Santa Symbolic of Christ

Share

22 November 2004

Why Santa Claus is a Christian Symbol

Many in our world will decry Santa Claus for taking away the focus from the Savior at Christmas. I heard today how a leader in a religious school felt justified in telling children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. How sad to poison their minds against one of the most powerful symbols of Christmas, one that, as I will attempt to convince you, leads men indeed to Christ and true Christianity.

Under pressure from Pagan threats, the powers that be combined Christ’s birth with pagan celebrations but kept the gifts. Over time, the legend of Kris Kringle arose, a man who traveled to good children at Christmas and gave them gifts according to their behavior. Those who permit Santa a place at Christmas do so generally on the basis of the gift giving, which commemorates the tokens the Wise Men brought to the baby Jesus. However, Santa himself reflects the Savior in many ways. He works all year long to give things away. He does so without expectation of recognition or reward, appearing in secret and giving without hesitation. He gives gifts proportionate to the behavior of children. He forces none to do his work in his stead, delivering the gifts personally on a single night before returning to his distant home. Children write to him, imploring him to shower them with gifts. One of the best images of Santa is from “Miracle on 34th Street” where Kris Kringle, acting as the department store Santa, sends shoppers to a competitor for a gift. He is concerned with the child’s happiness, not with the bottom line. Teaching children to believe in Santa Claus teaches them to believe in someone bigger than they are whose only desire is to bring men joy.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son… Santa gives. He never takes or expects us to give against our will just because he gave something to us. Ye are my friends…whom I delight to bless…and ye shall have inheritance with me. We receive blessings by obedience to his laws and commandments, but rather than give punishments, at least Santa gives children something useful- coal, which provides them with warmth and light and helps lead people back to Christ, the source of all that is good in this world. Jesus spent but a brief period doing good among men, then he went home to his father. He invites us to work with him as his elves, but forces none to serve. Jesus went about doing good, giving of his essence and strength to help others without hoping or even wanting gratitude or reward. He asked the lepers not to tell what he had done, and in one single night, he gave the greatest gift of all- the promise of freedom from death and sin for those who commit to serve and obey his word. He invites us to ask him for blessings and promises to answer our prayers. He knows who’s naughty and nice, but he usually gives us gifts despite the fact that we haven’t been “good little girls and boys” all year long.

Some fiends of capitalism took advantage of the popularity of this idea to market toys and possessions in order to maximize on the gift idea. Just like the servants of the adversary have done through all time, they counterfeit Christmas behind gifts, wrapping paper, and shopping so as to distract us from the true meaning of Christmas. Despite our best efforts, they will likely continue to provide opposition to the truth, mutating Kris Kringle into their spokesman and masking his role as a herald of Christ as they have done with all good things God gives man.

Let us be like Edmund Gwen as Kris Kringle and work for the happiness of children. There is happiness to be found in life so long as there is Christmas, and Santa Claus is the messenger of happiness and hope, who annually reminds us that there is something bigger than ourselves that acts for only altruistic purposes and that men can be good when they consider the needs of others.

Traditions at Christmas

Share

Most of the Christmas movies I remember and like are about families and came out when I was still living at home. I am close in age to McCauley Culkin, so I could empathize with him in "Home Alone".  I tried to watch "The Santa Clause" Tuesday night and realized just how old it was. It was a simpler time, about family and traditions and the like, more than about gadgets. in fact, there are very few electronics in this movie. Ah, how I miss those days! My family established good traditions for which I am grateful, and I yearn for the chance to set some with a family of my own. Until then, here are a few of my own.

I have to give SOS radio a thunderous applause for playing traditional Christmas music this holiday season. Other radio stations play "holiday songs", but SOS went out of their way to play predominantly carols as well as the songs reminiscent of my youth. You see, every year on Christmas Day my dad would play Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music, most of which is traditional and religious, rather than the tripe like Santa Baby and Feliz Navidad that predominates elsewhere. It made it feel more like Christmases when I was at home and helped me think more about Christ than the other stations ever will.

When I was young, Christmas was all about family. Although we didn't live near extended family, my parents spent time building our own traditions and making it a family affair. During the week prior to Christmas, we went out to look at lights in the neighborhood. My dad read from Luke 2 every Christmas eve and pontificated on the story briefly, and we had a series of musical presentations from each family member since all of us are musical. Before we could see Santa, dad set up the video camera, and before we opened presents, we had traditional pettel roll. We had to sing again before opening a present, and we took turns from eldest to youngest until they were gone. In the afternoon, we'd go for a walk, or in later years go to play tennis.

Christmas has magic because of families. The best Christmases I remember since leaving my parents' house were the ones where I made Christmas for a family. I found two families this year to help, from setting up the tree to telling stories to procuring presents. It helps make it magical when, on Christmas morning, the children awake to presents from Santa that are surprises to the parents as much as to the children, labeled with handwriting that the children do not recognize because they don't know how I write. It gives them hope in someone bigger than they are who believes in giving good gifts, and I like doing it because I believe that Santa is a great metaphor for Christ Himself. Since I don't have my own family or my own children, for a few days at least, I get to be part of that magic for others, and Christmas reminds me of what it meant when I was a boy.

After Christmas Eve, this will be a quiet holiday for me. My parents are going to visit the rest of my siblings, meaning this will be the first Christmas since we left home that my parents see everyone. Despite promises to the contrary, I am still without a family of my own, and when I get home, I'm working on taxes rather than on family memories, on physical fitness rather than on family togetherness, on prep for next term rather than on preparation for next Christmas. Many moons ago, I said adieu To my beloved Katmandu. She's the one with whom I desired to be For time and all eternity. There isn't anywhere I really desire to be since I'm off work until the New Year. Normally this time of year, I go for long walks every evening and talk to God or look for people who need help. Since I don't have a family of my own for which to care, I go looking for members of the Family of Man to help instead.

I like the idea of family togetherness, and traditional Christmas memories. We were a tight family, and I look forward to that possibility for my own family one day. God blessed me with a good family, and my buddy thinks I'll make a good father in my own right one day. Time will tell. Until then, I enjoy playing Santa for others. Since that post doesn't seem to have made it up on my blog, I'll hunt it down and post up this weekend why I think Santa makes a great allegory for Christ, which would be a very Christmasy thing to do. Joy to the world, the Lord is come, and I am so very thankful that He did. Merry Christmas to you all, especially you.

Peace on Earth

Share

Many people lionize the notion of peace on earth as if it's something more than an ideal. As an example, some of them point to the Christmas when, during the Great War, soldiers from the trenches organized their own armistice at Christmas and sang and celebrated together, drinking libations and exchanging gifts. The paradox of that story is that the next day those same soldiers resumed killing each other. As we wish each other peace and joy, I do not think that peace means what we think it means. In our Sunday School this past week, as we spoke about Christ's mortal life and His eventual return, I thought to myself about how Jesus himself described His mission and His coming. While it's well known that He didn't come to throw off oppression in a mortal and temporal manner, I don't think it's well understood how true that really is.

When Jesus first began His ministry, He went to the synagogue and read from the Torah as was their tradition when a man becomes a man. He chose a passage from Isaiah. Rather than war and justice and liberty, it speaks of mercy and hope and kindness. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Truly, the peace that the Prince of Peace seemed to offer was peace of mind, peace of heart, which might be why they protested Him so vehemently. That's not what they wanted. They asked Santa to throw off the Roman oppressors! Instead, Jesus came to heal their souls and leave the geopolitical establishment virtually untouched.

