I know. I know. Christmas is over.
But I still have some good stuff that’s related to Christmas that I want to share. So here are three such items:
Jonah Goldberg — if you ponder his name for a while, you’ll begin to suspect that he may not be a Bolivian Catholic — offers up a stimulating and sometimes really funny little essay on
And I also really, really like this essay by Kevin Williamson:
Finally, the Tabernacle Choir performs Mack Wilberg’s beautiful arrangement of one of the most beautiful of Christmas songs:
***
And, indeed, what shall we give?
As I say, and as you well know, Christmas is over. It’s past. (Of course, there are only about 364 shopping days left until the next one, so it’s best to get a move on!)
To me, even growing up in southern California, where the weather around this time of the year is typically beautiful, I found the days immediately after Christmas somewhat sad. Even Christmas afternoon itself was a bit depressing. After all, I had been looking forward to the holiday with rapidly mounting excitement for a month or more and then, suddenly, it was over. Finished. Dead and gone. And living in Utah — for me, at least — is still worse. The occasionally day of fresh snow and blue skies is a joy, but, too often, it’s bare trees and dirty scraps of snow and a gray sky barely over head.
““It is winter in Narnia,” said Mr. Tumnus, “and has been for ever so long…. always winter, but never Christmas.” (C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
Moreover, material gifts, to the extent that I still receive them, have substantially lost their power to thrill. So Christmas isn’t quite the magical festival of receiving presents that it once was.
But I’ve found a compensatory truth: Giving has not lost its power. On the contrary, for me it’s gained power.
And the year isn’t over — which, for citizens of the United States, anyway, under the regime of the Internal Revenue Service — means that we still have several days in which to give at something of a government-granted discount.
So I want to remind you of some worthy causes, chosen from among thousands that I might have named:
Operation Underground Railroad
Incidentally, I want to thank all of those who have contributed thus far to my Facebook fundraiser for the Interpreter Foundation. You’re forcing me to put in my matching donation now, and my wife has already put hers in. That’s slightly painful for us, because we’re not quite as rich as my mercenary career in apologetics seems to suggest to a few observers. But, as the dying heros in old Western movies used to like to say, it’s a good sort of pain. Thank you!
Posted from Alexandria, Egypt
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