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I do love the Christmas season. It can often become overwhelming with traveling, family gatherings, parties, and shopping but even in the midst of all the festivities and activities it is still an exciting time because there are those parties and gatherings with friends and family, and Christmas lights, and cookie decorating, and caroling and hot chocolate and nostalgic music. It is, indeed, a special time.
 
It’s a uniquely special time for me, too, because I celebrate my wedding anniversary five days before Christmas so there is an added romantic feel every year for me. My kids have also made my Christmas seasons extra joyful because of their daily excitement and longing for Christmas morning as they dream about the gifts they will receive and the reaction of those you will receive gifts from them.

But most importantly, in the midst of the holiday season, is the intentional reminder of the good news of great joy that we celebrate: Christ’s coming. The fulfillment of God’s great redemptive plan finally coming to fruition. The reality that peace with God will finally be made possible through the forgiveness of sins. Christmas is such a precious and treasured time.
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And to help remind us of that great rescue plan, we often sing! I love the music of Christmas and one of my favorite hymns to sing every year is “Angels from the Realms of Glory." Embedded in the lyrics is the complete story and picture of redemption. So, I just want to leave the lyrics here for you as you celebrate Christmas this season to remind you of this good news of great joy.

​Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
 
Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
 
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
 
Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
 
Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.
 
Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:
 
All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.

Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Have a wonderful holiday season and Merry Christmas!

Jason

​***Check out the new book "Rehab the World" written for Physical Therapists to encourage us in our workplace and prepare us to serve those around us. If you like, please leave a review and spread the word!!***

Welcome to our new subscribers!! And if you haven't joined the conversation on Facebook, then find us @ptsonmission to continue to receive updates, encouragement, and information. Finally, tell a friend if you are benefiting from this site.

I recently ran across a fascinating article in the most recent edition of the Journal of Orthopedic and Sport Physical Therapy (JOSPT). If you are not familiar this this journal, it is a popular publication in the outpatient sports and orthopedic physical therapy world. They cover a wide range of topics from unique sport case studies to intervention control trials to literature reviews.

So what was the unique article? It was about the need to begin to research and study the impact of mechanics and musculoskeletal injury in, none other than, E-Sports. That's right. Gaming. It is certainly an unconventional topic but as I began to read through the article it provided many fascinating statistics and legitimate arguments for exploring this largely unstudied arena of sport - if we classify gaming as a sport.

More Than a Game Article

In the article, the authors discuss some of the mind blowing statistics around esports including the billions of dollars of revenue and millions of viewers for esport events. It really is fascinating. They then go on to detail that this may be an untapped patient population for physical therapists because of growing musculoskeletal injury reports related to repetitive movements and static postural changes. The authors highlight that there is not much research but that maybe we should begin to explore this field further because it could really impact our profession.

So it got me thinking about you in your clinic. Have you seen patients who participate in esports in your practice? Is this a trend you have noticed in your clinic and, if so, have you identified any patterns of esport injury? 

I hope you get a chance to peruse through this article just because it is interesting and my be somewhat prophetic in the trends of sport. Who knew that esport would begin to compete with traditional sport and require the skill of physical therapists!

Jason