“Marxism is the opium of the intellectuals.”

- Edmund Wilson

Part 2 to my previous post: do you remember how the Red Ryder Air Rifle for me was a laptop? Well, I betcha can't guess what happened on Christmas morning!

I woke up at about 6:30, but since I'm not one of the mean kids who
will jump out of bed and immediatley run into their parents rooms to wake them up no matter how tired they are, I stayed in bed until I heard the shower start in the Reverend Mother and The Old Man's room, which meant Reverend Mother was awake (There was no telling if The Old Man was awake or not). I waited a bit more until I heard the door to the Mall Diva's room open. I then jumped out of bed, eager to begin the stocking ritual of the morning. I then found out that MD didn't think we should go into the Reverend Mother and The Old Man's room yet. So I waited till I heard the shower shut off, then I ran down to grab the stockings while MD knocked on the bedroom door. We entered at The Old Man's grunt of "Who is it?" and sat down. Mom wasn't out of the bathroom yet, so we (surprise, surprise) waited.

After a bit, Mom came into the room, and we began opening the stockings.
Here is a list of what I received in my stocking:

A bottle of Jones Fufu Berry Soda from The Old Man
A necklace from MD
Chocolate
Reeses Pieces from Mom
A Candy Cane from Bonita
A tweezers from Reverend Mother

We went downstairs, but we didn't unwrap presents yet. Mom had to make
coffee first. There was a present for both me and MD, then 5 presents each for both of us. MD and I decided to open the present for both of us first. Dad said, "That's from 'The Old Man'," which gave me a clue as to what was inside. MD took one side, and I took the other, and we shredded the paper. It was (dramatic pause) a box!!!! I opened the box and inside was a

LAPTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh joy! I was sooo happy. I was sitting there with my mouth hanging wide
open, and MD was grinning wildly. Then The Old Man said, "Now we have to
figure out a schedule for you two to use it," and MD said, "I know this is more for Tiger Lilly than for me."

We commenced opening the other presents. I got:

A Dream Pillow that is supposed to 'reduce stress, induce sleep, and
heighten dreams,' from MD

A scrunchie from Reverend Mother

An outfit from Bonita

Crest teeth whitening strips (Mom claims that I asked for those, just not for Christmas.)

And a book that I unfortunately already had. I also got a bead bracelet maker, and a gift certficate for Michaels.

Later the family came over. There was feasting of goose and turkey, gabbing and more present opening. My cousin told me that he got "Factions" for Christmas (the second part to a game that I love called "Guild Wars"). He is sooo lucky. But hey, he didn't get a laptop! He gave me his compound bow and arrows for Christmas. This year was the best Christmas ever, with one flaw. Mom was sick. She stayed in bed all day, except for the present opening. Of course she came down for that. It's nasty to be sick on a holiday like Christmas, but she's feeling much better now.

Ciao for now, and Merry Belated Christmas!

Our holiday houseguest list started with my mother-in-law. She, in-turn, attracted the outlaw-in-law, who brought along the pitbull-in-law. They're all generally nice enough, but as with most relationships it still pays to watch your fingers.

The dog stays outside for the most part, but joined us all inside for breakfast this morning. She's a friendly beast that thinks she's a 50-lb lapdog and has all the inquisitiveness and exuberance of a puppy. Her presence definitely changed the animal dynamic in the house as she tried to be "friends" with the domiciled pets. The guinea-pig, who has always been oblivious of our cat, clutched his chest and buried himself inside his plastic pig-loo despite already being inside a cage. The bird, also caged, got verrrrwy, verrrwy quiet even though she is best-known for her sputtering, Al Franken-like rants (her diction is a little bit better). Someone thoughtfully sequestered the cat in the basement before letting the dog in, so his initial reaction was hard to judge.

After being rebuffed by the other pets, the pitbull became completely fixated on the door to the basement, snuffling, prancing and whining. Now, the basement has everything the cat needs to make himself comfortable; his food dish, litter box and plenty of his favorite soft spots to sleep upon. We always shut him down there whenever we take the bird out for social interaction. You'd think that with all the comforts and conveniences close at hand, and a hairy, slavering beast on the other side of the door, the cat would be content to lie low. Something in his felinity, however, determined that if we wanted him in one place, then he wanted to be anywhere but there. So, when my mother-in-law accidentally opened the basement door, he leaped to freedom, perhaps in the hopes of catching the bird uncaged and unawares.

It would have been funny to have seen his face the moment he realized his miscalculation. Instead I had to settle the next instant for the bug-eyed, brushy-tailed look of terror as he came peeling around the corner into the living room looking for any high ground. Fortunately for me, I was leaning back in my chair instead of standing up so instead of leaping on my head he went for the top of the piano instead while the dog's owner caught the animal's head between his knees to keep her from continuing the hot pursuit. The Mall Diva swooped in and collected her cat and whisked him to safety in her room, his eyes the size of quarters and his back toes spread out like rakes. Order was soon restored and life, fortunately, went on.

The holidays can be so stressful.

Merry Christmas from Tiger Lilly, Night Writer, Reverend Mother,
Mall Diva and Bonita!

Television just loves Christmas specials. Why, just the other evening I was channel-surfing the satellite dish and came across The Secret Lives of Jesus (Jesus was a petulant child who hurt other kids and as a grown-up had a "special" relationship with Mary Magdalene — oh, and was never really crucified), The Gospel of Judas (he was really a sensitive, sweet guy that Jesus confided in who got a bad rap because Jesus actually asked him to be his betrayer), and a show about the book of Revelation that described the Apostle John (if that's your real name) as a bitter, half-crazed old man sleeping on rocks and lashing out at society. I also saw a few minutes of a show where an archeologist "discovered" the natural reason why the Pool of Bethesda could have looked as if an angel occasionally stirred the water.

No doubt these were all meticulously researched documentaries dedicated to digging out the truth, though I noticed that a guard leading Jesus away from Herod in one of the re-enactments was wearing blue jeans and tennis shoes under his long robe. The programs all seemed to have the requisite talking heads with impressive religious and academic titles and scholarly accents for authenticity, though I suspect that a closer examination might find they and their theories about as credible as David Duke addressing a conference of holocaust deniers. As for the Gospel of Judas, the experts can prove that the fragments of the codex are old, but not that it's anything other than a self-serving treatise from the already discredited Gnostic canon. I suppose it's kind of like someone 2000 years in the future finding a portion of Ward Churchill's 9-11 account and saying, "Aha - I knew it all along!"

