Praying and acts of meditation without ceasing

Looking for solutions

In Natural inclinations and Praying and asking we saw that we are recommended to Pray without ceasing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:17)

With what may we not stop and what is that action of prayer all about?

We can see that in many religions the believers do take time to meditate and to go deep into themselves. It is like they are doing a sort of exercise to come into contact with themselves or with elements outside them. In many religions we can see that time spend in ‘prayer’ may bring pleasant thoughts into their mind.

Many do hope to find solutions for their many questions and for things that happened around them. They expect their prayer to be a way of miraculously solving impossible situations. For many prayer and meditation time is a religious ritual to become holy and to higher themselves above a previous situation.

What is general, is that their prayer is also a confession of their faith, and an indication of what they believe and whom they want to honour.

Not an innocent playful act

It is not such an innocent act as it may look at first sight. For the Divine Creator it is even a very important part of life of His creatures to show their awe and respect for the Most High Elohim. Truly followers of the Lord Jesus Christ must, like him, be guided in all matters of faith and practice by what the Bible teaches about this act of adoration, glorification and communication with the God of gods.

The Bible leaves us in no doubt that believers ought to pray:

“Men ought always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).

“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

“In everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6, R.S.V.).

To fail to pray is regarded as a sin; Samuel the prophet declared:

“God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23).

Being conscious of inner needs

Today there are many who are afraid to show others their needs and even more afraid to let others know they would ask solace or guidance by someone Who can not be seen, touched or heard.

Nothing has changed with the past. All days there have been people with many questions, people having great difficulty in coping with life, facing seemingly insuperable problems. We may be conscious of our failings and desire some kind of spiritual cleansing; we may be trying to search out the meaning of life. In fact the very problems which confront us have a significance in emphasizing to us that for all man’s great achievements, we are frequently helpless in the midst of human failure. Failure is more often at the start of the road to God than success.

In the Gospels we read of men who commanded great armies, of people in high office in government, of mothers and fathers seeking the best for their children, of farmers and fishermen, tradesmen and craftsmen — people of all types and backgrounds who sought out the Lord Jesus Christ because some need or other could not be fulfilled elsewhere. And as we see Jesus always finding time to listen, to advise, to help, we see how he reveals to us the character of his Father:

“Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6, R.S.V.).

The Bible makes it clear that God wants to help us. We should never feel that it is only good people that He will hear. In fact if we think we are rather good and managing quite well on our own, the chances are we shall be less inclined to rely upon God.

With meditating we are not thinking of philosophical or Zen-meditation. We mean by meditating taking time to set yourself apart to think about matters of life and to think about what you have done, want to do, have read and how you are going to apply it with the knowledge you can get from the Holy Scriptures.

Meditation

Meditating girl on beach

Meditation is a means of transforming your mind, letting that what you have learned from the Holy Scriptures to work in you and to transform your character. It is making your mind free of the pollution this world brings every day to you. Meditating is the willingness to make time free for your own mind, letting God’s Spirit enter into your life. Therefore you can use different techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm seeing of the true nature of things. By engaging with a particular meditation practice you learn the patterns and habits of your mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. With regular work and patience these nourishing, focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly peaceful and energised states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding of life.

Meditation is making yourself prepared to go deeper in yourself and to examine your life-path. It is an exercise not to miss our experiences because we are somewhere else in our mind. It is a willingness to for a moment forget the daily worries, work or school, and to look at what really should be our main focus in our daily life. In ordinary life, we tend to equate focus with concentration. That’s like using the mind like a concentrated beam of light. But in meditation, that kind of mind isn’t helpful. It’s too sharp and edgy. To focus in meditation means to pay soft attention to whatever you place in the centre of awareness.

Conscious of a need

In the hectic life we get in this world it is our aim to take distance of the worldly matters and to get to know the more important spiritual matters.

As such we do need to take time of our daily duties to come closer to the Most Important person in our life. It is taking time for the Most High Elohim because we are conscious of a higher need and we recognize that God alone can meet that need. To accept that God can do what we cannot do is to bow to His greatness, to acknowledge His infinite wisdom. When we do set us apart from the worldly business, come close in our own cocoon, we open ourselves to the Only One God, who is our Maker but also our Protector. It is to Him we do want to give our soul, our spirit, our thinking and our handling. In the time we set ourselves apart, we want to come as close as possible to Him, or as close as possible we can get at the moment. To Him we want to give that special time and give our most valuable moment of the day.