All too often we discount the value of inner peace. I used to complain that when I prayed mostly what I felt was peace of mind and peace of heart, but I realize now just how much I like that when I don't get it. Of late, as trials mounted, I felt very disquieted, and the peace and love I felt from my Maker gave me courage to press forward, confidence in good things to come, and direction that allowed me to seek a peaceable outcome. There are no fireworks. The status quo remains the same, but I feel better about the situation, and I have peace. I doubt the other parties privy to private matters can say the same.

Particularly this year, I value peace more in a time of turmoil. We had scares about ebola, about cop shootings, riots globally, and a whole extent of reasons to fear. I come home some nights and thank God that my life is quiet and boring. I don't have the flu, I am not trapped in a mine in Chile, I am not in Ukraine worrying about the Russian army, I am not in west africa worried about hemorrhagic fever, and I am not living behind the Cox Cable transfer box or in my car. I sat in church this Sunday and, although I am keenly aware of my weaknesses, I felt the love of God in my life and knew that He would take care of me. Monday morning, I even got some news that alleviated a worry and gave me clarity, and that was a peaceful moment for which I expressed gratitude all day.

I think it's wisdom to celebrate the birth of Christ just before the new year dawns. Just before we think of new beginnings, fresh starts, goals for personal betterment, and hopes for better things to come, we think about the Way by which those things really manifest in our lives. Because He lives, there is hope, there are second chances, and dreams can be realized despite our past. Because of Him, we need only let our mistakes trouble us with the trouble that leads to repentance. Just before we make changes, we think about the Agent of Change. Despite our disappointments with the previous year, we celebrate at its denouement the fact that there will be another year, perhaps a better one, because He lives. Last Saturday, I told someone and myself in so doing that our trials exist to remind us of our need for a Savior, and so I thank God this year as always for the chance and disposition to think about the Christ in Christmas.

Christ offers a different kind of peace than people usually expect. Until Christ returns to rule, there will not be peace on earth in a political sense, but we can have peace of mind, peace of soul, and peace in our hearts about our lives, our choices, and our circumstances any day of the year. In our sphere of influence, we can walk peaceably and be agents of peace. We cannot change the choices other people make, but we can decide how we regard them. We can be better. We can offer the other cheek. We can show them a more excellent way. We can be peaceable. In that way, we make peace and we are at peace despite the tumult and chicanery with which we find ourselves surrounded. The ruderal and rude world may rail around us, but we can feel the comfort of the Comforter because we learned to follow and look toward the Prince of Peace. Until He comes again to rule, the peace is personal. Every day, that peace can be real.

Merry Christmas to you all, and may you have peace and joy today and every day through Christ the Lord.

Play Your Best For HIM

Share

For me, Christmas really only begins the Sunday prior, when my congregation performs their Christmas program. Usually, it involves a series of musical numbers and narration, during which I shut my eyes and just listen to the Holy Spirit. Mostly, I don't really feel like or realize that it's Christmas because I only finished giving final exams last Monday and posted grades on Wednesday, and so until mid December I'm busier than ever with work. This year, I also shifted into a new office and work space at work, and it was a disaster area governed by entropy, so this last week in my free time I've been taking care of errands and working feverishly at work so that it doesn't feel much like Christmas. Finally today I had time to finish the gifting and take care of the people who mean something to me and settle down to think about the season.

One part of yesterday's program that particularly touched me was the bishop's remarks on his favorite Christmas hymn.  His choice surprised me and caught my attention.  Lately, I came across a series of internet cartoons that criticize "Little Drummer Boy" as an inappropriate gift for the Christ child. Apparently these people failed to realize what message the text communicates, and until the Bishop recounted them, I realized I never registered them either.

You see, each of us are like that drummer boy. What do we really have to give the Christ? He is the Son of the Living God, and He has no need of our gold, frankincense or myrrh. Like that boy, we "have no gifts to bring, parum pa pum pum". We have our time, our talents, and our abilities. We have our will. Neal A Maxwell once said that our will is the only thing we can really give to God, our genuine desire to serve him. When the drummer boy offers to play his drum, that's what he's doing- genuinely desiring to do something worthy. Despite attempts to portray it as some kind of grunge display of banging drums, I doubt that's what the song's author had in mind. When you listen to it, it's hardly a harsh drum beat. Sure, percussion isn't usually pretty, but remember that the piano is a percussion instrument too. It wasn't about being a good musician or playing Chopin or giving the best gifts. Sometimes we forget that the first people to visit the Christ were shepherds, ostensibly among the humblest of professions. Rather, like the song reminds us, "I played my best for him, parum pa pum pum". We play our BEST for Him. Finally, what these cartoonists miss is that at the end, even though this was a drum solo, the Christ child smiled at the drummer boy. His best was fit for the King.

"So, to honor Him, parum pa pum pum" I will continue to play and bang on THIS drum. This year, more than ever before, I am grateful for the coming of Christ. It was a tough year in many ways, and like so many before it, I'm glad to see most of it go. I sat in the meeting thinking and listening and registered for the first time in my life that I've been going about this all wrong. The Atonement of Christ wasn't for IF we sin, IF we fail, IF we aren't good enough. He came because it was certain that we could not get back alone. Which of you can, by simple force of will, add an inch to your stature? Which of you can erase a mistake? You can wear platform shoes or keep secrets, but in and through Christ's sacrifice, that is the only way we can hear that the Lord remembers our sins no more, covers our pains forevermore, and welcomes us to His presence to depart nevermore.

I don't really know what I have to offer. People who know me well betimes tell me how wonderful I am only to say "You're a great guy, but..." when I don't validate their worth or fulfill their expectations. For some reason, God not only knows my name but also cares about me. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whoso believeth should not perish but have everlasting life. Until this year, I was pretty confident that I was a great guy. I was fairsure that I was a person worthy of veneration. I knew I was no paragon, but I am even more acutely aware now of my weaknesses. I really hope I haven't led anyone astray who followed my lead. You see, my decisions set me up to either be scapegoat or saint, and since sainthood isn't really possible, I'm afraid I'll fail. Well, I will. That's why Christ is such a special message.

The first visitors to the stable where Christ was born were shepherds. They had very little to offer. What they did that mattered most was went abroad and told everyone what they saw and felt and learned from the angels and from the visit to Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Maybe they were not as articulate as they would like or couldn't convey their feelings effectively or didn't get to everyone, but if God wanted that message spread perfectly, He would do it Himself. Instead, He invites us to help Him. I am a poor boy too. I have no gifts fit to lay before the King. I desire greatly to honour Him, to give good gifts to Him, to play my best for Him. I hope that when the final accounting is taken of my life and my drum solo ends, He will smile at me and smile upon me and be merciful to me.

Barack Almighty

Share

With rare exception, I dislike Jim Carrey movies, but one in particular teaches a powerful lesson about work and rewards. In the movie "Bruce Almighty" God gives Bruce the power to act in His stead, and Bruce decides to make things easy so as not to be distracted from his will by simply giving everyone what they demand. Soon this makes problems for Buffalo NY until God returns and sets things right. Far too often in our lives, we insist that God give us everything we like, whether that God is our Father in Heaven or government, only to discover that we're neither happy nor well. Truly, James Madison proved prescient that what we achieve easily we esteem lightly.

For most of Barack Obama's presidency, this nation lived under a Democrat dominated government that could deliver what denizens demanded. Despite all of their achievements- amnesty, Obamacare, gun control measures, a bloated budget, ad infinitum, neither the Democrat politicians nor their constituents are happy. They got everything they demanded, but they are not satiated. They demand more. Apparently they forgot that Barbossa taught us that all the pleasurable company, fine food, and drink cannot slake our lusts. Barack Almighty answered their prayers, and although he didn't give them everything, he gave them things that Democrat politicians have promised for decades, and the people are still miserable, poor, and far from panacea.

