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Here we come 'a caroling..

So last night I went caroling with a few friends. We know a bunch of families and some older folks in my neighborhood, so we made up a list of all of them, 12 or 13 total, and went hiking. It was lightly drizzling, but not enough to really get us wet. Additionally, there is always a lot of traffic during the Christmas season because the neighborhood is pretty popular for all the interesting lights and decorations displays.. they even go so far as to put little arrows up at intersections so that there is a common flow of traffic, with a donations booth at the end which gets divided up towards charities. So we even sang to some of the cars going by, though not all that much. Our friend who had all the songsheets couldn't make it so we were limited to our memory, but we got by... we sang a mean Silent Night!

I'm not sure if I've ever done that before. As a younger child, I may have done it in more academic settings, but I don't think I've ever actually gone door to door. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it, and for more than just surface reasons. Sure, it was fun to get out with friends, but there were only 5 (and then 6) of us, so it wasn't an overwhelmingly social event. It wasn't snowing out, there were no snowball fights, it wasn't cold enough for rosy cheeks and frozen snot. But it struck me in the "fighting" part of my psyche. The part of me that wants to pick up a sword and defend my beliefs and my lifestyle, and fearlessly thrust it upon the world, as a warrior might. The part of me that is in us all, and which we all release in varying degrees and in varied situations.

I realized that this is militant Christianity. The more passive resistance and apathy we encounter, the more exhilarating the challenge to steel our determination and love with all our might!

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