In that time of silence and personal withdrawal of the world, we want to give our voice to God to let Him know how we want to be with Him and how we do know we need Him. Coming in seclusion we can find ways to have a conversation with that Most High Spirit. Then we can come to talk to Him and pray. Not only asking Him things for our welfare, but also thanking Him for what we had already and for what we still are going to receive.  This is praise. Praise, when it finds expression in words, is an attempt to describe the ways in which God is superior to man; it is to give God glory. Through praise we reflect on what God is, and what resources He has to meet our need.

Listening to God

Praying is not only speaking to God, but it is also opening up your mind to Him to listen to Him. Since God knows best, we must listen to what He says to us. In prayer we have a communication tool we can use every moment of the day. In it we do have an other means, next to the Bible, for God speaking to us.

We do have god’s Word given to us in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible should be our lead and most important guide through life. Through it we can hear God speaking to us in a Book of books given by inspiration of God, profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that we as children of God may be perfect. (2 Timothy 3:16).

How people like to turn it, prayer is inseparable connected with the Words of God, given in the Bible. Our prayer should be build on the knowledge we get from those Holy Scriptures. The Words of the Bible with our prayer, should be fused with our knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. For prayer is communication with God. The communication is two-way. It is not enough that we should speak to God. He expects us to listen to Him. In fact, we shall often be better occupied meditating on His Word than trying to talk to Him at great length. It is no use to over and over repeat the same words. The Bible itself warns:

“Let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

The Lord Jesus himself emphasizes this point:

“When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew 6:7).

We should remember that silence is healing. Nothing beats simple silence. We do not need music background to drown out the chatter in our mind. When we sit in silence we actually get to experience what our mind is doing. There is steadiness and calmness that comes from sitting in silence. In time outer and inner silence meet and you come to rest in the moment. It is in such moments that we also can give way for God’s Spirit to enter our universe.

Coming to God

Jesus clearly knew Who was the Most High to give all honour of what he could do. Jesus was thankful and hopeful to His heavenly Father, which he recognised as the Only True God.

Praying should be a coming to God, not to put us in the forefront row, being full of ourselves, ready to tell Him what we think. That would be like the person who asks a question, not because he wants to know the answer’, but because he wants the opportunity to air his own knowledge. Our vanity and pride, we must put aside and we should be humble enough not to propose our thoughts as the best ones, but to allow God to see that we are really willing to hear what He thinks best for us. Like Jesus did not want to do his own will, which he would have done when he would have been God, we also like Jesus should know that we can not do anything without Jesus his heavenly Father. Jesus was well aware that he could not do anything without the Hand of God.  He too prayed to his heavenly Father, and not to himself. He too had questions about his relationship with his Father up high, and even at one moment dared to ask why He (God) had abandoned him (Jesus). Like Jesus not being afraid to ask such matters to the Most High, we too should dare to go to Him (Jehovah God). Jesus prepared the way to the Divine Creator and we should be thankful for that and use it.If we come to God as those who do not know the answers and believe that He does, then what folly if we ignore what He has already told us through the Scriptures! Rather we must read them regularly and reflect on them in order that we may attune our minds to the mind of God, as the words of a hymn direct us:

“Inspirer of the ancient seers,
Who wrote from Thee the sacred page,
A light for all succeeding years,
A lamp in this degenerate age:
Wisdom to us Thy words impart,
And with Thy comfort fill our heart.”

The many examples of prayer in the Bible make it clear that God responds only when man prays in accordance with His will. After all, God knows best what is in man’s interests and can control events accordingly.

Right Relationship with God

Jesus showed us how we should behave, live and pray. He gave the example how our relationship should be with other humans but also with God. We can only come to a good prayer and a fulfilling meditation when we open our hearts to God and our willingness to have a good relationship with Him.

First of all naturally we do need to know God, have to understand His position and should be willing to accept His position. In the bible we are told that there can be life eternal for us as human beings, but then we shall have to accept the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the son God so loved He has taken him with Him to sit next to Him to be the mediator between God and man. (John 17:3, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 12:24; John 3:16; Matthew 3:17). Many in Christendom do say to know God, but take also Jesus to be God and do not mind bowing down in front of pictures of their god, though God made it very clear that there is only One True God of Whom no pictures may be made and certainly may not be bowed down for. Such knowledge is to be found, in the first instance, in the inspired writings of the Bible-and nowhere else. But to know God is not simply to know about Him. When a husband and wife know each other, they do not just have in their minds a pen-portrait of their partner. Their knowledge is intimate and deep, because of the nature of their relationship. It depends upon continued, regular contact, the acceptance of responsibilities and the desire to grow in knowledge and understanding of each other.