Many people in life complain when God doesn't answer their prayers even though most of them defy His commandments. We assume that we know what we truly desire, that we know what's good for us, and that our plan and vision is better than His. Despite what Isaiah wrote, we think our way is higher, better, and purer than God's and we demand our will be done. Then we often have to crawl before Him and petition Him to fix our plight and humbly wait whilst God unties the knot we made. We constantly go after things that are not good for us or are not good when it comes to God's intend regarding us, and so sometimes He intercedes to protect us from ourselves when we go after things we ought to ignore. He knows that if we get everything we claim we want we will serve the natural man and end up far from fulfillment of our eternal potential.

If God gave us everything we asked, we would become dependent on Him rather than like Him. Consider what you would be likely to do if God were more of a genie than a deity. By a rub of the lamp, god would appear and grant your every wish immediately, even if it wasn't good for you or what you actually intended to request. We'd end up with things we didn't need, didn't want, didn't like, and didn't intend because it would come easily. Rather than working, we'd turn to him to wave a magic wand and make all of our dreams come true. Soon, we'd cease appreciating what we have because we could have anything we like. Nothing would have value, including our lives, if we could simply have everything we like. The value of a thing is in what it takes to acquire it. That's why people waste easy money, avoid easy women, and whine when they have everything they asked.

God denies us immediate gratification because the value of a thing is partially related to what it costs us. If a thing costs us little, then we esteem it as dross and refuse. When everything comes easily, we esteem nothing. This is why the liberal panacea is no panacea. When everything comes cheaply, nothing will. We cannot be satisfied by having everything. We choose things that are unwise. If everyone won the lottery, we'd all get $5, and that's hardly worth the effort. If everyone's team wins, there are no losers. Everything has its opposite so that we can learn to eschew the evil and relish the virtuous. In a time of "your way right away" and "on demand TV" and whatever whenever, the poor of today do not realize that they are better off in many cases than the wealthy of yesteryear. Without having to achieve, they see only that others have more and turn to envy. For this reason, particularly between Thanksgiving and Christmas, God asks us to possess an attitude of gratitude because it gives us perspective. I do not live in my car. I do not have arthritis. I am not living in a country at war. I have a roof over my head, money in the bank, food in the fridge, and friends on the other end of the phone. Sure, life could be better, but I thank God for all of my blessings, even sometimes for the unanswered prayer. For now, His message in some cases is, "Not yet", but that means that one day it might be. What should be will be when the time is right. Who am I to say when that is?

Governor's Fitness Challenge

Share

Dear Governor Sandoval:

I hope this finds its way into your hands directly, because I feel strongly that it will get lost in the shuffle when it ought to be brought to your attention. I write to make you aware of an issue because I think it causes more problems than it solves, and I think it's easier to right something when you know about it. I urge you to consider the unspoken message this communicates to State Employees, many of whom have low morale and lower wages than they hoped in order to comply with your predecessor's attempt to balance the budget. Many of us feel put upon, and you are in a position to change that.

Last week, I received my "reward" for participating in the October NV 150 Wellness Challenge, and I felt far from rewarded. Rather, it seems that someone in your office chose a gift, not with thought, but with urgency to get something out to us without regard for how it would be received. The "gift" included two items in which I am not interested and for which I have no use. Both of them came across as tawdry and jejune, hardly worthy of consideration as a fit reward for the many hours of exertion put into this challenge. The first item was a piece of jewelry that can only be described as a gawdy bauble. I am a single male, and I know no female, including family members, to whom I would consider gifting it. it is poorly made and of absolutely no worth to anyone, except perhaps to the "artist" who was likely handsomely compensated for something that might never sell on the open market. The second item was a pack of special playing cards. It is against my religion to engage in games of chance, and I refuse to keep playing cards in my home. Furthermore, I can get these at any casino in town for free. Neither of these items can be considered a fit prize to the average person.

I suspect the issue lies with members of your staff who made poor choices. Gifts were given without regard for whether they were appropriate to my gender or considerate of my religious sensibilities. Perhaps the choices were made in haste, as an afterthought, and anonymously, left to people who have no interest in due diligence. I would have preferred to receive nothing at all, or perhaps you could have sent me the money unwisely spent to FEDEX the package to my house since the gifts will in all likelihood find themselves in the trash. Your office kept the actual identify of the gift clandestine, and I would have exempted myself from the program if I had known I would receive these two trinkets so as to make room for someone who valued these items, since they have zero value to me.

Hopefully, you will speak with these individuals and find a way to correct the choices that led to this travesty of generosity. As these gifts have no value to me, neither of us have gained from the virtues of the other. I have no interest in keeping them as a momento of my achievements, and so you gain no credence for having given them. Instead, I feel like a relative to whom one gave an old fruitcake or a pair of used socks. Particularly during the Christmas Season, it would have been nice to have something of actual value that I could put to use procuring a gift for someone about whom I care, particularly given the many years during which State Employees have worked without any kind of raise while costs rose. I expect this was done without your specific knowledge, and I wanted you to know that it made me feel unappreciated to receive "gifts" I would never use and for which I have zero desire. I was one of the top 150 in the state, and I hope that others received better items or that they feel more rewarded than I. If not, this is your clarion call to correct the actions of those to whom your office delegated the task.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely-

Doug

Update: Here is a picture of my "prize".

What Professors Do During the Break

Share

Last year for Christmas, I came down with Norvovirus and spent a miserable break between the two ultimate holidays of the year. In talking with other professors, this appears to be both common as well as easily explained. You see, we remain in constant contact with students, many of whom do not know they are sick, and we are under stress. At first the stress helps us, but when the semester fades so do we, finally succumbing to whatever bug they happen to pass. At least we can't say they never gave us anything, and there's plenty to share. In fact, many of us spend our breaks recovering from illness rather than lounging by the pool like many students seem to believe.

During the semester, we keep things under check as best we can. Like my desk at home, our lives become more difficult to keep tidy as the weeks wear on, but with the help of adrenaline, we soldier on and keep things in a controlled state of chaos. Once the stress of achievement wanes, we frequently weaken due to exhaustion and since our adrenaline drops without the urgent and important hubbub of academia to keep us in a state of constant agitation, we fall under the weather. Rather than recuperating in relaxation, we find ourselves seeking remedies and rest in order to reset for another term. I've been working a full load now for 3.5 years, and at my father's suggestion, insistence, and advice, I'm taking next summer off from teaching before I burn myself out, particularly before I learn to hate teaching.

The worst part of breaks isn't the colds and flu as much as it's the politics. They like to barrage us with emails even when we are off campus, forcing us to work. They like to change textbooks or course materials in such a way that we must prep new material in order to teach the same class. In my case, they like to assign me a potpourri of different courses every term to keep me in a constant learning curve or to deprive me at least of as much redundancy as possible. Most teachers have multiple sections of the same course. At most, I have two. Once I had zero. Somehow, I managed to only come unprepared for the right class once that spring, and I felt a sense of satisfaction at having kept that failure rate so low. There are meetings, bloody meetings, expectations, stupid expectations, and then there's jockeying for sections with people who are connected more than they are qualified while the best professors are slowly squeezed out in favor of boot-licking toadies.

During the break we all wonder how much longer we can do this. Many are close enough to retirement that they would welcome the chance if economics permitted or if they were terminated. I don't know if anyone does this for 30 years, and I don't think I could, which is why I'll take the summer off and see if I'm part of their long-term strategy. So far, I accepted Saturday courses, courses that created scheduling conflicts, last minute changes to my load, overload, and other things every time asked except for once hoping it would win me a place. I don't think that worked. We shall see.