It's interesting that these shows all happen to be scheduled at this time of year, but at least it allows for easier side-by-side comparision. As far as credibility goes, I think the programs I glimpsed all fall short of other seasonal productions such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." (Amazing scientific fact: Bumbles bounce!)

Not that long ago millions of Iraqi men and women boldly took to the streets, eager to vote for freedom and a chance to shape their own lives, and proud to show off their purple fingers, dipped in die as a simple way to prevent voter fraud but also perfect for delivering a collective poke in the eye to terror and tyranny.

I try to remember their faces and fingers as the media machine clanks and hums, blowing smoke and steam into its depiction of gang warfare as a civil war. The purple fingers were not enough to prevent fraud of outrageous proportions; a small but deadly minority subverts the will of the people and the efforts of a fledgling government, intimidating the majority not just with violence but with the idea that the forces standing for Reason and Order will themselves be cowed and will again abandon the innocent to the protection of paper treaties holding back a cyclone of hate. The brutal few are aided by the symbiotic complicitness of foreign media and political elements with their own desire to overthrow a government and replace it with something less of a hindrance to its own thirst for power and right-thinking, regardless of the cost to a country as a whole. Small wonder there are those who wring their hands while they still may, and reach for the soap to remove the tincture.

There are some things you get on your hands, however, that can never be washed off, as Michael Yon reminds us in his post No Darker Heart:

A Killing Field, Cambodia
After the monsoon rains abate, the draining earth offers up fragments of clothing, human teeth and bones as final testimony of the restless, wronged dead. Murdered on this now sacred ground, thirty or more years ago, they are among the millions of souls sacrificed to a fevered ideology that was completely broken only a decade ago. The remains that seep up through the mud under my feet in this Killing Field are from a different war, but they echo a mournful reminder of how jarringly common it is for societies at war with themselves to descend into madness. Death squads under holy orders, suicide bombers in mosques, machete-wielding mobs in Rwanda, industrialized gas chambers in Europe, fire-breathing Janjaweed militias in Darfur, and here the tree named for its function as “killing tree against which executioners beat children.”

Powerful, philosophical memes, forever pulsing through human populations, are never far from pushing us to some brink. The best memes land people on the moon; they create more cures than afflictions, more freedoms than restrictions, more heroes than villains, more hope than despair. These memes tend to pump knowledge into the human mind rather than vacuum it out. Perhaps memes are just memes, philosophies just philosophies, mental scripts piled atop mental scripts much as we build upon the lands where our ancestors lived and died. I once spent two days coursing down the Mekong River deep into Laos, wondering who had gone before me, and how many times humans have reinvented the boat. Today, we walk across the bridges, a concept others imagined then built, and we walk along trails and routes that have lasted for centuries or millennia, all while making new connections. Some trails lead to Hell.

Despite that many paths are clearly marked “This fork to Hell: Take right fork to nicer place,” a herd inertia prevents stopping long enough to read the signs or heed the caution. Signs appear in many forms, but they are always there. Jets crashing into buildings, yellow stars on lapels, people disappearing into the night, mass graves appearing on the edge of town, official languages, and always, the silent assent of enough people greasing the sides of the slope: visit enough genocide memorials in Germany or Poland or here and the patterns of pathology present themselves.

Here in the sweltering jungles of Cambodia, the educated, cultural elite Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge denizens perpetrated horrors ranging from ripping off nipples with pliers to vivisection, all part of a master plan to create a Utopia cleansed of all impurities of Western influence. Although Cambodia had been an ally of the West, during Cambodia’s years of darkness the eyes of world leaders were studiously averted, providing complicit cover for a charismatic zealot to excavate along ancient cultural divides and exploit rich veins of resentment.

Read the whole thing.

1. No end to the war in sight.
2. The purpose for the war has changed.
3. The President's ratings at a low.
4. Democrats opposed to the President's policies gain in Congress.
5. Willingness to "stay the course" in doubt.
6. Freedom the last, best hope on earth.

From the December 1 "The Writer's Almanac":

It was on this day in 1862 that Abraham Lincoln gave the State of the Union address at one of the lowest points of his presidency. An end to the Civil War was nowhere in sight. Just 10 weeks before, Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation, turning the war into a war about slavery rather than just states' rights. But in the recent election, anti-Lincoln Democrats had made big gains in the Congress. Many people saw that as a sign that the North didn't want to fight to free the slaves.

Instead of expressing doubts in his speech, Lincoln argued that freeing the slaves was necessary to ensure that America live up to its own ideals. In his speech, on this day in 1862, Lincoln said, "The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. ... We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth."

I've been known to get a bit misty at times as the Mall Diva has passed certain milestones in her life: first day of school, first prom, first blog, graduation, new job, etc. None of this has prepared me for the latest revelation, however...(cue "Sunrise, Sunset" music)...

I just realized this morning that in 2007 I'll no longer be able to claim her as a deduction on my income taxes!

*SNIFF*

I...I...I think I need a Kleenex!

The leadership of the Episcopal Church of America is finding that Biblical authority trumps church authority in the home of some of its oldest, largest and most influential churches. Over the weekend eight Northern Virginia churches, upset with the denomination's decisions to ordain a gay bishop and sanction same-sex marriages, voted overwhelmingly to leave the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), under the authority of a Nigerian bishop.

The departing congregations comprise about 10 percent of the diocese's 90,000 members and about 17 percent of the 32,000 people in the pew on an average Sunday. Virginia Episcopalians have been in an ecclesiastical civil war since the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, an active homosexual, with the support of Virginia Bishop Peter J. Lee.

"I wasn't at all surprised," said Kim Cooke, a former vestry member. "This church has always made a point of being faithful to the Scriptures and God. When faced with a choice between man and God, it was an easy choice."

"I am thrilled at the results," longtime member Judy Thomsen said. "I think we need to move on."

Doctrine is at the heart of the matter, but there are issues of authority and insubordination ... and some very expensive real estate. The Episcopal Bishop of Virginia struck a strident note, saying there are "Nigerian congregations occupying Episcopal churches." With respect to the bishop, next week it will be the same people sitting in the same pews as last week, inside the same buildings that have been there for decades (centuries in some cases), reading from the same Bible of the ages. The only thing that has changed are the philosophies of the denominational leadership that believes the will of God is determined by ballot rather than scripture; in turn their flocks have voted with their feet.

