Alfonso Freeman

Christmas or Xmas???

2010-12-04T20:42:30Z

Last year, I was inspired to write down some of my holiday memories in a series of the same name. I really enjoyed writing them. They took me back in time to some of the most fun and wonderous episodes of my life. I wanted to revisit a few of them, but this year I am feeling more like sharing some thoughts about life as it relates to the holidays, past, present and future; family, fear, and faith. I will include some of last years memories, and a few new ones as well. I promise not to be be preachy because it is not who I want to be. These are my thoughts and are not meant to be forced on anyone or to be obnoxious. They are rather intended to be reflections of life and its blessings because of the gift of God. I would love your feedback, and I pray they are a blessing.

So to start...

Christmas or Xmas???

I don't recall when it was that I first saw "Xmas" in writing. Growing up, I certainly never heard it. I think it was around my twenties that I began seeing it on boxes and advertising and office memos. While I never got angry over it, I did take minor offence, although I didn't quite know why. Later I tried to figure out why our society decided to present "Christmas" as "Xmas". My best guess was that people were simply too lazy to type the whole word. Later on when I began to encounter many of different faiths, or none at all, it became about the refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. I now believe it is probably a combination of the two.

But why is it that only the word "Christmas" is truncated? I've never seen "Xmadan", or "Xnukkah", or even "Xoween", to get as far away from Christ as one possibly could. Framed in this light it very much seems like "Christ" is purposely being removed from the word, and not merely for convenience.

The next logical question (at least the way I see it), is why would a Christian type "Xmas"? I sometimes find it hard to believe any Christian would write it that way outside of convenience, although I have seen it in a few Christian homes. Believe me, I am not judging, and I would never accuse anyone, but I am curious. Frankly, I don't even know why at this point. I have been way less than a perfect Christian and yet, I still take exception to the term "Xmas". Maybe it is because of my internal spiritual machinery that remains connected to Christ, even when I feel disconnect at times. I suppose that when Christ has come in He stays in, and those who believe in Him want Him to be Christ even when they are failing to LIVE like He's is Christ. I know, it's a little confusing and yet, I think someone reading this might actually be able to relate to what I'm saying.

To me, keeping "Christ" in the word Christmas, is a key reminder that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed, the Son of God. It isn't cliche for me to say that I think of His work every time I see the word "Christmas". And although I have spent more than my share of time in malls and stores and enjoy the festivities, the fact is for me, the season has never been about gifts, cards, and gatherings. Even through the blare of advertising and Christmas tunes, I am yet reminded of the meaning of Christmas and still find comfort.

In truth, the little child in me still likes to quote the Christmas story. In my mind I still see the little baby Jesus in a manger, Mary and Joseph nearby looking over their beautiful baby, with farm animals lowing and moving about. And even though history and science has cleared up a lot of the fantasy surrounding the story, in my heart the story has never been marred. It remains beautiful, powerful, and awesome. So I will end this note by adding that beautiful story I recited in church as a young boy...

Luke 2:1 - 7 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with Child. 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2: 8 - 21 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD hath made known unto us." And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the Child, His Name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb

Active People Don't Blame...

2010-07-01T05:32:28Z

I am a Christian, and an imperfect one at that. I curse on occasion. I unapologetically drink from time to time. In my humanity I will thoughtlessly say or do something that hurts someone. I've apologized very often and profusely for my failures. But sadly, I haven't mastered walking on water, so it is clear that I am a work in progress. Now a religious person might run up to me and say, "Well Alfonso the Bible says..." Interestingly as much as I talk, I have learned not to debate religious people. Religious people want to control other's lives. By observation and experience I'd have to say the reason is because their own lives are too often out of control. They are constantly waiting for God to fix things and in the meantime blaming the devil for how things are. I understand the phenomenon because I was religious for a very long time.

Sadly so many religious people use their professed faith to assault others - and I'm not talking about terrorism, the Taliban or Islam. I'm talking about Bible thumping, professed Christians. But my thesis is, their assault is often a result of personal turmoil that somehow isn't being solved by all of the scripture they are quoting. Trust me, I understand the frustration.

