Today on the First Day of Christmas, Christians remember the first martyr. The birth of the new man is the perfect time to remember the glorification, the full birth, of Stephen. The Feast of Christmas looks forward to the time when death will be swallowed up in continuous birth! A carol often sung on the feast of Stephen is about “good King” Wenceslas, actually a duke, who governed as a good man and Christian should . If the carol is a legend,... Read more
“What day is it? Christmas Day!” Ever since I heard this question from film Scrooge with a young boy’s answer, the question and retort have been a Christmas habit: “What day is it, children?” “Christmas Day!” Thank you, Charles Dickens. Ignorant people assume Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is “non-Christian,” because Scrooge is not converted to Christianity in the story. Of course, this is because Scrooge is already a Christian. At the end of the tale, he goes to church. The... Read more
My job is to keep the family Christmas countdown. In June, this is a thankless job for when I remind people that we are half way to Christmas, they express a shocking indifference. When the number moves below one hundred, people are shocked, but not yet ready. For the last month, the countdown has mattered and now my time has come. We will go to church and wait on the coming of Christmas. When we get home, the long Advent... Read more
I enjoyed Christmas as a child and now enjoy it in my fifties, the youth of old age. I am thankful for a good childhood, given to me by a healthy community, that made this possible. Growing up has been hard to do . . . especially in a way compatible with Christmas. Growing up is hard to do in a culture of immediacy. We are constantly reminded of now. Our ethics, choices, and attitude are personalized . . .... Read more
Respectful disagreement is possible, even about religion. Christmas is why I believe this to be true and Christmas is why I am not an atheist, pagan, or Muslim. As I sit and listen to the Messiah near the celebration of Christmas, I am persuaded that atheism is empty, paganism has insufficient gods, and Islam is unjust to God. Atheism is (by nature) godless. This would be good if there were not a God, but God exists and Christmas was the... Read more
There is a weird fashion amongst conservatives to say something nice about Scrooge: he paid relatively well, he had a dry wit. Both of those are “facts” and yet nobody should want to be Scrooge . . . the early one. You can pay your workers (relatively) well and still make the workplace miserable if this is your LinkedIn profile: Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!... Read more
The fast is ending and the wait is almost over. Christ will soon be born and we will glorify Him, but not yet, not quite yet. I feel such joy at Christmas that the solemn wait of Advent is a good discipline. We began singing about God with us. Jesus came once and He will come again: the once and future King. We longed for peace that can only come when King Jesus returns and now we stand of the... Read more
Star Wars may be the myth of our era, the equivalent of Homer to the ancients. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader have achieved an existence independent of their original creators or even the time when they were born. They don’t quite belong to the fans either, because they also are discussed by “haters.” A good sign of a cultural myth is that people react strongly to the story. Disney bought the rights from Lucas Films, as George Lucas faced... Read more
At sixteen I was stunned because we were leaving the 1970’s when Disney was moribund (we are looking at you That Darn Cat) and serious films with Jane Fonda were made. Seriously. And then I sat with my brother, Doug, Rob, and Uncle Roddy and saw Star Wars. I had grooves in my palms from gripping the seat so hard. The good news is that with only a few exceptions, such as Ronald Reagan, no politician in my time will... Read more
And so if you are shopping for Christmas and are looking for a book that four years ago spoke of Obama, the Russians, and the future . . . here is a novel. The sequel will be done in 2016 . . . Think Charles Williams if he had grown up on Star Trek and Star Wars. Buy Chasing Shadows here. Read more
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