No doubt it will get ugly. According to Robert at The Llama Butchers, the Denomination is taking a hard-line with its rectors, insisting on obedience, with lawsuits, salaries and pensions at stake. Robert is a vestry-member at his Episcopal church in the Washington, D.C. area and his rector wants nothing to do with the dispute. Nevertheless, Rob feels he has to make a stand:

The Church has reached the point where each and every Episcopalian has to know exactly what is going on, in order to make for him- or herself a fully informed decision about where he or she is going to go. "Eyes front, mind your own business and do what you're told," is not, I think, the tone the Rector ought to be taking. And I also don't think the parish should be relying on the Official Party Line as served up by the Rector as its sole source of news and opinion.

So. At tomorrow night's meeting, I am going to propose that a committee be set up, the purpose being to gather and collate news and opinion pertinent to the Church's ongoing controversies and to find means by which to disseminate such news to members of the congregation. I'm going to insist that such committee be independant of the Rector's oversight or control and that its membership be politically and theologically balanced.

I am also going to get shot down in flames, of course. But I'm beginning to get angry enough that I don't really care. If I can't get official sanction for such a project, then I'll do it off my own bat. And if I get threatened with personal liability as a vestryman for spreading alarum and confusion, I'll quit and carry on as a private parishioner.

The Rector mentioned in an email to me the other day that he wanted to make sure my energies as a vestry member were being directed to areas for which I felt a passion. Well, dammit, I think I've found just the ticket.

God bless.

Where shall my wondering soul begin?
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
A slave redeemed from death and sin,
A brand plucked from eternal fire!

Happy Birthday, Charles Wesley, born 1708.

I'm going to take a little bit of a different approach with this FiF entry in that I'm not going to delve so much into the character themes in a particular movie, but I do want to call your attention to some treasures you might be overlooking.

I was doing some channel surfing the other night and came across Singin' in the Rain on the Turner Classics channel. It was close to the beginning of the movie and I'd only ever seen snippets of the film, so I put the remote down and the Mall Diva and I settled in to watch. I've always liked Gene Kelly's athletic dancing style and good-guy persona so I expected to enjoy the movie. What I didn't anticipate was how much the Mall Diva would like it!

The phrase, "they don't make them like they used to" definitely applies to Singin' in the Rain and similar movies of that era that used the story mainly to create a link between one singing and dancing number and the next. For that matter, the singing and dancing didn't even have to have much to go with the movie or the story at all and this is especially true with Singin' in the Rain (even the title of this movie has very little to do with the story itself; I think it mainly serves to let you know that this is the movie with the great sequence of Gene Kelly dancing down a city street in a rainstorm). That just serves to make the movie even more of a refreshing change of pace from today's films. Of course, it helps a great deal that the singing and dancing itself is exceptional.


They don't make them like that anymore — and they don't need to because they did it right the first time.

Kelly, as I've said, is brilliant but SitR also features a young Debbie Reynolds and a truly amazing performance by Donald O'Connor. I didn't have much of a conception of O'Connor other than his later "Frances the Talking Mule" movies so it was an unexpected delight to see what gifted singer, dancer and physical comedian he was. The Diva and I laughed outloud at several of his antics, especially in his tour-de-force performance of "Make 'Em Laugh". While the plot of the movie is a puffy confection, the entertainment value is very high. If you haven't seen SitR, don't dismiss it as being an "old" movie; I think you'll be as delighted in the experience as my daughter and I were.

Also, I referenced Kelly's good-guy persona earlier. I've watched several of his movies and always liked his characters (though they were usually just variations on the same). He always played a decent, honorable guy that you couldn't help but root for. Also, from what I've read about him, it sounds as if Kelly was a decent and stand-up guy in real life as well. One of the pleasures of watching some of these old movies is that they could (and did) feature nice guy heroes without feeling an obligation to add some character flaw to make him "real". Okay, that may be necessary in dramas, but I can appreciate good schmaltz, too (which reminds me of the "Schmaltz Waltz" number in Kelly's An American in Paris. In fact, a Gene Kelly trilogy of Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris and Brigadoon would be a nice collection for a film fan's shelf (tough as it is to leave out Anchors Aweigh or On the Town).

I'm not saying that all old movies are great and all new movies are crap; there's good and bad in every era. Truly good things, however, transcend eras and hold up. If you want an entertaining and uplifting diversion that leaves you feeling good about yourself and others then I highly recommend these three films.

Des Moines, Iowa - "It was the worst experience of my life," said Cyrus Greenleaf, head of Vegetables Entitled to Respect and Green Equality (VERGE) after he and several other heads of lettuce, as well as several pounds of spinach and green onions, were abruptly tossed from a local grocery store after shoppers and USDA officials became concerned that the group was potentially carrying E.coli bacteria.

Consumers have been on high alert lately following recent news stories and studies linking green vegetables such as lettuce and spinach to E.coli outbreaks. Speaking on behalf of his group, Greenleaf claimed that he and his friends were victims of "veggie-profiling" and that they were being singled out for "traveling while green."

"This is obvious vegetarianism," he said. "The public and the administration gets its undies in a bunch and suddenly it's 'E.coli this' and 'E.coli that.' It's simply easier to blame somebody than to address the root causes. I blame the American culture; people in this country learn to hate green vegetables when they're young and then when they get older you shouldn't be surprised when their prejudice crops up. Green vegetables are peaceful and nutritious; these latest charges are harassment, plain and simple." Greenleaf indicated that the group may seek redress in the courts.

While definite links between vegetables and illnesses such as E.coli, salmonella and hepatitus have been discovered, there is still some uncertainty about the organic nature of the threat, even among government officials. For example, when asked recently whether lettuce or spinach posed a greater threat, incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Silvestre Reyes, said, "I don't know, I have a hard time telling one from the other."

Meanwhile, both the FDA and the USDA encourage consumers to be alert, saying they are the best line of defense against E.coli attacks and other terra-ism. "Not all vegetables have E.coli, but all the latest E.coli carriers have been vegetables," said Brad LeBeouf, a spokesman for the USDA.

