A short IMAGINARY "Christmas" story

By Ken Raggio

My alarm went off on Christmas morning.

I opened my eyes and instantly sensed that something was different.

The atmosphere was still.

I put on my robe and house shoes, and started down the hall. At the end of the hall, I was shocked to notice that the Christmas tree was gone.

"This doesn't make any sense!! Where did all the Christmas decorations go??"

In the family room, every gift that had been so beautifully wrapped had disappeared. It was too illogical to imagine that someone had come to steal away all our Christmas presents. But where did they go? When I went to bed last night, there were dozens of gifts under the tree.

I stood frozen in confusion. The sight was surreal. Where did all the Christmas things go? I turned on the television, and clicked the remote control until I found the national news channel. They were running a news story about some depressing political scandal. After several minutes, I realized that there was no mention of Christmas. "Why are they not mentioning that this is Christmas morning?"

I went to the front window and looked outside. The neighbor was walking to his car. It appeared that he was dressed for work, just like every other morning. Then I realized that there were no Christmas decorations on any of the neighbors' houses! Just last night, the entire neighborhood had been lit up!

"This is too strange," I thought! I felt like I was in "The Twilight Zone." Something was very eerie.

I went into the kitchen, and turned on the radio on the counter. I scanned the dial, looking for some Christmas music. There was none. Not a single station was playing Christmas music.

By now, I was beginning to feel a sense of panic. Anxiety was rising in my chest. I could feel my heart racing.

I went to the phone, and called one of my sons. I wanted to be the first to tell my grandchildren, "Merry Christmas!" He answered the phone, and I exclaimed, "Merry Christmas!"

"What?"

I said, "Merry Christmas!"

"What are you talking about? What do you mean, 'Merry Christmas'?" He sounded like I had wakened him from sleep.

"It's Christmas day, son!" I replied.

"I don't know what you are talking about. What is Christmas day?" he said in an aggravated tone.

I stood at the kitchen counter with the phone in my hand, completely baffled.

"Son, what's the matter with you? You know what Christmas day is! This is the day Jesus was born!"

"Jesus? Dad, I don't know anybody named Jesus! Why are you calling me so early? You never call me this early!"

I was really beginning to freak out. I knew I had not lost my mind. I could plainly see everything. This WAS my house. That WAS my neighborhood. That WAS my son's voice on the phone.

Suddenly, I felt a horrifying strangeness. "Why is everything so weird this morning?"

I quietly clicked the phone off, without even saying goodbye.

I didn't know what to do. I walked over and sat down in my easy chair. As was my morning habit, I reached over to pick up my Bible for my morning Bible reading.

My Bible was not there. "Where did my Bible go? Who moved my Bible?"

I stood up and began to hunt around the room for my Bible. It was nowhere to be found. But that was not the only thing missing. All my other Christian books had disappeared. I looked on the entertainment center, and all my Christian CDs had disappeared. I looked through stacks of DVDs on the shelves, and all my Christian videos were missing.

By this time, I was beginning to feel like I had lost my mind. I did not want anybody to come in the room right now, because I felt like I was really losing it.

I decided to call my Pastor. Maybe I could re-orient myself. Maybe he could help me figure out what was going on.

I pressed the speed-dial on my phone, and waited for my Pastor's phone to ring. "I'm sorry. This number is not in use. Please check your number and dial again."

"What? How did that happen? That number is in memory!" I dialed it again. Same thing. It was a non-working number. This is too, too strange.

No Christmas tree. No decorations in the neighborhood. My son didn't understand when I said, "Merry Christmas." "Who is Jesus?" No mention of Christmas on TV or radio. The Pastor's phone was disconnected.

I picked up my laptop computer and sat down again in my easy chair.

I logged on, and immediately went to my Facebook account.

That is when I got the biggest shock. I could not even recognize my Facebook account. NONE of my friends were the same! I had a few hundred FB friends, but I did not recognize any of them. They were the weirdest group of people I had ever seen.

I clicked through my list of Facebook friends, trying to find some I recognized. Most of them were tattooed and pierced. Many of them wore symbols of death: vampires, skulls, astrological signs, and even much weirder things that I did not recognize.

I went to my bookmarks and clicked on the link to my Church's website.

"Firefox can't find the server at www.yourchurch.com."

"What? The Church website is down? What's that all about?"

I picked up the TV remote again. I clicked to the Christian TV channel. "Avatar" was playing. I could not find any Christian programming.

I could not find anything Christian. I could not find any mention of Christmas. I could not find anything on the Internet about any Church. I GOOGLED two dozen Christian-related keywords, and never found anything.

I GOOGLED "JESUS".

"0 search results found."

I sat back in my easy chair and cried.

---

Dear Friend,

Jesus is NOT the figament of our imaginations. He was a real child who was really was born in Bethlehem, Israel, 2000 years ago.

He really did die on the Cross at Calvary for our sins. AND, He really did rise from the dead, and ascend into Heaven. He really is God, and He really did come to save our souls, and to give us eternal life in His very real eternal Kingdom.

Not only that, but Jesus is actually coming back to earth again soon to rule a 1000-year Kingdom on earth from Jerusalem.

BUT...

If you ignore Him today, you may someday wake up and find yourself in an ETERNITY WITHOUT HIM! That will be INFINITELY WORSE than the scenario I have just imagined above!

Hell is real. It is a place of eternal torment without God.

What will YOU do with Jesus Christ?

I URGE you to give Him His proper place in your life. Study His Word and learn about Him, and His will for your life.

Do it NOW, before it is too late!

See: "Jesus Christ: Most Phenomenal Man Who Ever Lived"

See also: Jesus: The Great "I AM"

God bless you,

Ken Raggio

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