This break, I hope I won't be sick either with a cold or with the culture of higher education. I will thank God for the chance I had these past few years to meet fine people and change perspectives. I will mourn the loss of friends made and opportunities missed by those I met and knew and loved. Most of all, I will miss my Kat. Particularly this time of year, we reflect on what we have. I know my ancestors would gape in awe at my affluence, and I think my paternal grandfather looks down with approbation. Like Thomas More told Richard Rich, he thought I should be a teacher, and with all due humility, I'm pretty good at it too. Maybe after this break I'll be ready to do it again and do it well.

Check for Loaded Guns

Share

People offer you things all the time, and usually they are good for you. Sometimes, what looks like a good idea is really a loaded gun. Owing to my experiences, I have grown far more jaded for my age than I should be, and I look at people warily when they offer me anything, particularly if it sounds too good to be true. I have learned by sad experience that most of those opportunities are snake oil in drag, and so I know that they come loaded and likely cost me either more than I expect or something dear to me.

When I started college, I learned to distrust the "friendly" telephone call. Almost every Sunday when the phone rang, it was someone from church asking me to fill in for someone else's failure to properly prepare. Knowing that I would be home and have nothing else to do, people frequently turned to me. At first, I was flattered to be wanted; then I realized I was being used, so I took to taking walks for hours on Sunday morning and going down to the river to feed the homeless so as not to be a crutch on which others could lean. Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. I grew so suspicious of the loaded friendship that one Sunday, when my father called just to chat, I answered, "What can I do for you?" as became my modus opporendi. When he told me that he just wanted to find out how I was, I realized how suspicious I was.

Many of the people I meet try to sell me their arrangement as a win-win when it's anything but that. Sometimes it's not on purpose, but some people do so knowing full well that it will be a problem. Whenever I handle a gun, the first thing I do is check to see if it's loaded. You do this to make sure, even if you have good habits, that it can't accidentally shoot you or anything else. You see, as long as it's not loaded, a gun is just a very expensive hammer, and like all hammers it's there to drive in things that are sticking out so that they are more flush. If however the gun is loaded and something happens, even if you survive, it may still cost you your life, at least the life you were currently living.

Friendship no more implies absolute trust than absolute trust implies friendship. I take very few people on account, having been promised frequently that people will pay me back or make it up to me only to do nothing of the sort. I still remember the first girl who promised me a rain check for standing me up on a date; not only did that never happen, but she married my close college friend instead, leading me to think that she never intended to go out with me let alone make good on her representation. I take cash up front, I refuse to accept checks, and I ask questions. I look with my own eyes, educate myself, and do much of the legwork personally not because YOU have burnt me but because I have been burnt. I check to see if the deal is loaded. What will it actually cost me?

Particularly in our modern world, it pays to check for loaded guns. Years ago when a young female friend cut me off because her parents hated her talking to a man more than ten years her senior because we "only want one thing", I told her that she should listen. Although I know I'm different, I know that most people do have ulterior motives, and it's better to be safe than to assume you are the exception. The blade will catch you, the arrow will pierce you, and the stone will break you if they hit you where and when you are vulnerable. Guns do not discriminate. If they are loaded and someone pulls the trigger, they can kill whatever stands in their way. Properly used, guns are a wonderful tool. In the hands of fools, they make only blood in the marketplace. You need not be jaded and cynical as I am, but you need to watch your own back. No matter what others may say, nobody can care as much about your own welfare as you can, and if you're not watching your own back, then it's entirely possible that nobody will.

Misleading Science Data

Share

I read recently of a pseudoscientific experiment conducted on a college campus concerning how toilet paper dispensers unravel. The "researcher" did a blind test to see if there was a preference for whether the paper was dispensed over the roll or under it. Like many scientific experiments, this experiment included too many variables and lacked a control group for comparison. As is prone to happen in pseudoscientific endeavors, the person making the claims jumped to conclusions without considering other factors. Although interesting, it is hardly conclusive nor useful as a determinent of anything whatsoever besides the fact that toilet paper vanishes from the bathrooms.

Proper scientific studies involving people must inform the people that a scientific study is underway. There were zero signs indicating that our behavior was being studied, but thankfully there were also no cameras mounted in the bathrooms to violate our privacy. Had I known that they were studying something, this would have changed my behavior. If I knew I were studied, I would make sure that my preference were known, that I included all relevant items, and that I made sure that anyone who didn't know was aware that a change might result based on the data collected. Instead, they concluded that we always do exactly what we prefer. As a biochemist, I have taught biology labs, and we discuss altruistic behavior, which illustrates that sometimes people do what is best, even if it's not best for them, however rarely that may occur. Since that happens, it renders the conclusion irrelevant, because at least some people didn't choose always what they personally prefer.

Studies with too many variables often unjustly ascribe outcomes to the variable of interest when it's coincidental instead. The researcher made no mention of the sample size either in terms of users or bathrooms considered and failed to specify the limits besides "my campus". Well, even then, that's hardly telling, because that's not my campus, and the student body will change next year as will the one where I work as well. The researcher did not consider the disparate behavior of custodians, some of whom may have an already biased proclivity to install toilet paper rolls in a certain fashion. Additionally, it assumed that the rolls were used to wipe and not as tissue or stolen for personal home use or used to toilet paper a car, building, office, or person, which is a different set of outcomes altogether. The researcher failed to note whether the dispensors were all installed on the same side of stalls, which might change which roll one chooses due to flexibility rather than preference. Although one could conclude that this served as a benchmark for future studies, because they didn't reduce the variables sufficiently, we cannot conclusively link the outcome to the variable of interest.

Many pathways of both genetics and behavior intersect, but they do not always do so on purpose or for the same reasons. Even people who prefer the same things as you may prefer them for completely different reasons, sometimes reasons you find personally repugnant. Misbegotten conclusions project similar values, actions, and morays onto a diverse group of individuals, particularly when, in this instance, they are not told that their actions are being measured. I do not always choose toilet paper the same way. When I use the restroom, I sometimes notice that rolls offer both under and over paper dispensation. I prefer one, but I usually will take paper from the smaller roll, not because I prefer it, but because I know that the sooner the roll is spent the sooner that custodians will replace it with a fresh one. In this example, my behavior has nothing to do with preference of dispensation but with preference about having more toilet paper available on my next visit. What matters most to me is not how I obtain the paper but that it is there to obtain.

While it may be possible to do this scientifically in a blind study, this study was neither scientific nor conclusive. There was a time when there was no toilet paper at all. Furthermore, not all paper is the same. I will take certain brands over others due to factors more important to me than the manner in which I obtain them. This study presumed that the most important thing to everyone was how the paper came off the roll. How is irrelevant if I can't get it or if I can get it better elsewhere, and let's not forget all the times I enter a stall and change because some nincompoop unirated on the seat. I don't choose those rolls, not because of how they are rolled, but for sanitary reasons instead. Coincidence is not causality. People are claiming that it's false to claim that global warming is a hoax because it's colder this winter than normal when they use the same logic as evidence for it when it's absurdly hot in the summer. So many things they claim to be true simply vanish from the news. Lest we forget, swine flu, SARS and Ebola were supposed to wipe out life as we know it, and none of those are important anymore despite the vast army of scientists working on them. Proper science comes from proper methods. Since men are flawed, I don't expect our methods to ever conclusively answer anything, as if an imperfect thing could perfectly describe anything more complex or perfect than itself.

Enough and to Spare

Share

For many reasons at Christmas, I think about how much I have, compare it to others and ask myself where I stand. Perhaps this is because Ebenezer Scrooge defines this time of year as a time when you find yourself a year older and not a penny richer. Perhaps it's because we see people milling about the retailers in a frenzied attempt to get that item their kids "must have" but won't care about a few days after Christmas. Perhaps it's because we watch the gladiators at play on sports fields earning millions because they can catch, throw, or hit a ball. Perhaps it's because I'm still at the bottom of my pay scale at work while others climbed higher this year. Perhaps it's really because Christmas is about family, and because I feel that those with good families are the richest among us. Whatever the reason, I think about myself, and I realize things about others.

