With so many other, and often instantaneous, forms of communication that continue to evolve, this blog is becoming more and more irrelevant. Still, it offers me the opportunity to at the very least share my annual Christmas card.
If you want an actual card from me, there are several ways of getting one for yourself:
- You COULD be on my mailing list, and simply wait for the USPS to bring you an old school card via snail mail; that mailing list is only ever growing shorter. Alas, if you're not already on the mailing list... that's probably not going to happen.
- You could connect with me at church (Eastside in Anaheim, CA) or bump into me around town (Placentia, Anaheim, Yorba Linda, Brea, Fullerton, etc.).
- You could send me an email requesting a pdf of this year's Christmas card, so you can print out your very own 2024 Christmas card (ink, paper, and some assembly required).
- You could forgo all the hassle of tracking me down or the laborious printing and folding chore... and simply experience the online version of the 2024 Christmas card, below:
What Jesus Brings
by David Alan Hoag – August 17, 2025
(sung to “My Favorite Things” with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein)
Rounding up people as though they were cattle
Ruling that women are no more than chattel
Acting like dictators, tyrants, and kings
These are a few of our un-Christlike things
Now praising and cheering the basest of men
As they repeat untruths again and again
Cheering the hatred that bigotry brings
These are a few of our un-Christlike things
When we cheer on
Us deporting
People to their doom
I sadly imagine that Jesus might think
That we’re just a whitewashed tomb
How can arresting the poorest who labor
Reflect the command that we love our neighbor?
It doesn’t matter how politics swings
Love and compassion, are what Jesus brings
Instead of promoting exclusion and greed
Perhaps we should offer to help those in need
This Christmas recall, as your choir sings
Love and compassion, are what Jesus brings
When my country
Seems so different
When it all seems strange
I pray to our Savior who came as a babe
And know that our hearts can change
-------------
God’s gift...
of forgiveness, salvation, and grace is for everyone.
God doesn’t discriminate according to race, origin, or
affiliation, so neither should we.
This Christmas, let’s make a point of sharing
God’s amazing gift with ALL our neighbors:
A gift of Love, and Joy, and Peace!
I wish you a blessed Christmas.
Dave Hoag
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