Hat tip to Port McClellan for calling my attention to Steven Pressfield's book The Afghan Campaign, a historical novelization of Alexander the Great's war in Afghanistan and part of the Claremont Institute's annual Christmas Book recommendations. I loved Pressfield's Gates of Fire novel about the battle of Thermopylae and I admired his story-telling craft in his book Tides of War, though I never warmed to its main character, Alcibiades. (Pressfield also wrote the charming and somewhat mystical book, The Legend of Bagger Vance.)

I am totally up for reading his novelization of Alexander's misadventure among the Afghans — and why shouldn't I be? Here's Claremont president Brian Kennedy's description of Pressfield: "Think Victor Davis Hanson meets Mark Helprin." Helprin is my favorite author and VDH is working his way up my list. I trust Pressfield's research and attention to detail, and the subject is very topical. I look forward to putting this book "On the Nightstand".

How many of you have seen the movie A Christmas Story? Well, I just saw it last night for the first time (I know, it's shocking), and I'm going to blog about what happens at our house around Christmas time.

Christmas lists
About a month before Christmas, the phrase around our house uttered by the Reverend Mother is, "Kids! Get your Christmas lists written!" I always get mine written right away, but MD and Bonita have trouble getting theirs together. I wonder why....

Wrapping gifts
It's a family tradition to wrap presents in Reverend Mother and The Old Man's (a.k.a. Mom and Dad) room. So as we all vie for wrapping space, the words are, "-family members name- don't come in here!" But after the hustle of shopping and wrapping we come to:

Presents
You remember that Ralphie wanted a Red Ryder Air Rifle, right? Well, my Red Ryder Air Rifle is actually a laptop computer that is perfect for playing computer games on. But, instead of it being "You'll shoot your eye out," it's "That's way too expensive." Tthhpptt. Maybe 'The Old Man' had one as a kid....

Concerning the Christmas tree.
When we get a Christmas tree, we let it sit around for a few days before putting it into its little stand and watering it. It's like the tree must face 'The Challenge of Dryness' before it can become part of the décor before it gets thrown out six weeks later.

Family from out-of-town
My Grandma lives in Oklahoma, so she stays at our house when she comes. An aunt and uncle and 2 cousins also live down there, so they will come to live at our house as well. But not this year, because they are going somewhere else.

Leg-shaped Lamps
We don't have any leg-shaped lamps, thank you!

And, finally:

Christmas Day
At last, the blessed day has arrived! As soon as MD and I wake up, we bound out of bed and run downstairs to grab the stockings off of the fireplace. Then we run back up the stairs to the Reverend Mother and The Old Man's room and open them. We bask in the glory of the Sacred Stocking Stuffers, then run down stairs to the tree. MD and I will fish presents out and give them to their respective owners, then we organize a little. We'll take turns opening one present at a time, savoring the moments.

After the wonderfulness of opening presents, we rush to shower and clean the house, because the family is coming over! (They always come over to our house because it's the biggest.) Around 1:00 people start arriving! We eat lunch, then more presents! After all that, my cousin and I will run downstairs so he can play on the computer (he doesn't have any cool games of his own, so he uses ours).

I don't have a weird aunt who thinks I'm 4-years-old and a boy, so no weird pajamas are in the present boxes. Thank the Lord for that!

Ciao for now!

Yesterday's post about extremism and the ensuing comments got me to thinking again about the culture wars. I remembered how my family used to make it a point to watch “Star Trek: the Next Generation” when there were still new episodes. We loved the characters and the writing, the imagination and the mostly discrete sexuality of the show. It also had a very edifying vision of human virtue and potential.

The only problem I had with the program was that this vision of human potential was based on the Secular Humanist views of its creator, Gene Roddenberry. Yes, we would all like to live in a world where everyone demonstrates love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as the characters in ST:TNG did. Roddenberry, however, saw this occurring through self-directed human evolution while I, as a Christian recognize these traits as fruit of the spirit imparted by God and developed through a personal commitment to renew my mind as I transform myself in order to be more like Jesus.

It may appear that the Christians and Humanists have a similar vision. There is a difference in how we go about fulfilling that vision, however.

As a Christian, I use God’s word as a standard to strive for and measure myself against. It’s not based on feelings, polls or my own thoughts about what is right and what is wrong. Today's culture may hold out a vision of ennobling evolution — while at the same time saying that any type of standard (except for their own) is merely a prejudice. Maybe that’s why I as Christians can hope to see a change in myself within my lifetime, while Roddenberry’s super-humans don’t get it until the 25th century.

I see the human soul as being made up of our mind, will and emotions — and as being something that needs to be disciplined in order to exalt God. It seems to me that Humanists see the soul as the thing to be exalted – and that excellence can be achieved by indulgence. My focus is to improve the individual so the individual can effect society; Humanists try to change society so that it can affect the individual. They label as intolerant, unprogressive and “out of the mainstream” any discussion of morality when it comes to personal behavior and responsibility (except when they refer to what you do with your wealth and private property). Meanwhile, you can do whatever you want with your body, or whoever else’s body you can get to along with your program.

Let me, finally, get to the point. Despite my self-indulgent and even extremist rant, the Humanists are really irrelevant to a Christian's own spiritual growth. Sure, they may pollute the culture with their illogical approach, but even if we “win” the cultural and political war we gain little but breathing room. That’s because Christ’s example is always from the “inside out.” While I would like to see a day when the culture around us is more wholesome, that in and of itself will not release us from our spiritual obligation to become more like Christ and to continually work out our salvation. In fact it may even invite a complacency that could be terminal — to us and ultimately to our culture.

Our individual commitment to tending the fruit of the spirit in our own lives — and to helping these develop in other people’s lives — must be unchanged regardless of what is going on around us, no matter how good or how bad it looks. We cannot look back longingly for “the good old days” or wait expectantly for the wonders of the 25th century because Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. “What would Jesus do?” is the wrong question. Better for me to ask, “What is Jesus doing?” and make sure I'm a part of it.

Filings is an ongoing section of this blog where the posts focus specifically on issues of Christian life. The name comes about because “filings” are the natural by-product of Proverbs 27:17: “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

I recently acquired a book entitled "A Year With C.S. Lewis" which features short, daily excerpts from many of his great works. I thought this morning's excerpt was especially apt.

It's from The Screwtape Letters, the book where Screwtape, a senior demon in Hell, counsels his young nephew, Wormwood, on how to best distract and deceive the human he's been assigned. This particular missive focuses on the value of extremism in faith ... or by extension, politics...football...blogging...