In truth, I don't actually need more money. You reach a point where after you earn a certain amount you change. For me, this level comes when I earn a certain amount above what I actually need to live, at which point I start frittering it away because I can. There is another professor who takes every class he can and earns almost six figures after his overload, but that's far more than I need if I'm single. Also, if I earn too much more, I get to pay extra income tax penalties because I earn too much for a single guy.

People often opine the fact that educators earn less than entertainers when it's actually quite simple. Nobody would pay to watch a teacher teach or a doctor do actual surgery, so there is no advertising in school or the operating room. Entertainers, whether in sports or in cinema, are paid, not so much for what we see them do, but for what they do for their boss. Essentially, these people are paid a commission on the advertising revenue they generate. The more people watch them, the more advertising they can sell, and the more they can earn. In truth, they get a paltry sum considering how much advertising sells. If nobody watched them, they would be paid about what they're actually worth. True students pay me to teach them, but I don't have a studio audience, I probably will never have one, and that's totally ok with me.

Someone once told me "some people are so poor that all they have is money" and I agree with that. A few weeks ago, my buddy and I were talking, and some other people overheard me saying that money won't make you rich. You can buy company, but you can't buy good company. you can buy pleasure, but you can't buy love. You can buy health care, but you can't buy good health. Money buys many things, but it won't make you happy. It's a means.

Knowing when you have enough and to spare is an important skill that's difficult to acquire. Even I overexerted myself these past few months and hurt my foot working out too much. Other people have 40 scarves or 120 pairs of shoes or so many cars that they need an elevator in their garage. This year, knowing that I earned far more than I need, I actually gave away an entire month's worth of pay to help people I knew. Some of it went out in gifts they needed, and some of it went to paying bills or whatever, but I know that God gives us gifts so that we can help other people. I don't know how to spend more than I need well, and although other people may not use what I give them well either, that's out of my hands. I am thankful that I had a decent year. Maybe next year something will change for the better and be a blessing disguised as a blessing.

Black Friday and Gray Thursday

Share

I love Thanksgiving- Food, family, and festive family traditions putting up Christmas decor. It's a shame they ruin it with shopping. At one point in my life, there was a point to rush out and grab gifts for people I love, but now I mostly just buy things I intend to buy anyway because they are on sale that weekend. This year, I didn't go anywhere at all. I stayed home, worked in my yard, and ordered online, and it was a peaceful and glorious followup to the Thanksgiving calm.

Gray Thursday began this year with two extra weeks of pre-black friday sales and Christmas music. I understand that with Thanksgiving being so late stores are desperate to break even, but I have to wonder at their strategy. Doesn't it make more sense to have sales at other times of year and break even earlier? Besides, it looked to me while perusing ads that everyone proposed to sell the exact same things for the exact same prices. Two items of note I remember. My jeans were actually on sale at Walmart for under $10 like every year, and since I lost weight I needed a smaller size. Other stores were advertising door busters at $17 or more. Some other stores were selling 22lr ammo as doorbusters limited to one box each at the same price Walmart charges every day of the year. So much for the shortage being over.

Instead of planning a shopping trip, I looked at all the things I don't need and helped my folks decorate for Christmas. Usually my kid sister plays that major role, but she's not around this year for the first time since she was born, and so I got to fill in the gaps. Just like in our prayers, I think we rush through the gratitude portion and into the portion where we try to boss God around the universe with a Wish List that's more about demands than humble petitioning. I was grateful I didn't have to go out and waste time standing in lines I didn't expect spending money I don't have to buy things I don't need to impress people I don't like (I saw that quote misattributed today to the movie Fight Club when it predates that flick). I spent time with my family and then working on my own domicile, and it felt good even though I was exhausted thoroughly.

Before we parted ways, my dad and I talked about family traditions at Christmas. He used to go out Christmas eve with my sister to K-Mart just to people watch and for fun. Instead, this year, he and I went over and watched people rush over on Gray Thursday to be the first to buy things in a commercial conformity. We talked about old Christmases, about our traditions, and I thought about how much I prefer the experiences of my childhood to what I can see today in the world at large.

Armed with warnings about the low quality of Black Friday merchandise and aware from previous years that things go on sale more deeply later, I decided to do something else this year. My yard still looks like a construction site, but I have made visible progress on something to please the eye and gladden the heart. Rather than follow the shrupshire sheep, I gave thanks and then didn't petition my maker for anything. There is only one thing I would ask for Christmas this year, but that choice is up to her. My life, this year, are pretty great. Although there were no fireworks, I realize that I'm wealthier than most people alive now and better off than the wealthy of yesteryear. Nothing bad happened, and that's rare to say, and things continue to be well. You can't buy that on Black Friday, but I can ignore Grey Thursday and see that sunlight shines through the clouds.

Does Home Depot Hate America?

Share

Even with Black Friday this week, I may not patronize Home Depot. I shop there because it’s convenient, because it’s cheaper in many instances than stores like Lowes, and because they have certain items I prefer over those offered by competitors. However, I have never seen a business so apparently disinterested in serving the American citizen. They seem to not like the very men and women who make their business profitable. That’s sort of like a cow kicking the woman milking it. Home Depot may kill itself.

Home Depot doesn’t offer regular military discounts. On Veteran’s Day, my father, who is a decorated combat veteran, was given some glib comments about how they don’t usually give military discounts. It was Veteran’s Day. How ungrateful can you get? If you are a veteran, you usually have to ask a manager to certify the discount, and they never give the discount on lumber. Who doesn’t buy lumber from Home Depot? I don’t know where else to buy it sometimes. Last time I bought some, which was within the last two weeks, I went to Lowes because it was cheaper and because they give 10% off on lumber as well. Your loss, Home Depot.

Home Depot is allegedly behind the amnesty program initiated this weekend by the President. I don’t know exactly how they benefit, because I do go to Home Depot regularly because they will sell to the college and wait 90 days to get paid. However, they do seem to benefit somehow from cheaper labor. Their prices are already lower than other home improvement stores, and if they can get even cheaper employees, why not? Maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe it’s about all those migrant aliens in the parking lot who glare at me when I don’t offer them work. Notice you rarely see alien day laborers outside Lowes, at least not in Vegas. Home depot already has poorer customer service. The store closest my house almost begged me after I had a positive interaction to write them a review. It’s nigh impossible to get help from someone there, and when someone deigns acquiesce to my request, they do so reticently, and look visibly annoyed to have to help me. Screw that.

Coupons come with far too many codicils at Home Depot. Several recent mailings included appropriately vague language to draw customers in with a bait and switch. What they don’t know is that my grandfather once worked in advertising, and so I am frequently able to leverage his expertise to get them to honor the advertisement as written. Your 40% off isn’t on everything, only on clearance items? Well, it doesn’t say that, so you can either honor it or respond to a complaint. I have the time to fight this kind of crusade because I’m a single male, and sometimes knights errant fight impossible causes because they need to be fought. Whether they forget to list the limitations or list a line of limitations that rivals the possible counterindications of a pharmaceutical, I always have to read the fine print at Home Depot, and quite frankly their ads are not worth considering any more.

I love my home, this United States of America, and I grew up knowing about the Home Depot because my dad fixed many things at home himself. Home Depot was part of my life growing up, and now they’re more of a side thought. I will continue to shop there despite commercial shenanigans because they have product lines that I prefer at prices lower than their competitors. However, they should beware. Eventually the double speak grows so large that I prefer to pay more and patronize other competitors. Almost every company that does that risks driving itself out of business with its duplicitous and unpatriotic behavior. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Home Depot, empor.

