<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><br><div style=""><div>On Jan 2, 2018, at 10:50 PM, Ellie Stock via OE <<a href="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net">oe@lists.wedgeblade.net</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
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<div><font>On this eighth day of Christmas--continued Christmastide and New Year greetings and blessings.</font></div>
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<div>Ellie :)</div>
<div><a href="mailto:elliestock@aol.com">elliestock@aol.com</a> </div>
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<div><font>A Reflection: (also slightly reformatted in attachment):</font></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;"><span style="margin: 0px; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">O CHRISTMAS TREE OF LIFE</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Beautiful
fir tree,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">fresh
scent of pine and the bitter outdoors from which it was uprooted,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">now
domesticated, a center piece of the family room, warmed by videoed hearth,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">waits
to be adorned and adored for the Christmas season.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">First
come the lights, woven intricately through its needled branches,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">the
starry night cosmos begun so many millennia ago, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">its
fire and energy birthing this Christmas Tree of Life and</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">illuminating
emerging species since the first burst of dawn.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Next
are the shiny red balls, the Sun Star that sustains Earth, and</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Grandma’s
heavy blue ball, Earth our Common Home.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">White
and gold Chrismons weave another narrative </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">of
this Tree of Life:<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Creationing,
prophesying, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">incarnating,
sacrificing, restoring, communing, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">resurrecting
Earth and All that is in it.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Red
bows proclaim the gift of this wondrous, sacred, extravaganza of time and
space.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
simple, mostly gifted ornaments of all sizes, shapes and colors</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">celebrate
the surging uniqueness, diversity and cooperation</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">unfolding,
enfolding our universal story and </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">permeating
our individual and family memories,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">propelling
us into the future unknown.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sunflowers,
walnut-shelled-cotton-bearded Santas, God’s Eyes, Dream Catchers, and Nut
Crackers;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">candy
canes, crosses, chullos, and steepled churches;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">photo
pins of children, friends, MLK Jr., and Mandela;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">ceramic
Peruvian cherubim playing flutes, violins, horns and harps; </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">homemade,
hand-cut and shaped metal snowflakes and stars;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a
single purple blown glass tear drop that weeps for lives gone too soon or too
far;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">and
fragile, delicately and intricately painted Slavic eggs;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">nativity
scenes, origami creatures, peace doves and frogs;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">human
figures, Earth balls, bells, and</span><font face="Calibri" size="3"> </font><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Tibetan prayer flags.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">At
the foot of the trunk, a babe’s manta cloth robe of many colors embraces this heritage
and legacy, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">and,
at the top, an angel keeps watch like the eagle hovering over the Great White
Pine Tree of Peace, <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">its
streams of mercy gracing the branches as scotch plaid ribbons flowing to the
four directions.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But,
not alone, this Christmas Tree of Life extends its diorama</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">to
cloth, ceramic, glass, and wooden nativity scenes in this and neighboring
rooms;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">to
windowsill welcome candles, peace and cosmic Advents wreathes and Feliz Navidad
trees;</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">to
ivy light strands, greeting cards, manta stockings with llama bells, and gifts
under the boughs.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
gathering as friends and family among, within and around this Tree of Life,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">we
feast, sing, dance, play instruments, make joyful noises,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">exchange
gifts and plunge with open hearts and eyes into the swirling silence and
stillness of </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">the
Promise of New Life and Light amidst an often dark and threatening world.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Surrounded
and joined by a cloud of witnesses—</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">visible
now or invisible in your metamorphic mulched return to the Earth—</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">O Christmas
Tree of Life, you proclaim:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Hope
beyond hope, Peace passing understanding,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Joy
and Thanksgiving unceasing, and Love unconditioning—</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Evermore
and evermore….Amen…<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>ejhs:
1/02/2018</span></div>
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