To the Extreme
Screwtape explains the usefulness of extremism:
I had not forgotten my promise to consider whether we should make the patient an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist. All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to be encouraged. Not always, of course, but at this period. Some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them yet faster asleep. Other ages, of which the present is one, are unbalanced and prone to faction, and it is our business to inflame them. Any small coterie, bound together by some interest which other men dislike or ignore, tends to develop inside itself a hothouse mutual admiration, and towards the outer world, a great deal of pride and hatred which is entertained without shame because the 'Cause' is its sponsor and it is thought to be impersonal. Even when the little group exists originally for the Enemy's own purposes, this remains true. We want the Church to be small not only that fewer men may know the Enemy but also that those who do may acquire the uneasy intensity and the defensive self-righteousness of a secret society or a clique. The Church herself is, of course, heavily defended and we have never yet quite succeeded in giving her all the characteristics of a faction; but subordinate factions within her have often produced admirable results, from the parties of Paul and of Apollos at Corinth down to the High and Low parties in the Church of England...

Football wasn't the only thing on the tube yesterday as I found myself pulled away from ESPN and NFL Network game highlights to watch the National Geographic Channel's program, "In the Womb: Animals." Using the latest 4D ultrasound imaging, state-of-the-art cameras and computer graphics the 2-hour program took us through the stages from conception to birth of yellow labradors, elephants and dolphins as they developed in their mothers' wombs.

The elephant goes from a single cell to a 260+ pound "baby"; the dolphin learns to swim before it is born and the dog also showed full-grown dog behavior while still in utero. The film work, showing color and movement, is spectacular and engrossing (and sometimes just gross, based on some of the Mall Diva's reactions). When you see the amazing close-ups and sharp detail of these developing species it is impossible not to think about the implications if the National Geographic Channel should devote the same study to comparable stages of human babies — pardon me, fetuses. As I watched the program I even thought outloud how great it would be if they used the same technology to cover human development, but I figured that would be anathema to contemporary thought and too controversial. Still, I was happy that this program was available as it couldn't help but make anyone watching it pause to think.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised — nay, thrilled — to learn that NGC in fact had already kicked off their series back in November with a study of human infants in the womb, and is planning to carry another "In the Womb" program in January featuring the development of human twins (maybe even triplets), including film of the unborn children playing, fighting and cuddling. (More details here). I'm definitely going to check my listings for repeats of the first show and the broadcast schedule for the upcoming one.

The footage in these programs is absolutely devastating to the "blob of tissue" arguments that persist mainly because people don't want to — or haven't been able to — see the truth for themselves. There's also something else in last night's program that was plain to see: intelligent design.

While the narrator went on and on about evolutionary development and millions of years of random coincidences that led to these "miracles of birth" in each of the animals, when you see the process up close like this — and give it even a moment's thought — it's impossible (for me, anyway) to believe each of these tiny but crucial steps could have happened by accident. For example, how does a dog's uterus "know" how to contract in such a way as to place and attach each puppy embryo an equal distance apart inside its walls? Yes, I know what the evolutionary models (and the narrator) say, but to cling to that despite the evidence of my own eyes seems to require an even greater leap of faith than what my superstitious mind is accused of making. But that's just me; you can come to your own conclusions. The important thing is that you take the time to watch this incredible series for yourself.

Note: how detailed is 4D ultrasound imaging? Here's a sample (the images and in utero photography on the NGC program are even more dramatic). You can see more images like this over here.

Given the prominence of this story I thought this latest development would be all over the media, but I didn't see anything about this on the Fox, CNN or New York Times main web pages. From the Washingon Times:

Probes dismiss imams' racism claim
By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
December 6, 2006

Three parallel investigations into the removal of six imams from a US Airways flight last month have so far concluded that the airline acted properly, that the imams' claims they were merely praying and their eviction was racially inspired are without foundation.

An internal investigation by the airline found that air and ground crews "acted correctly" when they requested that the Muslim men be removed from a Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight on Nov. 20.

"We believe the ground crew and employees acted correctly and did what they are supposed to do," US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader said.

(SNIP)

"We talked with crew members and passengers and those on the ground. We've done what we typically do in a situation where there is a removal or some kind of customer service at issue," Miss Rader said. "We found out the facts are substantially the same, and the imams were detained because of the concerns crew members had based on the behavior they observed, and from reports by the customers."

The Minneapolis airport police department's report on the incident said the imams' behavior warranted their removal. The imams were not accused of breaking any laws.

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is reviewing the actions of department members who were involved in the incident.

Secret Service agents questioned the imams, who are accused of making negative comments about President Bush and the Iraq war. Officials of the Transportation Security Administration were involved in screening the imams and their baggage.

"There is no indication there is any inappropriate activity, at least no indication at this time," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. "To my knowledge, we are only doing a review, and that is a fairly routine practice with incidents like this."

The Air Carrier Security Committee of the Air Line Pilots Association investigated the incident and said, "The crew's actions were strictly in compliance with procedures and demonstrated overall good judgment in the care and concern for their passengers, fellow crew members, and the company."

"The decisions made by all the parties were made as a result of the behavior of the passengers and not as a result of their ethnicity," the report concluded.

(SNIP)

Mr. Shahin told television reporters that he needed the seat-belt extension because he weighs 280 pounds. However, the police report lists his weight as 201 pounds. Weights listed for the other imams ranged from 170 pounds to 250 pounds.

I can't wait for Imam Shahin's diet book to come out.

According to an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Bible sales have been booming the last few years, driven in no small part by an interest in aesthetics as much as ethics. The basic black Bible, austere as a Quaker, is emerging like a butterfly from its conservative cocoon.

Always a dependable seller, the Bible is in the midst of a boom. Christian bookstores had a 25% increase in sales of Scriptures from 2003 to 2005, according to statistics gathered by the Phoenix, Ariz.-based Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, a trade group. General-interest bookstores, while declining to give figures, have also seen increasingly strong sales. "Bibles are a growth area for us and we're giving them more space in our stores," said Jane Love, religion buyer for Barnes & Noble. "It's partly because of the way they've evolved over the last three or four years."

Indeed, publishers like Thomas Nelson; Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Zondervan; and Tyndale House in Carol Stream, Ill. — which together represent an estimated 80% of the Bible market — have gone far beyond offering the Scriptures between black, burgundy, navy or white covers.

