What gift would you like to personally receive directly from Jesus this Christmas? If I were asked this question directly I would say I have the most important gift of all, is already living inside of me every day. At every mass when I go there purposely and specifically to receive the precious and Holy body of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the form of the Holy Eucharist. It is there, Jesus is living inside of me within my very own tabernacle. I am suppose to be very aware of him living inside of me. My behavior must be appropriate at all times, and when I fail to be obedient, I must own my poor choice what ever it may be, and atone for my sins. Christ gives us the opportunity to live highly respectable lives. Yes, the bar is held that high, whether we like or not. And our very accountability is extremely real. Somebody, somewhere, is always keeping a tally on us, our boss at work, our patriarch and matriarch of our family, our spouse, the pastor at our church, our associate pastor, our every word, our every deed and miscommunication is seen, heard, all around us, by them and by God!
Today God did pleasantly surprise me with horses, goats, and cows among surrounding acres of ancient oak trees that created a canopy for the animals to hide under. A huge tall horse greeted me with tired yet trusting eyes. I began to caress her and she just allowed me to enter into her world and it was wonderful! She then began to sniff deeply as if searching for a familiar scent on the skin of my hand. And this went on for a while as I had continued petting her and speaking gently to her. When she was ready she slowly moved forward. Just enough so that I could massage her back and when I saw her belly I had noticed she was pregnant and I slowly massaged the entire right side of her stomach, as she kept kicking her hooves into the rich clay ground trying to in her own way remove the flies from her body. She was beautiful, and her body temperature was warm. After we made our special connection she left my company, and great it was for as long as she was comfortable sharing a moment with me. Then she retrieved some fresh water and our visit came to an end. But as I left her, I saw the perfection of God in her huge brown dilated eyes, as I said goodbye, it was then I had noticed five goats, one in every color, just kept about their business laying in the grass, and the four other horses were separated onto the other side of the house. So, I gathered it was my time to move on and I had jumped back onto my bike and discovered another gift! Five mature cows, chewing on grass and palms frons and watching me, watching them, as I spoke softly it almost seemed to me that they were not only listening to my voice, but they were obviously very intrigued by my presence. Normally cows are skiddish, but not these five! A mature curious calf was so ready to approach me when its mother intercepted its next move. The Father stood his ground with a pose of great strength and power, the color of his skin was unlike anything I had ever seen, his coat was ad slick and shiny jet black. I spoke of how beautiful God had made them and I thanked God for allowing me to get this close and personal with them, and as I said goodbye it was as if they understood the kindness of a soft voice, I enjoyed my few moments of being awe struck by their beauty, and I have to tell you the coiffure on the eldest female, was absolutely stunning, she was a triple toned beige, brown and red cow all in one, and at the top of her head she had the most gorgeous curls I had ever seen! She'd be styling, there is just something very beautiful in Gods creation. And for a moment I was lost in all of it and I didn't want that feeling to end.
