Our weekly Bible Studies during Advent allowed us to consider we have been chosen, as Mary was, to deliver the Christ-Child.  What an amazing thought!  What an amazing way to begin the New Year.  We have been chosen to deliver the Gospel through daily interactions with our families, church family, friends, stranger, and co-workers. 

 My paternal Granny, of Native American ancestry, believed in home remedies to treat physical problems.  (She only had professional medical help the last few years of her life; she died at the age of 87).  My siblings and I were subject to all the strains of flu and colds that invaded our otherwise healthy lives.  We would plead with Mama to not let Granny know when we were sick.  We knew she had a remedy; we just didn’t like the smell or the texture.  She kept some type of concoction mixed up in a tin can.  I think she saw herself as 911 for the people living in that mountain hollow.  When she got the “word” that one of us was sick, she would come with can in hand – along with several blankets and towels.  She never asked, “Where does it hurt?’  She treated the whole body (including the sinuses) – she saturated our bodies with a non-odor free substance that would send the buzzards away from the most decayed carcass, from the tips of our toes to the top of our heads.  It seemed forever as she applied her mystery ointment.  We knew the follow-up instructions by memory:  stay in bed for 24 hours, drink lots of water, stay wrapped up, and stay warm.  Yes, it often seemed the treatment was worse than the illness.