"For a long time the Bible was just the Bible," noted Kevin O'Brien, director of Bibles at Tyndale House. "You put it out there and people bought it. They didn't ask about the options, because there weren't any options. But now, especially in evangelical circles, people are seeing their lives not just in color but high-definition color, and they want the Bible to fit in with that. This is not your mother's Bible."

Actually, I use my grandmother's Bible. It's big, black and weighs about two pounds, but it has really large type that allows me to read a scripture reference in church without putting on my reading glasses. It also has reproductions of great, classic religious paintings. Oh, and it's the King James version, which, of course, is the Bible officially used by Jesus. How I doth love it!

Thus, following the gospel of Seventh Avenue, publishers are displaying their wares in the season's hot colors. "This year alone I've seen four shades of purple," said Ms. Love, whose stores have also done well with two-tone Bibles. The pink and brown model has been particularly popular. Bibles are also available in the colors of your college, with a fur cover, a flower-patterned cover, and to appeal to young adherents, with a camouflage cover, a metal cover and a duct-tape cover. Next spring Tyndale House will be bringing out a paperback Bible in a plastic case that looks like a flattened Nalgene bottle.

But Bibles are becoming as much personal statements as fashion statements. "What people are saying is 'I want to find a Bible that is really me," noted Rodney Hatfield, a vice president of marketing at Thomas Nelson. "It's no different than with anything else in our culture."

It used to be just carrying a Bible said enough about you; now we need one that is "really me"? Oh well, whatever rubs your Buddha, I mean, whatever floats your boat, as long as people care as much about what is inside the covers as they do about the covers themselves. Besides Grandma's Good Book, over the years I've owned and got a lot out of the New King James Version, the NIV and The Living Bible, and I do like to pick up my JB Phillips New Testament in Modern English from time to time. The most useful for me now, however, is the on-line Blue Letter Bible with its Search tools and multiple translations at the click of a mouse.

Using the Blue Letter Bible I can quickly search and compare 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in both the King James:

All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

And the New Living Translation:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.

Good stuff, that. Wish I had written it.

One of the unexpected benefits of blogging is the people my family and I have met that we otherwise might never have known if I hadn't started this blog (at my wife's urging) nearly two years ago. I'm not just talking about electronic contact, but actually getting to meet and socialize with new friends. One of the first people I met was Leo Pusateri.

Actually, our first meeting was less than memorable. Leo and I both started our blogs within a week of each other, and shortly thereafter we each made our first pilgrimmage to Keegan's. Each of us was introduced to the other bloggers there for the weekly trivia game and in the course of this to each other, but with all the new names, faces and aliases I couldn't quite place Leo the day after. Nevertheless he became the first-ever commenter to one of my posts and we became regular commenters on each other's blogs and frequent e-mailers. We didn't get to see each other all that much since he lives in St. Cloud, but we hooked up a few times and even got a round of golf in this summer.

Anyway, Leo announced this week that he's pulling the plug on Psycmeistr's Ice Palace, and the reason is flip-side of that blogging relationship coin. You see, blogging itself exists in the ether commonly referred to as "the blogosphere". As such there's a certain unreality to it as the things you read and the things you write - while a good measure of a man or a woman - aren't typically connected to a face and sometimes we lose that sense that there are "real people" behind each post and comment. That's why actually meeting the people behind your favorite sites is so satisfying. At the same time that relative anonymity encourages a certain amount of abuse and loss of perspective.

What I've always liked and admired about the Ice Palace is Leo's passion and direct, no-sugar-coating way of expressing his thoughts and ideals; his bluntness was the perfect bucket of water dumped on the airy confections that pass for the cornerstones of liberal idealogy. Leo has been fearless in expressing his views and guileless in disclosing who he is, where he lives and what he does for a living. In addition to the Ice Palace he was a regular contributor to the Murtha Must Go blog. When we golfed this summer he told me about some of the comment trolls that had mobilized as a result of MMG and who were extending themselves beyond the rough and tumble of the blogosphere to engage in tangible intimidation and physical harassment against him. (This is an all-too-real drawback of blogging; I know one lady blogger who has had to contend with petty vandalism and a stalker, and Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed had his house egged last weekend. Last year an innocent person who was merely thought to be MDE had his house vandalized.)

One such troll, though I don't know if he's directly related to the MMG site, has become such a threat that police intervention is a possibility and, for the sake of his family and his sanity, Leo has decided to pull back from the circus invisible, at least for a time. While that may seem like letting the terrorist win, you also have to realize that there's no cost-benefit analysis in the world that makes playing this out look like a good idea. Blogging, for all but a very few, is a hobby and an outlet; a way to do good and/or to do battle. But whether your on-screen persona is Don Corleone or Don Quixote, there's just no percentage in "stepping outside."

Trolls are one of the hazards of blogging and to be expected if you make a habit of stating your opinions and sticking to them. While some people want to debate (sometimes profanely), other trolls use the anonymity of the Web to get their jollies for (I imagine) the same reasons flashers hang out at the bus stop. (Hammerswing had a couple of these types plaguing his Comments section this summer, one of whom followed a Mall Diva comment back here to leave his filth. I had no qualms about nuking his butt - banning his ISP - at once.) It's one thing to attack someone's ideas and character on-line, and you can typically expect a robust defense in response; that's the blogosphere. It's something else to attack someone's job, property or loved ones; that's illegal.

All in all, the "good" folks you meet in blogging far, far outweigh the bad, even if one bad one skews the equation considerably. If there's one thing I've learned, however, from life and from blogging it is that you can't keep a good man down. We'll see you somewhere down the road, Leo!

Update:

Other tips of the hat to Leo here, here and here.

Hi guys! I know it's been a long time; my dad never misses a chance to remind me. Life around here has been hectic lately, and I really don't think I have anything to write about anyway, but he doesn't buy it.

Hmmm...What can I talk about?

We (okay, I mean my dad) went out and bought our Christmas tree last Saturday. Tonight it was finally put in it's stand. We probably won't decorate it for another week or so. Poor thing, it must feel neglected. I'm sure the tree-huggers will be after us soon.

So, I've been doing some Christmas shopping recently, and I'm very proud of myself. My favorite store this year for gifts is the Bibelot Shop, which is actually just across the street and half a block from Keegan's. By the way, I will be at Keegan's this Thursday, because I know that all of you have missed me so much.

