13th December

And, yet again, I had to cancel lunch with a daughter due to feeling rather poorly. I’m perhaps a little better than yesterday but M.E. is complicated in it’s management and demands careful prioritisation. I’d committed to attending my Church small group’s Christmas party this evening, as they’d asked me to play a few carols, so I really had to rest during the day. I’ll make it up to my daughter on Thursday as she’s invited me round for tea then, so I’ll get to see both my younger grandkids. And oh yes it’s her works party in Loughborough on the same evening as her husband is at his in London so guess who is child minding that evening? It may be a 40 minute drive to get there but at least I can then relax with a video or a book for a few hours. So that’ll be easy, as long as the kids get to sleep after grand-dads tall story telling…

I do feel a little better after spending all day on my own. Although of myself I always enjoy spending time with people, it helps being able to just switch off, and with zero concentration do as little as possible. So I had to print off my carol music and I enjoyed a happy half hour preparing a very short Bible study on the Christmas story for this evening and that was it. Not exactly a full day’s work, but certainly as much as I needed to do in order to regain strength again.  

And now I have a new hobby to while away an hour or two each day. Over the years I’ve only rarely delved into the world of computer games, aside from playing very simple games like Sudoku or crosswords and the like. But just occasionally my son has offered me access to a game that has not made me too dizzy physically… I am a poor old man aren’t I? Right now I’m playing the latest Skyrim offering on his Xbox which he has kindly connected to my lounge TV. It’s rather sad though that this is apparently Skyrim V and I’ve never even heard of it until this month! Anyway for part of each day I’m now lost (usually quite literally) in a medieval world, riding around on a big black horse looking for dragons to whack with my giant sword! My son tells me off for not listening to the dialogue and for walking along sideways as I can’t always control the controller paddles well enough… but who cares, it’s wonderfully distracting even if it is a complete waste of time! But I’ve not cried at all today, so I must be doing something right, aren’t I?

My Bible study was a consideration of the meanings behind the original Hebrew names of the characters found in the very familiar Christmas story: Yeshua (Jesus - God’s salvation), Miryam (Mary – Beloved/Sea of Bitterness/Wished for Child), Yosef (God will add), Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), Adonai (The Lord, Ruler, Master…. pleural form of Adon).

Matt 1:18-21 ‘Here is how the birth of Yeshua the Messiah took place. When his mother Miryam was engaged to Yosef, before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Ruach HaKodesh. Her husband-to-be, Yosef, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame. But while he was thinking about this, an angel of ADONAI appeared to him in a dream and said, "Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means `ADONAI saves,'] because he will save his people from their sins."’ (Complete Jewish Bible)