Like most religious people I was taught to pray, quote scripture day and night, go to church, give tithes and offerings and somehow everything will work out. And like many professed Christians I came to embrace the idea that any good thing that happens to me, much like winning the lottery, is because God got out of his Throne, told an angel to make sure I get all of the right numbers, and voila! I'm a millionaire (I'm not)! Conversely, every bad thing that happens is because Satan himself, the biggest demon of them all, decided to shift all of his focus away from important world events just so he could personally screw up my life.

Out of this mindset has grown a society of people who only know how to blame. A hurricane, for example, is because of the devil and not because of the natural yearly climate fluctuations and rotation of the earth which causes the upper atmosphere to spin and form hurricanes. The BP oil disaster is because of Satan, and not because greedy people shortcut safety protocols. Or worse, the problem is because of the President (who naturally is being used as an agent of the devil), and not the generations of political leaders in both parties who eventually threw away regulations in favor of keeping jobs for their various constituents, and whose political campaigns were given huge sums of money by various oil interests and lobbyists. Religious people know how to blame, but they don't know how to move. And since these religious blamers have out of control lives they will often have only one reason: "It's Satan's fault. It cant' be MY fault because I quote the Bible!"

Well, here's what I believe: Satan is real and active, as are demons and evil spirits. But the condition of the world today isn't Satan's fault per se. It is MAN'S fault. Man sinned in the beginning. Man was told what NOT to do; he was beguiled, and then his own curiosity and lust changed the game for all of mankind thereafter. In fact, scripture says a man is tempted when he is drawn away of HIS OWN lust and enticed. Satan is like a judo master. He knows how to use our own weight against us. And it is exceptionally easy to do when the victim is always unprepared for attack, and after being thrown to the ground only knows how to say, "look what the devil did", rather than get up and be prepared for the next attack.

Religious people are rarely ready for the next attack, and they do not know how to take responsibility. Well, I have a bit of news. There was no Bible in ancient times. There was the Torah, and the New Testament was only in force after Jesus' resurrection. It was many years later that the words and works of Jesus and the apostles were written down. But you'll notice that from the time Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He was ALWAYS ready for Satan's attacks. Is it because he quoted scripture to the Devil like many preachers point out? Or is it because he DID WHAT HE QUOTED? Clearly it was the latter. It was DOING the Word that gave Him the Victory in over Satan. And if you don't believe it, try imagining what the world would be if Jesus had decided to turn the stones to bread, or worse, jump off of the pinnacle of the Temple when tempted to do so.

Much of scripture was written down long AFTER the writers figured out how spiritual things worked in relation to the natural world. That is exactly the reason I believe Jesus spoke in parables rather than regurgitating the Torah. Jesus knew the Torah inside and out, but the beauty of His words is that everyday people could get what He meant because he related it to their everyday lives. The same was true of Paul. Paul was a religious zealot who had a miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Not long after he became THE premier, albeit very humble New Testament Apostle. Today we look at what we religiously call The Pauline Epistles and gain many great truths. But the fact is he was just writing letters to his friends much like I'm writing this blog. I'm certain he had no idea his letters would end up in a book we now call The Bible. Paul also was an expert on the Torah. His letters went into great depth, but they were also practical enough for the reader of the time to understand what he was saying and hopefully put into action.

Sadly, however, many have turned Jesus' Words and Paul's letters into incantations that if quoted enough will make magical things happen! It is time to break out of that mentality and realize that the Word is about ACTION. Do the Word and things will happen, it's that simple. Absolutely we must pray, read and speak the Word. But the Word works best when one actually gets up and does what it says. All quoting scripture does is remind us of the work WE are expected to do to make things happen. I'm not talking about working FOR salvation, but we'd sure better be about WORKING OUT salvation.

Once we start the action it becomes very easy to see where the responsibility has always lain, with us. Why? Because it is then we can tangibly see results of those actions: souls are saved; people prosper more (because we are wiser in our personal and financial dealings), families are strengthened, and interpersonal relationships run a bit smoother, probably because we are too busy doing the word to have any time to tell others what to do! God did not give us His Word for us to tell others what to do or merely to quote. He gave it to us so that we would know what to do in our own daily lives. But we must actually do it!

