Wedged Between Glenn Beck and The Christmas Dog

First, I want to say thanks to those who have purchased my new (and first) e-book, Discovering Advent: How to Experience the Power of Waiting on God at Christmastime. And for those who would like to buy the book but do not own an e-reader, I apologize for not having a way to distribute the book in another form. My guess is that by next year, there will be more options. I’m just getting started in the e-book world.

A few minutes ago, I surfed over to Amazon to see how Discovering Advent is doing. The book is ranked #8 among the Kindle store’s “Christmas” books, and #18 in Amazon’s overall listing of “Christmas” books. That is encouraging to me, though I don’t really know what this means in raw numbers. Maybe my Mom just bought a couple dozen copies!

Anyway, checking out the rankings for Amazon’s “Christmas” books, I learned that I have a curious position at the moment. I’m wedged in between Glenn Beck’s The Christmas Sweater (#17) and Melody Carlson’s The Christmas Dog. That struck me as a bit ironic. It’s not everyday that I find myself in the company of Glenn Beck and The Christmas Dog.

This is not the first time I’ve run into Glenn Back in unexpected places, however. This summer, my family and I had the privilege of touring Israel. During our day in Jerusalem, we visited the Temple Mount, including the well-preserved Southern Steps. These are the steps that Jews would ascend on their way to the Temple. They are most certainly a place where Jesus walked, and perhaps a place where he conversed with his followers and with some of the Jewish officials.

As I made my way along a narrow pathway to the steps, I had to skirt around a small group of people who were filming something. I practically ran into the man being filmed. When I turned to look at him from a couple of feet away, I looked straight into the face of Glenn Beck, the controversial radio talk show host. (I am not a regular listener to Beck’s show, but I have seen his face in various publications, including the cover of Time Magazine.) It seemed strangely ironic that, as I was about to sit on the steps where Jesus once sat, I almost tripped over Glenn Beck.

On the way out, I took a photo of the film crew, which had moved to a place with more room. My photography greatly displeased one of Beck’s handlers, who approached me with a menacing look, so I hurried away.

So, twice in a year I have found myself right next to Glenn Beck, sort of. On the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount, I did not see any sign of the Christmas dog, however.