To acknowledge one’s need as a sinner, whose imperfection is in marked contrast to the glorious perfection of God’s character; to develop that “poor and contrite” spirit, which desires to be moved by the power of God through His Word, as the leaves on a tree tremble at the passing of a breath of wind; to realize from the knowledge of God’s gracious dealings with men and women of past ages that the same grace can be extended to us today-this is to begin the process of praise and thanksgiving which marks the beginning of uttered prayer.

Commands to obey

It is all to easy just to want all our wishes to be fulfilled. Would that not be selfish? Would that be taking notice of the Will of God?

For many people prayer consists of asking God for favours. For some the proof of whether God is actually there or not consists of testing out whether God will grant a particular request. Did not Jesus say:

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7)

There is no room here for the casual or the careless. God is in heaven, man upon earth. We cannot assume familiarity or presume upon His loving kindness. It is God’s to command, ours to obey. We cannot call God “Our Father“, without at the same time hallowing His name. And we cannot do that unless we seek to do His will upon earth as it is done in heaven. If we are to benefit from the privilege of being called His sons and daughters, we must, after serious consideration, come within His family:

“Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).

We are told how Jesus welcomed little children and took them up in his arms. In this he reflected the character of his Father, who welcomes all who seek Him in sincerity and simplicity. But whereas the particular purpose of God at the time of the Lord’s ministry and during the subsequent establishment of the ecclesiae involved frequent miraculous signs that this was indeed the Lord at work, we shall be sadly misled if we expect God to work a miracle in response to every request we make.

This is not to say that God’s power is not demonstrated today, or to imply that God is not interested in us. There is a children’s prayer which simply states a truth:

“God always listens whenever we pray,
He’s never too busy to hear what we say.

No time to stop

The world goes on and the end-times come closer. This will not make it easier for believing and God fearing people. They shall be tested more.

It might be easy to say

“let go of your anxiety.” (Matthew 6:34)

Now the time is near it is even more important not to stop to study the Bible regularly and to spend time in conversation with God. “In everything” – without exception and at every opportunity – we should pray. Pray in supplication – humble in treaty – with thanksgiving! Knowing that the prayer will be answered according to His will and in His time.

Praying in the family

Most of us spend lots of time after daily work, in front of the television or enjoying themselves with lots of pastures time, giving enough time to the entertainment industry. Churchgoing has lessened a lot. Not many are spending time with the family together studying the Word of God and contemplating what the Most High wants from us.

Most of us do not take enough time to be on their own and to be with their Creator. When we do love Him, we should, like we do with our most beloved, spend enough time with Him.

We may not cease to pray earnestly and give our worries to Jehovah, our God. Our willing to be with Him should give or be the pulse of your life in Christ. If that pulse is weak or erratic then that life is ebbing away. We need to pray. Alone and in community, we need to pray. And so much the more as we see the day of Christ drawing near.

Cast aside anxiety about the things of this life and pray. Do this and rejoicing in the Lord will be as natural to you as breathing. You will be happy. Profoundly happy so that even in the most terrible affliction and sorrow there will remain within a vibrant core of joy and hope and faith that no circumstance can affect.

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Find our pamphlet to download in pdf: Does God Hear Prayer?

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Preceding articles:

1. Our openness to being approachable
2. Natural inclinations and Praying and asking
3. Always rejoicing Praying constantly Giving thanks for everything
4. Psalm 66 HRV
5. Psalm 66 OJB

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Additional reading:

