Neal Saye

Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 12/22/25

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Neal Saye

Marveling!

So the other evening Robert and I drove over to daughter Amy‘s house on Skidaway Island (Savannah) to walk doggy Coastal while her fam was out of town.

Coastal’s Parents’ Holiday-Happy Garage Doors

When Coastal, HR and I started meandering toward the next-door neighbor’s house, we saw this …

Wait, you need it in color. So let’s send Robert closer.

Either very cute or terrifying! This Rudolph has to be the biggest reindeer in the history of the world.

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I was so startled that a few of my photos came out quirky because of my nervously, shaking hands …

Or did that Holiday Giant have special Holiday Powers?

We urged Coastal to finish her business quickly and hastened our way back to the safe house.

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We left Coastal and her brother-from-another-mother Little Kitty at peace and watching the chimney with care.

Holidays and Seasonal Changes

Peace and Light to You This Winter Solstice 2025

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Neal Saye

Shhh … Silent Sunday

Shhh … Silent Sunday. 12/21/25

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Neal Saye

Countdown to Christmas

Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Twenty-One 12/21/25

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Neal Saye

From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.

An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.

Today Fugelsang looks at what many consider the purpose of the church.

“For many Christians, the real problem is not a compassion problem but a proximity problem. We have moved away from the places Jesus moved into. We’ve moved away from the pain and the suffering of the world.” p. 199

“Liberation theology argues that the church should actively work to alleviate poverty and oppression, and calls for structural changes to address systemic injustices and inequalities. It sees faith as a thing you do.” p. 199

“Many Christians consider liberation theology to be truest to the teachings of Jesus, because it uncomfortably places the needs and rights of the poor and oppressed at the center of its theology, much like, I don’t know, the whole Bible. It advocates for a faith that’s active and engaged in the world. It encourages Christians to get their hands dirty, take tangible steps to fight injustice, and directly aid those in need.” p. 200

Countdown to Christmas

Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Twenty 12/20/25

Posted on December 20, 2025 by Neal Saye

An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.

Today Fugelsang explains that “Belief in Jesus doesn’t mandate discrimination or hatred against different faiths; the teachings of Jesus forbid it.” p. 261

“’Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:39). Note the lack of an asterisk on this commandment, which means it applies to all humanity, without regard to said neighbor’s religion, race, or background.” p. 261

Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers 12/19/25

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Neal Saye

My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.

1. Very neat seasonal looks everywhere you turn.

HR and buddy Ellie at our church’s Christmas Party

2. Holidays and Seasonal Changes.

3. Robert’s Recent Rescue.

So the other afternoon HR and I drove over to Jesup GA to one of our very favorite Christmas Tree farms, Days of Creation.

We bought a pretty fresh wreath.

When we got home, Robert put the wreath, along with some branches of spruce, in our shower (!) to freshen them up with some cold water. (Some things in a marriage you simply put up with.)

Oh, that’s his life-size Mr. Nutcracker he plastered on the shower door.

In another room, I heard him yell/squeal, “Neal, look!”

It took me a minute to see the little fellow.

“What are you doing?!” I asked.

“I’m rescuing him, of course.”

His new home outside our door.

4. These amazing little slider hotdogs we had yesterday for lunch at local Sly’s Sliders and Fries.

5. Nearby church spires at dusk here in Savannah.

May you look around and see some Peaceful Beauty this last weekend before Christmas.

Countdown to Christmas

Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Nineteen 12/19/25

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Neal Saye

An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.

Today,Fugelsang looks at healthcare from a Biblical perspective.

“In Proverbs 31:8-9 the Bible calls on believers to ‘speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.’ Ensuring access to healthcare for all, regardless of financial status, is the Biblical point of view.”

“Matthew 9:35: ‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.’”

“Access to healthcare for all is consistent with Jesus’s entire operation, and Medicaid is exactly the kind of community social action that he’d be proud of. Fans of Jesus should applaud the fact that our country has such a system, that covers over ninety million of us.”

“Author and theologian Dillon Naber Cruz, a military vet known online as the Tattooed Theologian, suggests we ‘Imagine the positive benefits of applying the Golden Rule (Matthew 7-12; Luke 6-31) to healthcare in America. No one would choose to have life altering medical situations lead to being crippled by debt. No one would willfully choose to skip treatment or to not buy medication because it is too expensive.”

“Applying the Matthean Golden Rule caveat ‘in everything you do’ to healthcare would mean that we enact a robust universal healthcare system in which no person is left to the malicious whims of healthcare profiteers whose money is made from human suffering. Jesus wanted to alleviate suffering and would definitely be against his ostensible followers profiting from it.” p. 195