Good Sheep For the Shepherd

Share

All too often in our sermons, our conversations, and our lives, we consider what other people should do better and forget to critique ourselves. Today in Sunday School however due to a happenstance pastoral memory from an older woman, we all had the opportunity to ask ourselves if we are being good sheep. You see, we think usually in terms of being shepherds, tending to others in the stead of the master, but even if you are a shepherd, to Him you are a sheep, ALWAYS. The onus therefore falls on us to be good sheep and thereby assist the Good Shepherd in bringing God's children safely in from the fields.

The woman mentioned told a story about a sheep her great grandfather tended who pushed other sheep off of a bridge. Nobody seems to know why this sheep did this, but it necessitated one additional shepherd being there to rescue sheep from the brook below and return them to the herd as his sole purpose. At this point, I pointed out how the rest of the sheep never seemed bothered that their brother returned or that one among their number mistreated them periodically in the same way and in the same place. They had learned to be good sheep for the shepherd and not create any more work after the one miscreant hurt others.

Although part of the lesson, the instructor omitted mention of Ezekiel 18 until I brought it up in context of the onery sheep and the others. You see, we like to think of ourselves whenever possible as good sheep. We're out there trying to save others when we haven't even bothered to check ourselves. We are critical of sheep who kick others off bridges, mock those that fall in the water, and sometimes refuse to let them back into the fold. Yet, if those things ever apply to us we hypocritically demand "christ-like" treatment and readmission without reprobation. We do not allow the atonement to affect the lives of other sheep. When the onery one rehabilitates himself, we still recall how he bullied us. When those who fall as a consequence of his detours, we don't like to let them back in with full fellowship. Ezekiel talks about how the Good Shepherd has no joy in losing ANY sheep. That's why there was an atonement, so that every sheep that desires to be part of His herd may come, may stay, and if they stray they may count on Him to offer them a chance to return to full fellowship.

In order to be good shepherds or good sheep, we have to learn to see others as God sees them. I love F. Enzio Busche's admonition: "When you cannot love another person, look into that person's eyes long enough to see the hidden rudiments of a child of God." That's what we are. We are all God's children. I know that sometimes it's hard to love people who hurt us, and God knows that I pray betimes for people who wronged me, not because I love them, but because I know HE DOES. They are precious to Him, and I think if they understood who I was and what they did, they would probably be ashamed.

We are not really as much a part of a flock as we are individuals. People in civics or government or religion will attempt to lump us together as "the masses" or "Anglo-Saxons" or "divorced person" because then we're easier to balkanize. It's easier to kill a sheep once you cull it off from the herd than it is to jump the thorny barricade and deal with a shepherd willing to die for his sheep. They do not want us to realize our individual worth. YOu see, good shepherds, like good professors, (of which I humble attest I am) know the names of those over whom they have stewardship. They know things about them and remember them. In my old congregation, people referred to each other as Betty and Joseph and Christal and Rick and to me as "Brother Funny", which ostracized me. In my new congregation, people actually took time to learn my name and USE IT. People do not care about what you know or what you can do unless they know that you care, and you cannot effectively and honestly care about people that you do not know. Prayers about random strangers are vacuous if you loathe your own family members.

Being good sheep for the shepherd begins early, with attitudes and actions nurtured from a young age. Over a decade ago, when I bred beagles with my ex wife, she constantly bewailed the fact that the young puppies loved me more than they loved her. Well, I was the one who spent time with them, played with them, held them, let them lick my face and chew my ears and crawl on my back. I was the one who fed them. They associated me with good things. They came to me because they knew my voice and knew that I knew them by name. Yes, I named every puppy in every litter. The one I brought with me to Vegas was one I knew all his life. One morning, I was out watering them before work when I heard a whine. I rescued him from a precarious and immobile position between the fence and the wall, and he knew that I cared about him. He licked me and refused to move, and later on, he would put his life on the line to protect me because I once cared for him.

Christ's work and the work of Christians everywhere is the work of spiritual salvation. Sometimes people of other faiths or no faith at all mock us for not attending to the temporary and material needs of others. Ezekiel reminds us that God's work is the work of the soul. Yes, He cares about whether we live today and how well we live and how we live, but His work goes beyond this brief span of mortality. Out, out brief candle. Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon stage and then moves to another plane of existence in God's presence. In order to achieve that, people must repent and turn to Christ in order to live. It's not about bread; it's about the Bread of Life. It's not about water; it's about Living Water. It's not about accolades; it's about divine approbation. God is eager to forgive, and when we turn to the Good Shepherd and follow Him, He leads us to green and distant shores over that fair horizon. God's work for His shepherds is to call men to repentance and turn them to Christ, the only way by which any man may be saved from wolves and men who stand to scatter the flock of souls. It means that we continue to fellowship the onery sheep even if he kicks us off the bridge. It means that we welcome back those who leave, whatever the reason, and allow the atonement to work for them. If "he who repenteth is forgiven and I the Lord remember them no more" is good enough for God, how can good sheep do any less?

While God sometimes calls us to be shepherds over parts of His flock, He always needs us to be good sheep. My old religious Seminary instructor used to send us to High School with the admonition "be the good kids!" In that way, by our example, we preach the gospel by the way we live our lives and inspire others to follow us as we follow Him. They trust us until they can learn to trust Him. We become a microcosm of a larger herd, sheep who are also shepherds, influencing those sheep immediately around us. We lift where we stand. We lead where we stand. We touch lives where we stand. It may not seem like much, but because those sheep matter to Him too, it IS important work. No matter how small our sphere of influence, the better sheep we are, the better shepherds we can be in the service of the Master Shepherd.

Increased Ability

Share

Starting back in July, I sent myself to a boot camp of sorts to get into shape, and I continue to see the fruits of my efforts. When my buddy and I hike, I need about 30 minutes to recharge, and then I can go again. On average, I burn 4300 calories per day and go 15 miles. I started to train and condition myself to become a certain kind of fit, and although it's not what most people consider fit, and although I'll never be an underwear model or show up in a calendar of attractive physiques, I live in a body that reacts positively when I train it and rises to fulfill the measure of its creation. Now if I only knew what God actually desires of me in this life.

As part of my backyard retrofit, I ordered five pallets of rock, totalling 14000 pounds, to use in building planters in the rear. Yesterday morning, while riding my bicycle, they were dropped in the street in front of my house. After lunch, I scurried home and got started preparing the ground, gathering tools and supplies, and dressing for the work. With my mother's help lifting blocks, we cleared the first two pallets into place in two hours. I was burning 330 kcal/hour and logging 2.25miles per pallet walking them from the gutter into the back yard. By the time my hiking buddy arrived, I was halfway through the penultimate pallet despite walking in the dark, and I was mostly tired from all of the repetitive walking back and forth with a load. He told me that he was impressed that I finished 3.5 pallets before he arrived, and he told me that was evidence that I was in better shape than he.

A few years ago, I would never believe myself capable of such an endeavor. I moved seven imperial tons of rock by hand in six hours and ended up with a personal best of 40,000 steps and 5000 kcal for the day. Obviously, I have accumulated some conditioning and some endurance. This is what I intended to achieve by my workouts. most people go to the gym in order to obtain a body that impresses others visually, and that's in truth what women I know encourage me to do. Instead, I sought a body that could go and do. I have achieved that increased ability, and although I am still overweight according to the State's BMI metrics, I am not tired at the end of the day. My body was happy to relax, but when I awoke today, I did not feel like I did as much yesterday as I actually did. I felt no more worn out than normal. This is normal for me.