1. Walking alone?
2. People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers
3. Looking for True Spirituality 6 Spirituality and Prayer
4. Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious
5. 7000 to 20000 words spoken each day
6. Do You Expect God’s Answer
7. Biblical Prayer at Tabernacle Site Shilo
8. Praying and thinking positively
9. Being sure of their deliverance
10. Genuine prayer
11. People who know how to pray to move God to take hold of our affairs in a mighty way
12. Does God hear prayer?
13. Does God answer prayer?
14. God doesn’t call the qualified
15. Work with joy and pray with love
16. Give your worries to God
17. Praise Jehovah
18. “Prayer 2″ – Child Abuse
19. If you think you’re too small to be effective
20. Quit griping about your church
21. What moves mountains? Trust!
22. A Living Faith #7 Prayer
23. God, my father, my closest friend
24. Prayer, important aspect in our life
25. Prayer has comforted us in sorrow
26. Prayer for the day
27. If we, in our prosperity, neglect religious instruction and authority
28. Change
29. Prayer has the power to change mountains into highways
30. Try driving forward instead of backwards
31. Preventing us from going window-shopping in prayer
32. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone!
33. Aim High: Examples of Godly Characters to follow
34. Sometimes we pray and pray and it seems like nothing happens.
35. If you do pray you shall not be disappointed
36. Self-development, self-control, meditation, beliefs and spirituality
37. Worship and worshipping
38. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #1 Kings Faith
39. rusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #2 Calling upon the Name of God
40. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #4 Words in Scripture
41. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #6 Words to feed and communicate
42. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #1 Prosperity
43. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #2 Purity
44. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #1 Listening Sovereign Maker
45. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #2 Witnessing
46. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #3 Callers upon God
47. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #6 Prayer #4 Attitude
48. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #7 Prayer #5 Listening Ear
49. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #8 Prayer #6 Communication and manifestation
50. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #9 Prayer #7 Reason to pray
51. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #10 Prayer #8 Condition
52. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #11 Prayer #9 Making the Name Holy
53. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #12 Prayer #10 Talk to A Friend
54. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #13 Prayer #11 Name to be set apart
55. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #14 Prayer #12 The other name
56. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #15 Exposition before the Creator
57. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #16 Benefits of praying
58. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #17 Sorts of prayers
59. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #18 Fulfilment
60. Praying For What We Want or Don’t Want
61. Continuing Paul’s Prayer Requests
62. Listening and Praying to the Father
63. Communion and day of worship
64. Funeral service only belongs in church building according to Catholic Church

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Nazarene Commentary Luke 1:26-38 – Gabriel’s Appearance to Mary

Luke 1:26-38 – Gabriel’s Appearance to Mary

LK1:26 Now in Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the village of Galilee called Nazareth, LK1:27 to a virgin[1] [Isaiah 7:14] promised in marriage to a man named Joseph of David’s House. And the name of the virgin was Mary.[2] LK1:28 Approaching Mary, Gabriel said to her: “Greetings, favored one! The LORD is with you!” LK1:29 At this statement Mary was very puzzled and kept wondering what this greeting meant. LK1:30 Then the angel Gabriel said to Mary: “Do not be frightened, Mary, for you have found favor with God. LK1:31 And, behold, you will conceive in your womb and will give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus.[3] LK1:32 He will become a renowned person[4] and will be called a son of the Most High.[5] [Psalm 82:6] YHWH The God[6] will give to him David’s throne,[7] [Isaiah 9:7] LK1:33 and he will reign over Jacob’s House throughout the Ages. There will never be an end to his kingdom.” [Daniel 2:44] LK1:34 But in response Mary said to the angel Gabriel: “How can this be[8] since I have never known a man?” LK1:35 So the angel answered her: “Holy Pneuma[9] will come over you and the Most High’s power will overshadow you. As a result the One to be born will be also called Holy, God’s Son.[10] [Psalm 89:26] LK1:36 Now, look, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age and this is now the sixth month of her so-called barrenness. LK1:37 For no message from God is impossible.”[11] [Genesis 18:14] LK1:38 Then Mary said: “Look, YHWH’s slave![12] May it all take place with me just as you say!” And the angel Gabriel left her.

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[1] Virgin: Possibly borrowed from Isaiah 7:14 where a PARTHENON is foretold. For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on Matthew 1:23.

[2] Mary: For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on Matthew.

[3] Jesus: The traditional form of the Greek IESOUS here. The Hebrew form is Yeshua {BS note: contemporary writing in many languages: Jeshua} and means “Yehowah is Salvation.” It is the same as the name Joshua. Some argue over the exact form. Accents in pronunciation of foreign languages persist no matter the tongue. It seems unreasonable to many that God would insist every word translated from the Hebrew Bible must be spoken in a Hebrew accent. Even the accents of Jews differed in the 1^st Century just as they do in English and Spanish in different places.