One last thing about religious people: they argue too much and are too ready to defend their position - often at the tops of their lungs. The funny thing about a position is this: one has to be still and in one place to be in a position, and thus, there is clearly no action taking place. But if one was actively doing God's Word perhaps he or she would be too out of breath to argue. They certainly wouldn't care about their position.

Hope is EVERYTHING!

2010-02-15T08:00:00Z

I am an actor. I love what I do. There isn't much payoff from the pursuit as most actors can attest; but once you book the gig, there is no feeling like it! But not booking for a long period can be disappointing and disheartening. Many have given up the pursuit as a result. I will not give up! Yes, I have been frustrated from time to time when I've seen some of the same people getting most of the work; or when I put up my best audition, only to fail to book the gig. We entertainers put up with a lot: rejection, time constraints and all of the money we spend on our pursuit. If you've ever watched American Idol, one thing you come to recognize quickly is that you have to love what you do and have the greatest passion for it in order to make it. Being an actor or entertainer at the highest levels can't be a hobby. This is true for any pursuit. Also, a good and hopeful attitude makes all of the difference in the world. At one time I had a very bad and envious attitude, and I didn't even realize it. I'd go into auditions with a smile. I'd do all that I knew to do, and turn in what I thought was a pretty good audition, but still wouldn't book. It turns out my attitude, the truest me that people felt but maybe didn't see on the surface, was stinky! It was like I ate a pound of garlic before I went into my auditions. I stunk up the room with a frustrated and entitled attitude! I'd heard so many times from so many people that I should get such-and-such because my dad is so-and-so. Or "Why isn't your dad helping you?" Without realizing it, someplace underneath I embraced that attitude, and you know what I got? Diddly! Nobody owes me anything! I had to realize that. And once I became truly aware of it, I repented, and I decided that I would no longer let a bad, envious, or unforgiving attitude block me from being blessed; but rather, I will revel in the fact that some of my colleagues are working and succeeding. Their success gives me hope that I will enjoy greater success myself. As an actor, especially in a bad economy, any work is golden and hope is everything! So keep gettin' those gigs guys! It's your time...be blessed and enjoy it! My change in attitude worked wonders. Over the past nearly four years I've had more success than I've ever had IN MY LIFE! The last three years have been years of surprising increase for me in the commercials market, and I'm VERY thankful to God for it! I'm looking to crack open the television and movie markets again as well. My time is coming soon in those arenas, and no one can keep success from my door BUT ME if I give up, or I'm envious, or jealous, or bitter, or unforgiving, or desperate. Those attitudes are no longer options for me. Instead, with lots of prayer; good, honest and honorable friends; plenty of hope and faith mixed with honest pragmatism, and constructive distractions (school, hobbies, gym and the beach), I keep going with a smile - a REAL smile! Life is good! :-D I won't give up! I love success - it is my favorite word! I love to see success in others! I Love what I do, and I love the journey! Let's go together!

Okay...lesson learned!

2010-01-30T17:36:00Z

I had an interesting day on my motorcycle. I did something that was wholly stupid and it was my fault. I'm not trying to embarrass myself, but I really dodged a bullet today. God kept me when I could very well be incapacitated or dead and I have the physical proof that I will keep as a reminder of what stupidity can potentially do.

On this cold morning I decided to ride my motorcycle out to Chino Hills to visit my sister. At the end of my visit I decided to take the 71 Freeway out to the 91 Freeway towards the beach. There was a stretch of freeway that was moving rather slowly, so I split the traffic, meaning I rode between the vehicles. Now in general this isn't a problem if you have plenty of room to maneuver (and I mean PLENTY of room) and the traffic isn't moving fast. But as I am wont to be on waaaaaaaay too many occasions, got impatient and started moving a bit faster than the jam called for. Still I was able to move around okay. But soon I came upon two pickup trucks towing trailers. Now, what I failed to realize and remember is that there are lots of 'bungholes' driving on the freeway, and today, I was one of them. And when two bungholes meet, catastrophe can very possibly happen!

