disrupted and disturbed. Turned from pillar to post. If we were in the Netflix program Stranger Things, we would be living in the Upside Down. The Old Ways have been tested and some torn down. Identity Crisis is the norm for 2025. Who are we? Where are we going? We have not come this way before.

Our through line of life is based on ideas. For Christians who follow the message of Christ, we believe be good to all men and women, boys and girls. If someone is cold, give them your cloak. If your neighbor is hungry, feed them. We are not all able-bodied and work-hardened. We are sick and in need of a physician. Children need an advocate, and if their parents will not fill the role, shall we place them in Debtors’ Prison? Perhaps their little hands are ideal for close work on garment sewing? Peace comes from helping others.

The Jeeps were everywhere. Jeep after Jeep drove by the Old Man. It appears that many people drive Jeeps. It was Jeep day in the Woods. The Jeeps stuck together. They traveled in unison. It was a Jeep caravan. The Old Man wondered if driving a Jeep and being with the other Jeeps created peace. The Jeep drivers looked happy. They seemed content with the Jeep Convention.

Arbitrary identifiers should not be affixed to humans. This is what happened to Christ. We will soon celebrate his birth. Unconventional would be the term for it. No fanfare, no trumpets, or the gathering of the power people of the time. No leaders telling lies about the birth of the baby in the manger surrounded by animals and shepherds. Straight, unglamorous, or pristine words conveyed the story. The Son of God was born in mean circumstances. No gold adorned the walls of the barn where he was born. The Baby Jesus did not require hyperventallting rehtoric or cross words to unbelievers. The story unites, not divides. There was no sleight of hand or card trick. No conman or magician directed the attention of the audience to somewhere other than the scam or trick they are perpetrating.

Perhaps we are not wrong to look to the old ways of peace. The hope that the hand of friendship will result in a similar hand being extended to us. We have forgotten the old ways. We have chosen expediency over mercy. After all, everyone seems to be out for themselves. They are not and, in fact, are the minority. We hunger for the Golden Rule. We were born with the spirit to be kind to all. We have to learn prejudice and lack of empathy; it does not come easy to spiritual creatures. Depression is a rampant problem among our kind. We all suffer from it from time to time. Peace helps alleviate depression. The simple story of the little Baby Jesus is a GPS to our Peaceful Place.