And in other news, I have temporarily put the wrist sweaters away because of extremely freezing temperatures. Yes, that's right. All you wristsweataphobes can breathe easy. Now I have real mittens, the kind where the top flips up and velcroes to the back so fingers are free! Yay!

See you at Keegan's!

You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,

"Godly people give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will never be forgotten."

— 2 Corinthians 9: 7-9 (New Living Translation)

When Tiger Lilly was six years old she saw the advertisement in the newspaper for the Union Gospel Mission's annual Thanksgiving banquet for the homeless. She studied the photo of the elderly man with the long beard and old clothes. She read the headline that said just $1.79 would provide a full Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings to a hungry person. She looked at me.

"I have $1.79," she said, with some amazement. "I can buy someone's dinner!" I sent her upstairs to get her bank to be sure. There were a few bills in there and a lot of coins, and she methodically counted out the full amount. I kept my face non-commital as I asked her if she was sure she wanted to give that money, since it represented a lot of what she had in her bank. She was positive. I had her get an envelope to put the money into and that afternoon we drove over to the Mission. I could have simply written a check covering her contribution along with a larger one from my wife and I and mailed it in, but the Mission isn't far from our house and I wanted her to see where the money was going and have the personal connection of seeing the real people she was helping. We went inside and the chaplain there was an acquaintance of mine. He wasn't used to receiving direct contributions, but he took us into his small office, collected Tiger Lilly's envelope, earnestly wrote her a receipt and thanked her for her for giving, saying how much it would mean to someone.

I remembered that episode last week when I read the article in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) by Arthur C. Brooks analyzing the results of the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey. According to these results, 85 million U.S. households give money each year to non-profit organizations, while 30 million households do not. The differences between these two groups is not based on income, but on political and religious outlook, with conservatives and people of faith being the ones most likely to give and to volunteer. Besides giving to non-profits, this charity extends to giving to friends and neighbors and even to propensity to donate blood.

(Click here to read an excerpt from the article (emphasis mine):)

Why does Giving America behave so differently from Non-Giving America? The answer, contrary to what you might be thinking, is not income; America's working poor give away at least as large a percentage of their incomes as the rich, and a lot more than the middle class. The charity gap is driven not by economics but by values.

Nowhere is the divide in values more on display than in religion, the frontline in our so-called "culture war." And the relationship between religion and charity is nothing short of extraordinary. The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey indicates that Americans who weekly attend a house of worship are 25 percentage points more likely to give than people who go to church rarely or never. These religious folks also give nearly four times more dollars per year than secularists, on average, and volunteer more than twice as frequently.

It is not the case that these enormous differences are due simply to religious people giving to their churches. Religious people are more charitable with all sorts of nonreligious causes as well. They are 10 percentage points likelier than secularists to give money to explicitly nonreligious charities like the United Way, and 25 points more likely to volunteer for secular groups such as the PTA. Churchgoers were far likelier in 2001 to give to 9/11-related causes. On average, people of faith give more than 50% more money each year to non-church social welfare organizations than secularists do.

A second core value affecting charity shows up in the belief citizens have about the government's role in their lives. Some Americans (about a third) believe the government should do more to reduce income differences between the rich and poor — largely through higher taxation and social spending. Others (about 40%) do not favor greater forced income redistribution. This is a major difference in worldview — not just about taxation, but also about the perceived duty of individuals to take personal responsibility for themselves and others. This difference affects people's likelihood of voluntarily giving to charity. The General Social Survey shows that people who oppose government income redistribution donate four times as much money each year as do redistribution supporters.

Note that the charity gap is not due to anything the government is actually doing; rather, to what people think the government should be doing — in other words, nothing more than a political opinion. This fact throws a wrench into the traditional stereotype that conservatives in America are hardhearted while liberals are the compassionate ones. In the words of one common 2004 campaign yard sign in my town, "Bush Must Go! Human need, not corporate greed." However, the General Social Survey indicates that people who opine that government is "spending too little money on welfare" — not a viewpoint typically associated with George W. Bush's supposedly venal supporters — are less likely to give food or money to a homeless person than people who oppose greater welfare spending. Regardless of which view on welfare is superior, ask yourself this: Who will personally do more for a poor person today?

A third key value affecting charity is reflected in family life. Couples, even when they earn the same amount as single people, are more likely to give to charity, and the simple act of raising children appears to stimulate giving as well — children help us fill the collection plate even as they drain our wallets. Further, family life is the ideal transmission mechanism for charitable values: Data show that people who see their parents behave charitably are far likelier to be charitable themselves as adults.

As you probably noticed, the values predicting private charity in America tend to smile on the political right. Conservatives are twice as likely as liberals to attend a house of worship regularly; conservatives are one third as likely as liberals to say the government should "do more" to reduce income inequality; conservatives also have about 40% more children than liberals. Furthermore, there is a fringe on today's political left that goes beyond simple neglect of charity, and openly condemns it, claiming it lets governments off the hook from having to pay for services. So while there may be nothing inherently charitable about political conservatism, today's conservatives do outperform liberals on most measures of private giving.

(hide)

The article observed that some might be surprised by the discrepancy in the giving habits between conservatives and liberals given the stereotype of the heartlessness of the right. And of course it is common knowledge that religious people are all hypocrites. I wasn't surprised, however. Many of the people I know are always open and willing to help meet a need; they draw the line at institutionalizing one, however.

To some extent this may be due to believing there's something beyond yourself that you need to be accountable to. It can be highly motivational if you truly believe that one day you're going to stand before God and give an account for yourself. (And, as I've written here before, if God asks me if I gave to the poor I don't think he'll be impressed if I say, "Well, I paid my taxes.") But as 2 Corinthians says up above, it us up to each of us to choose what to give and that if we give cheerfully He will provide everything we need. It is the evidence of the latter in my life that leads me to give cheerfully, not out of a desire to receive more but out of the confidence that God will give me the means to give (providing seed to the sower as it says in verse 10). In contrast, what is the state of your heart and the measure of your actions if you believe there's never enough of anything to go around unless it's taken from another?

Giving is important because it's what God wants us to do, but taxes are the government deciding who can afford to give, and the repercussions of that affect more than just the wealthy; even to the point of hurting the working poor by stifling the economy. "Free will" (or "free market") giving, where the individual is responsible to decide how much he or she will give (or not give) is different. It also doesn't set up stultifying and self-perpetuating bureaucracies that don't have the incentive to ferret out fraud.