I tried to maneuver through the vehicles. The guy on my left saw me and I was able to move alongside him and pass him, but not completely. The guy on my right saw me and I saw that he saw me; still he moved left to block me from passing. I slowed down to let both vehicles pass and just wait, but my decision came too late. Unfortunately, when I slowed down, the guy on my left was able to pass me and his trailer's fender brushed my left foot and ankle. It didn't hurt really, but it was a firm brush. Now here is where the disaster could have happened: my foot was on the left peg, and it must have been outside the edge of it a bit in order for me to feel the guy's fender as firmly as I did. If my foot had been LESS THAN AN INCH to the right and his trailer hit my peg instead, he could have knocked me off balance and into the other bunghole's trailer, which means I would either have been dragged by his trailer or run over by the vehicles behind me. When both trailers went passed me I looked at my foot where I could feel where the leftmost trailer had brushed me. I couldn't see anything so I kept riding. I rode until I got to Newport Beach where I would have lunch. When I finally stopped and examined my left foot, I could see clearly what had happened. The guy on the left's trailer had actually torn the leather on my left riding boot. It is such a clean tear that it looks like the boots were made that way. But when I looked at my right foot, I could see that wasn't the case at all.

All I could do from the time the incident happened until I got to Newport was to thank God and ask him to help me to stop being so blankety-blank impatient, and berate myself for once again, going farther than my skills could reasonably take me. Now I can be upset that the guy on my right was such an @$$hole for trying to cut me off, or I can be realistic and accept the fact that today I was the @$$hole, and if a disaster had occurred it would have been my fault completely. I am embarrassed and I pissed off at myself about it. Even so, I thank God; my bum was pulled out of the fire. God indeed kept me. And this isn't the first time (I'm not speaking of motorcycle riding now). I thought of throwing out the boots. But a voice inside me told me to keep them as reminders. I have other reminders of things that I did which at the time seemed like a good idea, only to realize later that I could very well have been killed. I'm keeping the boots!

Now, I won't spend one second trying to preach to anyone about how they should learn from my mistake. All I will say is thank the Lord God I am yet alive, and I HOPE that I have learned!!! Lastly, I know there are those who think motorcycles should never been ridden. I appreciate your opinion about motorcycles, but I enjoy riding very much and don't plan to stop riding...UNLESS...my patience level on the road does not improve in a BIG way. Motorcycles can indeed be very dangerous. But it is way worse when the rider himself is stupid and impatient.

Although it's been said many times, many ways...

2009-12-06T23:36:00Z

I wouldn't doubt that everyone has that one thing that really triggers the Christmas spirit for them. The Christmas spirit kicks in for me when I hear Nat King Cole sing "The Christmas Song" ON THE RADIO. For some reason, not hearing this seems to slow the entire holiday connection that I like to enjoy. I know it's weird, but everybody's got something! Some might say, "Just play the song on CD", or something like that. Nothing else is quite good enough. And no one else's version seems to match Nat King Cole's version. Cole's version of "The Christmas Song" song has those beautiful, lilting strings, arranged by Gospel music producer, Ralph Carmichael. Once I hear those strings, if I'm in a store, or in the car, THAT'S when Christmas time really begins for me.

I've tried to understand why it was that I need to hear Nat King Cole before I'm really into the holiday spirit. My best guess is that it started when I started working. I would drive to work and listen to the radio all the time. Within an hour I've had many opportunities to hear "The Christmas Song". Another part of the reason would probably be that I somewhat lost my Christmas spirit between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two. But after my first son was born, I recovered it. I really enjoyed celebrating Christmas with my kids. Also, when shopping, at some point I'd hear that opening string line and just melt into a real sense that Christmas time was here. I'd actually slow down everything I was doing to hear the whole song. I still do.

That has stayed with me, even though I don't drive to a daily job anymore. In fact, not listening to the radio in my car regularly would naturally make it harder for me to 'happen upon' Cole's versions of "The Christmas Song" as much as I used to. And now stores have piped in satellite music. Yes, I know I have to adjust. I am allowing myself to accept hearing the song at any time, even if I play it myself. But one thing still hasn't changed - only Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" will do!