Tag Archives: Christmas
Christmas Eve – Christ’s bloodline, John Milton, electric trains, and taking off the mittens
Throughout the centuries, the Creator of all things – the God of Gods and Light of Lights, Very God of Very God, this One who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, omnipotent, the One we worship and in whom we alone can put trust, the One who is to be our only comfort in life and in death – this Lover of our Souls and Compassionate Cradle for our beaten and bruised … There’s more to read here.
5 Christmas songs that deserve a listen this holiday season
This is a season that pulls out unbelievable nostalgia in people – spending hours on setting up the house with decorations, reminiscing over each and every ornament that goes on the tree recalling the Christmases of yesteryear, and opening all those Christmas cards and marveling at how life changes, kids grow, and yet many things stay the same. With all the end-of-year lists – from top albums of the year to top movies of the … There’s more to read here.
Advent Week III: Pink is Punk – Mary and Rosa Parks show us the way
One of the factoids regarding Christmas is that the “colors” of Christmas are not red and green. As much as I love the red and green themes of everything from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, A Charlie Brown Christmas to the Rankin and Bass stop-motion classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the colors of Christmas are traditionally…. wait for it… purple and pink. Yup… you heard me correctly… … There’s more to read here.
Advent week II: Fear Not! Maes Howe and the Light in the darkness
While we were still living in Scotland, our family made a trip to the Orkney Islands – a ring of islands far north of Scotland known for its ancient standing stones and long Celtic history. One of the prehistoric burial mounds we visited is called Maes Howe.
It is a large hill that had remained hidden for centuries. Those who had constructed the space had built it with some … There’s more to read here.
Advent week 1: Annie Dillard, Genealogies of Christ and a season of snowballs
Advent is the season of hope and expectation. It is knocking on the door and hoping beyond hope that the God we blithely evoke in prayers and service all year long will throw open the door and meet us face-to-face. ”Maybe this year…” we wonder to ourselves “perhaps this will be the year.” But like generations before us we also live in the cynicism of expecting that nothing will noticeably change … There’s more to read here.
EB White on Christmas and Relative Pronouns
One of the things I enjoy about Christmas are the occasional essays written over the years reflecting on how people understand, struggle with, celebrate, or simply tolerate this Yuletide season. The following s a wonderful essay by EB White (author of the famous “Elements of Style” and the classic children’s novels “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little”) celebrating the wonder of Christmas as seen through the essays of a grammar … There’s more to read here.
The Gospel according to George Bailey: Musings on “It’s a Wonderful Life”
As with most years, my wife and I sat in front of the fireplace and watched “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Perhaps it is because my Scots-Irish heritage goes back to the Bailey clan that I connect with George’s bildungsroman so well. I have to admit that I am a bit of a weeper when it comes to such things, and after years of watching the film (pretty much … There’s more to read here.