Health is something we do rather than something that we are. The most important facets of a healthy life are mobility and activity. The journey to health starts with small steps, as many as you like. I have quite literally walked my way into a healthy body and lifestyle, and without intending to I have become the person I once thought my father to be. In family projects, I marveled at how he just kept going, and I felt he could do things that only someone with superhuman strength could achieve. Now, I am that man, and it feels wonderful.

If and when I have a family, I will be the kind of father who can keep up with his children, provide for their financial needs, and show them the wonders of the world beyond the borders of the living room. I do not know exactly what I was born to do, but I'm training and preparing for all the possibilities knowing that, even if they are not certain, it is easier to get ready if you're already working on it than if you must start from scratch. God gave me this body for some reason. Even if its only purpose is to see how well I will care for it, I intend to be a good steward. Remember that to those men to whom talents were given in the parable God gave greater stewardship. When we demonstrate our ability, the just God of heaven and earth who seeth in secret does reward openly. He has increased my ability; He has enlarged my strength; He makes sure that I run and am not weary and walk without fainting. It's a marvel. I only stopped because I could.

There was no sense of urgency, but there was a sense of accomplishment, and I wanted you to rejoice with me as I will when the work of this garden comes to its climax. I intend to do my best to do my duty to beautify this small portion of His garden over which He gave me hegemony so that if He decides to allow me to have a family I will have a place fit to raise, nurture, and provide for those that I love. But if not, I will have the means, motive, and opportunity to provide for any wayfaring men of grief He decides to lead my way. God gave me increase so that I can help others increase as well. Until then, I shall prepare things to please the eye and gladden the heart so that my refuge can serve as a refuge for others who may visit my house and so that it may be a fit habitation for Him if He deigns visit my humble abode.

Oaths from Scoundrels

Share

People constantly make promises, and sometimes they do so under oath. The problem arises because we discover that so many people do not keep their word. For a long time, I pondered why this was so, and I realized that the root lies in the person to whom people believe they make oaths. I mean them and keep them because I believe in a Supreme Being. Many people who break their oaths do not believe in anything at all. That's the difference, and now I understand why an oath from a scoundrel is meaningless.

Sir Thomas More proclaimed in a letter to his daughter Margaret Roper, "What is an oath but words we say to God?" This of course presumes that those entering in to the oath believe in God. If you do, you believe that God holds you to the oath because He is part of it. If you violate it, even if the other person chooses to forgive and release you from obligation, God may still hold you accountable. Believing that a higher power holds you accountable helps keep people honest. Even I sometimes come short, but when I do, I attempt to make it right and make it work because I believe that God will hold me to accounting even if you don't.

Many people think nothing of breaking their oaths because they believe they set the rules. If you do not believe in something greater than yourself, then what will hold you accountable for the consequences of changing the rules? You can change the rules at any time to serve your own selfish ends no matter what collateral damage you leave behind. If you have the power and other people can't touch you, who will punish you or force you to keep your word? This kind of person only makes rules so that they can break them. They don't believe in rules, but they know you do.

Unfortunately, all too often in the most important relationships in life, we receive oaths from scoundrels. There's the usual: flowers, chocolates, and promises you don't intend to keep. Politicians are adept at this. They will make a promise, but because they believe themselves to be masterminds, gods among men, they think they can change the rules at any time whenever it's expedient to their personal agenda. It becomes very frustrating for the lay person, because most people actually intend to keep their promises. Most politicians do not.

People make decisions based on information and expectations. When someone makes a promise, we make decisions about whether to play, how to play, and what stakes we will accept. When someone changes their mind, it renders some of the things we expect impossible, and yet the other party still requires us to keep our part of the bargain. Changing the rules changes the game into a different game. Change the rules, and nobody will want to play.  That's why people lie.

I trust people sometimes far more than I should. The fact is that I cannot blame them for the mistakes made by others, and so I give them the benefit of the doubt until they prove untrustworthy. In the case of powerful people or people who hold power over our lives, this becomes a huge risk, because they can sometimes break us with information or insights or powers we give them over our lives in order to establish intimate relationships of trust. Fortunately for me, none of those from whom I received representations chose to do that, but then again I don't hobnob with politicians. I trust most of them about as far as I can throw the universe. When someone proves to be a scoundrel, their oaths mean nothing.

We make oaths to men and to God. Even when men prove unwilling or unable to make good on their representations, God will. God will give me justice. Please don't make promises you don't intend to keep. God heard them too.

Christmas Music in November

Share

As much as being single at Christmas sucks, I look forward to the Christmas season each year. What surprised me this morning was, when I turned on my car, how early Christmas music began playing on the radio. It's not the music of Christmas per se that bothers me. It's the timing and the songs they actually select. If they chose traditional songs, it would appeal to me more, but I get tired of "Santa Baby" and "It's the Most Wonderful Time" and "Feliz Navidad" ad nauseum. Until I was an adult, I had never heard of those songs, and they are not ones to which I choose to listen. In fact, I change the station. Unfortunately, of the six station presets in my Saturn, THREE of them were already playing "holiday music" and that vexes me.

Like the other holidays, retailers accelerate the coming of Christmas. I read yesterday that Black Friday now lasts an entire week thanks to Wal-Mart and similar companies that open on Thanksgiving and offer special and unique sales all the way through Cyber Monday. Even Amazon is already selling special Black Friday items, and it's two weeks early. All this effort to move from one holiday to the next kind of deflates the wind from the sails of our journey through the most wonderful time of the year. Displacing Thanksgiving, however, is not something I am prone to tolerate well. In all the hours I spend praying, and for all the complaining I do, the campaigning I do, and the requests I make, I do take time regularly here and elsewhere to thank God and my family and other people for the great things in my life. My life is wonderful, and I like the opportunity to give thanks each year. It makes me think of things more than the immediate, the trite, and the vacuous that we sometimes take for granted unless forced to consider just how blessed we really are.

Radio stations predominantly play secular songs during the Christmas Season. That's all well and dandy, but they do this because they don't want to drive away their audience. If they play Holy Night, Silent Night, and O Little Town of Bethlehem, they know they'll alienate people who are not of any Faith, let alone some Christians who are just a wee bit anxious that Christ might actually be real. The songs they play get us in the mood, sing of the season, but really just remind me that Christmas was changed to December by Rome's order to outcompete a pagan holiday at the same time. They're really just pandering to the irreligious, the sacreligious, and those for whom religion is a convenient vestment rather than celebrating the Christ. I don't want a Hippopotamus, I don't think Santa is sexy, and I really can't stay because I shouldn't and I won't. Those are not Christmas songs. Those are "holiday songs".

Most of this behavior is motivated by money at its core. Retailers want stuff on the shelves earlier so they can turn a profit earlier. Radio stations don't want to lose the majority of their customers, and so rather than alienate the lion's share, they pander to those who do not share my beliefs, knowing that they will only lose a few of us who are put off by their mercantilism. Whereas I am mostly finished with my Christmas shopping, most people have only just begun. This allows retailers and radio stations to sell advertising to people who are more about gifts than about God, and I wish them well in their efforts to make money. God knows that this nation is still financially struggling no matter what the politicians prattle.

I am not happy about the infiltration of Christmas deeper into November. Tonight, I will find my Christmas mix tape (yes, it's a cassette tape) and put it in my car, where I will listen to it like I always do until sometime in March when it just feels too warm to be Christmas. By consequence, I will hear even LESS advertising, because I won't be listening to the radio at all. I realize that I represent an infinitesimal fraction of the listening public, but this is my stand. I can listen to the traditional holiday hymns as I like whenever I like because I like them. It can be Joy to the World today and even for Valentine's Day. Even more stations and retailers alienate me by doing this, and I pledge to not make a purchase at Christmas on Thanksgiving Day. That is a day that is not for banks but for thanks. That's what November is about, and I thank God that I feel that way about it.

