I couldn’t find an online version of a card I received that I wanted to share (it has Darth Vader insisting that he gets to put the Death Star on top of the Christmas tree) so hopefully this will do as a substitute: Read more

Mystical Seeker shared a link to a post a Pastor Susan’s Blog, the title of which is “Taking the Christmas Story Seriously – But Not Literally.” Do you view the Christmas story in this way? If so, what does that mean to you? Many progressive and liberal Christians are better at articulating what Christmas doesn’t mean to us than what it does, so feel free to share your thoughts on this! Read more

IO9 shared a Christmassy Martian sunset captured by the Mars rover Opportunity, with an explanation of why Martian sunsets are blue. Read more

By Elliott Quince HT Scott Bailey Read more

There’s a hauntingly beautiful arrangement of the carol Gabriel’s Message by Dan Goeller that I really like. Here’s a link to my favorite version, for soloist with orchestral accompaniment. You can also find a choral arrangement here, which has the added benefit of displaying the sheet music, scrolling through it automatically as you listen. Enjoy! Read more

A haunting Romanian Christmas carol performed by the Bucharest Madrigal Choir: Read more

IO9 shared some unusual sci-fi holiday images. There were several Star Wars ones among them, including this one: Read more

Thanks to Dan McClellan for pointing out yet another useful free online resource. The book Religion and Power: Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond can be downloaded for free. Or you can also buy it. Read more

Robin Parry shared a link to a site called Calvinistic Cartoons. Here’s a “taste”: I actually remember seeing a reference to a native American “cocoa deity” at a museum once, and thinking that that sounded like a religion I could really sink my teeth into… Read more

Different things make people in or from different parts of the world nostalgic, whether at Christmas time or at others. Today my wife was making sarmale (stuffed cabbage) with pickled cabbage leaves. It made her feel Christmasy, but the aroma did not have the same effect on our son. I also remember a group of German students singing a song one Christmas during my student days. It was to the tune of “Judas Maccabeus” by G. F. Händel. At the... Read more