One of the greatest satisfactions of my life has been seeing my daughters grasp this important principle naturally from an early age. They've been tithers from the time they first received money and givers for as long as they can remember, and not just from obedience but out of joy. I remember how much they loved to put the money in the Salvation Army's red buckets everytime we saw one when they were little, and the five-year-old Tiger Lilly spontaneously giving a dollar of her own money toward the 10-year-old Mall Diva's first missions trip. I've observed the thoughtfulness and joy they've put into filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child each year, and watched them get involved with organizations such as Samaritan's Purse and Soldier's Angels, and Operation Starfish where the Mall Diva is helping a young mother develop the life skills she needs to provide for her family. The neatest thing, however, is that they don't have to have a program or some official ministry to get involved in in order to give; whether it's time, money, encouragement or, occasionally, blunt advice, they give easily out of their abundance of spirit to their friends and others.

So why do I feel like the one who's rich?

Filings is an ongoing section of this blog where the posts focus specifically on issues of Christian life. The name comes about because “filings” are the natural by-product of Proverbs 27:17: “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

It's the season for the rebroadcasts of all the TV Christmas specials, so I guess I'll re-run one of my own. Yes, it's time for the second annual "The True Meaning of Christmas Specials," brought to you by...well, I guess I haven't found anyone to sponsor this, so in the true spirit of Christmas I'll give it away.

The True Meaning of Christmas Specials

Perhaps I was like Scrooge seeing Marley’s face on his door knocker, but I’m almost certain that when I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special I heard Linus stand on stage and say:

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree to render unto Caesar, and that all the world should shop and pay sales tax, and all went to be taxed, everyone into his own mall. And Joseph also went up from Shakopee, into Bloomington, unto the Mall of America, (which is called MOA) because he was an American, to shop with his wife Mary, they being great with debt. And so it was, that, while they were there, the items were purchased that needed to be delivered, and they brought forth their credit card, wrapped in promises to pay and laid it on the counter because there was no money in their checking account.

And there was in the same country stewards, abiding in their homes, keeping watch over their televisions by night. And lo, the commercials from Mammon came upon them and the glory of the goods shown round about them and they were sore afraid they would miss a good deal. And the commercial said unto them, “Fear not, for behold I bring you great tidings of a good economy, which shall be to all who do their part. For unto you is laid out this day, in a store near you, all manner of precious items, and this shall be a sign unto you: 40% off.” And suddenly there was within the commercial a multitude of friends and family praising their gifts and saying “Glory to the Giver with the highest credit card balance, and on earth peace, good will toward all, just $29.95.”

And it came to pass that I kept all these things and pondered them in my heart.

Fear not, for this is not going to be a complaint on how commercial Christmas has become. Frankly, those complaints have become as traditional and meaningless to most people as holly and ivy (if you don’t know what these represent, look it up). Complaining about how the true meaning of Christmas is being ignored, without actually dwelling on this meaning, is merely spiritual lip service; kind of like singing “Gloria In Excelsis Deo,” without knowing what it means. For me the issue is not that commercialism obscures the meaning of Christmas, but the cultural camouflage that diverts attention. As a case in point, let’s look at the Christmas specials we watch with our families.

Despite my parody of the Linus speech earlier, the Charlie Brown Christmas special is a classic and a true Christmas special because it is one of the few that deals specifically with the birth of Christ. “The Little Drummer Boy” is another old one and favorite of mine that also does this, while the Veggie Tales “The Toy That Saved Christmas” is the highlight of the new generation. Many so-called Christmas specials, however, purport to be about finding the true meaning of Christmas, but where is the Christ in “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Story”? Watch these and most other shows and you’ll get the message that you can be what you want to be and you should do kind things for others, and that Bumbles bounce. Nice shows and nice sentiments all, but while Jesus would exhort us to be “nice” it isn’t why he came. Don’t forget that “for unto you is born this day in the city of Bethlehem a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Enjoy the shows with your family, but look for ways to highlight fundamental Christian concepts within the programs, even if these messages appear unintentional. Since everything will ultimately prove the word of God true, teachable moments are everywhere if we are alert to them. The classic movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” for example, really focuses on the importance of faith, at one point virtually reciting Hebrews 11:1 and 11:5-6. Don’t miss the opportunity to call this to your children’s’ attention. I once sat open-mouthed (but not slack-jawed) watching the SpongeBob Squarepants Christmas program for the first time. The story is that SpongeBob has never heard of Santa Claus until his friend Sandy fills him in. SpongeBob get so excited that he stands on a street corner proclaiming the good news to everyone (no one else has heard of Santa either) about how kind Santa is and about all the gifts he will bring. Soon, everyone is shouting, “We love Santa!” I turned to my daughter and said, “SpongeBob is an evangelist!”

Of course, SpongeBob is focusing on all the benefits that Santa brings, which is also a failing of modern evangelism. People are exhorted to “try” Jesus for all the blessings that will be added to their lives but if these don’t show up right away (or don’t show up in the way people expect) they get disillusioned, even bitter. This, too, happens in the SpongeBob Christmas show. We lose sight of the fact that the first benefit of the salvation we receive from believing in Christ is not in getting what we deserve, but in avoiding what we deserve.

A good story for illustrating this concept can be Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” You may think you know the story of Ebenezer (there’s a Biblical name) Scrooge, but look at it as a parable. Scrooge is greedy and cruel and oblivious to his iniquity. He doesn’t heed warnings to change, but because of another’s desire for him to avoid his fate, he is visited by spirits that convince and convict him of his sins and show him what is in store for him. In horror he repents and asks for forgiveness, vowing to change. He’s not concerned about the benefits of a new way of life; he just wants to escape the fruit of the old way. Waking the next morning and realizing his opportunity he says “Thank you (Holy Spirit) Spirits!” and is ever after known as “a man who kept Christmas (Jesus) in his heart.” (By the way, I happen to think the George C. Scott “Christmas Carol” is the best, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Mr. Magoo as well).

I’m sure there are many more examples in Christmas programs that I’ve left out but that have occurred to you. I’d love to hear what message or blessing you and your family get out of different Christmas shows, so feel free to leave a comment. Just don’t shoot your eye out!

Merry Christmas, my friends, and to your families!

By the way, Fraters Libertas has conveniently compiled a listing of many of the upcoming holiday specials. Joy!