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Merry Christmas 2001

Beloved Spiritual Partners,

 There is a beautiful and ancient legend called, The Shoemakers Dream, about an old cobbler named Conrad, a godly man who had a mysterious dream.  One night Conrad had dreamed that the next day The Christ was coming to his humble shop.  He got up early the next morning and went to the woods to gather green boughs to decorate his shop so that it would be an appropriate place in which to receive so great a Guest.

 
He waited all morning, but the only thing that happened was that an old man shuffled up, asking to rest.  The cobbler saw that his shoes were worn through.  “I’ll give you a new pair,” he said and put on the old man the sturdiest shoes in the shop before sending him on his way.

 He waited through the afternoon and the only happening was that an old woman under a heavy load came by.  She was weary, and out of compassion for the old woman Conrad brought her in and gave her some of the food he had prepared for the Christ Child.  Refreshed, she finally went on her way.

 Then, as night began to fall, there came into his shop a lost child, crying bitterly.  The old cobbler was annoyed because it was necessary to leave his shop in order to take the child home for she lived on the opposite side of the village.

Returned, he was convinced that he had missed his Lord and Master Teacher.  Sadly he lived through the moments as he had imagined them:  (1) The Knock  (2) The Call  (3) The Latch Unlocked,  (4) The Lighted Face  (5) The Offered Cup.  The old cobbler would have kissed the hands where the nails of judgement pierced, and washed the feet where the spikes of hatred would be held.  Then the shining countenance of the Christ would sit with him, and they would have broken bread.

 Conrad cried, “Why is it, Lord, that your feet delay?  Have You forgotten that this was the day?  Then, soft in the silence a voice he heard:

“Lift up your heart for I kept my word.

Three times I came to your friendly door;

Three times my shadow was on your floor.

I was the beggar with bruised feet,

I was the woman you gave to eat,

I was the child on the homeless street.”

 At that moment the old cobbler remembered the words of Jesus the Christ:  “What you do for the least of these you do for me.”  The greatest gift is the gift of ourselves.   Mother Theresa once said:  “Do not be concerned with being great, just do small things with great love, thereby becoming great!”

 My prayer for you this season is:

 Father-Mother God I ask you to bless my friend reading this right now.  I am asking you to minister to their spirit at this very moment.  Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy.

Where there are doubts, release a renewed confidence in Your ability to work through them so that they may find Your Wisdom.

Where there is weariness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, patience, and strength as they learn to surrender to “thy will”.

Where there is spiritual neglect, I ask You to reveal your nearness, by drawing them into greater intimacy with You.

Where there is fear, reveal Your Love, and allow them to find their God-Given Courage.

Where there appears to be an addiction blocking them, release it, and break its hold over my friend’s life.  Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support, and encourage them.  Give each of them discernment to recognize the ego operating within them, and reveal to them the power they have in You to dissolve it.  I ask you to do these things in the power and the name of The Living Christ wrapped in the manger of each heart that opens the door from within.  And so it is.  Amen.

 I look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Eve Candlelight service at the Wyndham Garden Hotel at 7:00 PM. In Palm Springs. 

 It is an honor and a privilege to serve you!  Thank you for the gift of your Love and your Light!

 In His Love and Divine Purpose,

 Dr. Sharron Stroud