[4] Renowned person: Or, great.

[5] A son of the Most High: Or, [the] Most High’s Son, Son of the Highest, Son of the Most High. The Greek is HUIOS YPSISTOU with the article. Compare a similar phrase at Psalm 82:6.

[6] YHWH The God: The Greek is KYRIOS HO THEOS without the article and may indicate the Tetragram originally occurred here.

[7] David’s throne: An echo of Isaiah 9:7. Compare also 2 Samuel 7:12; Psalm 132:11; Jeremiah 23:5.

[8] How can this be: Note Mary is not rebuked for her question while Zechariah was.

[9] Holy Pneuma: Or, holy spirit. Note the Pneuma is paralleled with God’s “power.” For details see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 on Holy Pneuma; compare 1 Corinthians 2:16.

[10] God’s Son: Or, the Son of God. The Greek is HUIOS THEOU with the article. Compare Psalm 2:7; 89:26.

[11] For no message from God is impossible: Or, word, declaration. It echoes Genesis 18:14. [Psalm 115:3]

[12] YHWH’s slave: Or, handmaid. The Greek is DOULE KYRIOU.

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Preceding articles:

Nazarene Commentary to Elizabeth Pregnant

Story of Jesus’ birth begins long before the New Testament

Next: Nazarene Commentary Luke 1:39-45 – Mary Visits Elizabeth

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Fresco cycle of the “Legend of the Holy Cross” in the choir of San Francesco in Arezzo. Detail: Annunciation – Piero della Francesca (1420–1492) – The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.

Related articles

• Mary and the Angel Gabriel (ts4jc.wordpress.com)
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  5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
• Messianic Prophecies (frommyheart2u.wordpress.com)

  Following her initial fear and reasoning she made that profound statement of surrender, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” She was not only fully surrendered to the will of God, but she was ready also! Was not her’s the attitude every true child of God should have at all times?  Approximately 33 years later, her Son would utter a similar prayer “Father not my will but Thy will be done.”  Let’s unify the two and pray today, ” Be it unto me according to Thy word, not  my will, but Thy will be done.”

• Mary Did You Know? (devotionsinmotion.wordpress.com)
  remember Zechariah was rendered speechless for questioning Gabriel’s message from God.  I find it interesting; Mary asked the same question as Zechariah.  How can this be?  Zechariah and Elizabeth were old.  Mary was a virgin.  Both life altering decrees were impossible apart from a miracle.  The priest was dumb struck and the girl was given an explanation.  Doesn’t it make you wonder why Zechariah was dealt with so severely and Mary was given such grace?  Did it have to do with the fact that Zechariah had walked and talked with God for so long, and Mary was so young? God knows how He must deal with each of His children.  He allows whatever will bring the most glory to Him.
• An Angel’s Conversation (heartstreamssinglesandmarried.wordpress.com)
  before she was formed in the womb Yahweh knew her and she has been carved and purposed for this end, she is just beginning to know It, but it wasn’t a secret to all of us who serves the father directly on the throne
  +”we often guide men to whom they will marry , since heaven has a plan for every of their marriages but you know them, the fall has complicate things, they all choose whomsoever and how so ever, that is why so much chaos exist in their marriages “whaoh! But why can’t someone tell them about it” Lamented Felixa
• Foretold & Fulfilled: A Youth Christmas Program (seelsorge40.com)
  The story of Jesus’ birth begins long before the New Testament. In fact, it goes back all the way before creation (Ephesians 1:4). Today’s youth program begins in the Garden of Eden, where right after the fall into sin, God reveals the first promise of the coming Savior to Adam (Genesis 3:15). We continue by hearing the promise of the Savior’s birth to Abraham (Genesis 12, 17, & 22), Moses (Deuteronomy 18), David (2 Samuel 7, Psalm 132), the Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, and Malachi), and Mary (Luke 1:26—38). We then behold the fulfillment of the promise with the birth of our Lord in Bethlehem (Luke 2). The program concludes with words from St. Paul from Acts 13, who declares the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises in Jesus.
• The Events Surrounding the Birth of Christ (eternallysecure.wordpress.com)
  Before Jesus was to be born John the Baptist had to be born first. He would be the forerunner for Christ, the coming Messiah preaching a message of repentance. This is often overlooked during the Christmas season.