Respect for Individual Beliefs

Share

Over the last few days, I've driven behind quite a few cars festooned with stickers that proclaim tolerance and inclusion. The truth of the matter is that this usually only extends one way. Most people do not want tolerance. They want you to tolerate them. They do this in myriad ways, but often they attach their arguments to the Judeo-Christian responsibility to exercise charity, when they are not charitable in how they campaign or how they regard others who hold disparate views. When you point this out, they tell you that you're splitting hairs, that if you love them you will do what they like. Almost every such ad hoc is fallacy.

Sometimes the claim is made on the claims of fellowship or community or society. Well, that defeats the purpose in some cases when the petitioner possesses postulates of principle that lie askew from those of the society from whom they seek approbation. A few weeks ago after kayaking, we went out to dinner. My companions first attempted to persuade me to drink and then proceeded to deride me for my choice to be sober. They of course roasted my religion as archaic and outmoded. They think nothing of the practice and want me to judge myself doing it according to their rules. Constantly, I am criticized by women because I don't sleep with women I date or live with someone before marriage. They find my principles Puritanical and insist that I adopt their perspective in order to make headway. What both of these groups ignore is that I keep my principles because my principles keep me. At the end of the day, I have to live with my decisions and the consequences concomitant with my choices. Every time I step away from my principles, I feel miserable.

Choice is ultimately a matter of conscience more than it is about fellowship. I love the movie "A Man For All Seasons" because Sir Thomas More is one of my heroes. In the scene where Lord North tries to persuade him to sign "for fellowship", More responds:

When we die and you are sent to heaven for living your conscience and I am sent to hell for not living mine, will you come with me for fellowship?

Of course North won't. He will stay because he will want to enjoy his reward. More chooses to abstain, not because he doesn't like North, but because he likes himself. People who ask you to abandon your principles don't usually care about you as much as they care about themselves. If you join in their spoils, as North desires More to do, then they will feel justified, or at least they will feel less bad about themselves. If they can bring down the great Thomas More, then they aren't so bad. Well, that sucks for More. He knows better, and he has the most to lose if he leaves his beliefs.

These people have boundaries too. They don't really want all ideas to be considered, just theirs. One of the stickers I saw claimed it was for marriage and showed silhouettes of normal couples and homosexual ones. It leaves out polygamy, polyandry, incest, bestiality, etc. I'm not an apologist for any of those, but if I love my pillow, shouldn't I be able to marry it? Why won't they let me marry whatever I want, whenever I want, for whatever reason I like, no matter what? If they are really for "love", they would support that too. What they really support is themselves. Well, isn't that special? Christ abjured such people, "If ye love them which love you, what do ye more than others?" In other words, if you only support people who agree with you, that's not love. That's politics. You only really stand for something when you defend the rights of people you do not know and do not like.

Unless you support them, you do not love them. Each of these people knows deep down that this argument is a reducto ad absurdium, because they once had parents probably who refused to acquiesce to their request. It's not because their parents didn't love them. I cannot tell you how many things God denies me constantly or at least delays, but I do not shake my fist at the heavens and taunt Him or accuse Him of hating me. I know better. I ask for patience until I can understand why the answer today must be "no". Instead, humans issue ultimatums and say, "unless you do what I demand, you do not love me" or "unless you agree with me, you're a bigot" or "unless you help me, you are greedy" when if the tables were reversed they would apply a completely different standard. Only they matter. It serves them today, and so they stand for it.

It takes very little courage to stand with people who agree with you. It takes a great deal more to stand for what is right. It takes More faith and More courage, to refuse to join "for fellowship" with people who don't really want your fellowship in the first place. Many of these same people will demand your allowances while they talk about how their friends accept them for who they are. Most of them want to be accepted for who they are without having to return the favor, and even worse they demand that you abandon who you are to make them comfortable. It is not love to alienate you from your God, to take you from your family, or to drive you from what you know in order to welcome you. "Come as you are, as a friend, as a known memory", unless of course you are different, in which case you can join or walk the plank.

People who really respect and love you will respect and love YOU. They may disagree with your behaviors or beliefs or choices or companions, but they will still love YOU. Every single one of my close friends is a chain smoker. Some of them gamble. Others drink. They do not demand me to join them in the casino or at the bar or in the back room in order to be my friend. I do not demand that they quit those things in order to be theirs. Everyone has a Goliath to slay. Everyone needs the Savior. Everyone has an Achille's Heel. Just because yours is obvious doesn't mean I should eschew your company. While I don't join them doing things I find aberrant or abhorrent, I will join them in everything they do that is virtuous and brave and true. They feel the same way about me. They don't join me at church because they don't want to live my doctrine, but they don't mind that I live it. That's what real friends will do. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

"Wicked" Really Was

Share

Last week, I took my mother to see the broadway play “Wicked”, which I thought would be a nice treat. Although she enjoyed doing something with me, neither one of us really cared much for the show. Instead, we were treated to a daringly garish display of counterculture themes dressed up as entertainment because it was set to a catchy and popular score. Like when I saw “Sweeney Todd” in Vienna in 1999, I was completely unprepared for the wickedness on display, but that’s not the saddest part. The worst part is that most of the crowd probably didn’t even notice.

The play showcased all sorts of aberrant and abhorrent human behavior. From the first scene, where we learn how the wicked witch was born of an affair to the final scene, where we learn that the wizard who ordered her demise was her own father, the play depicted man’s inhumanity to man. Rumors are believed by the somnambulant public. Racism appears in the form of animals being banned from teaching at university. The people bully the witch for her green skin. Her own stepfather distances himself from her. Her roommate presumes that there must be something wrong with her and insists that “it’s not aptitude, it’s how you’re viewed” as she performs a makeover to help her become more mainstream. Glinda gets mad at her one time friend for “stealing” the man over whom she swooned when he chooses her for her personality over Glinda’s presentation. The wizard and his inner circle attempt to strongarm her into immoral acts and then slander her to Ozians when she refuses to take part. The play was positively primeval. After the final curtain, they then had the audacity to stand on stage and petition us for donations to their pet causes. I sat there because it was the genteel thing to do.

Rather than stand back aghast at the unabashed audacity of the author to address wickedness, most of the people will comment on the play itself. While the actors genuinely performed admirably and the songs are catchy, that does not redeem the wickedness of “Wicked”. I remember as a youth people justifying and rationalizing the ruderal by saying, “It’s great except for that one part…” Well, I have often wondered why, if material is inappropriate for children under the age of 13, it’s acceptable for the rest of us. No matter how “popular” the songs are and the score and the acting, it was a smutty story, largely jejune, celebrating malversation over morality. The people in attendance stood in applause. I felt uncomfortable. They seemed to have a good time. I felt out of place. Maybe it was that I was overdressed, having worn a suit.

The one redeeming feature to "Wicked" came in the final act. Glinda, who begins the play as a selfish ingrate and floosy of a woman, remains true to her friend and does what she can to make things right. The actress seemed genuinely sad with how things turned out between her and the wicked witch, despite her best attempts to first persuade her to come along “for fellowship’s sake” and then to warn her against Dorothy’s crusade to kill the witch. I don’t know if that’s true to the story (since I discovered this was based on a book), but it did end the play on as positive of a note as possible. I’m glad I know, because I won’t see it again. I was taught to avoid the appearance of evil, and I’m ashamed a wee bit that I witnessed something “wicked” and felt it was culture. Now I know better.