For some, this post will make perfect sense. To many others, it will border on sacrilege. No offense is meant, but I offer a personal analogy for the spirit of anticipation that should be connected to Advent, but is often missing. We are left with a sweet, clean, happy story […]
Apparently I am a Christmas nerd. I stopped for coffee at my favorite spot (Beans ‘n Cream in Sun Prairie) and some of the regulars were engaged in a spirited discussion about the Christmas holiday season. Eavesdropping without looking obvious, I found it fascinating that almost no one (there were […]
Every year as I immerse myself in the Christmas story, I feel a deep empathy for Joseph. What a tough spot he found himself in. To be a minor player in such a major story is tough all on its own, but in a patriarchal culture in a primitive and […]
I simply cannot get through the Advent and Christmas season without being transported in mind and spirit back to the days of my childhood Sunday school. My teacher from the time I was four year’s old until I turned seven was a spinster-lady by the name of Hattie Hack. Henrietta […]
Within a day of one another, I received two messages asking for permission to use a Christmas song I wrote 34 years ago! I love the phrasing of the one request: “You came and preached at our church and brought that “gift song” a couple year’s ago. Do you still have that? […]
I had an interesting encounter at my favorite coffee shop (Beans ‘n’ Cream, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin — greatest people in the world…) last week. One of the regulars made the following observation, which led to a spirited conversation — “Christmas would be so much more enjoyable if all the religious […]
I can quite honestly say I am having a “cognitive dissonance Advent”. Late in November I received a monograph from two graduate students for review and comments. One of the most intriguing aspects of the monograph is that its authors are young females — one Israeli and one Palestinian. Their […]
Over the next forty-eight hours, one question will be asked more often than all others combined — “whadjagit for Christmas?” I use the contraction instead of “what did you get?” for a very simple, personal reason. When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I had a classmate – Wiley […]
Three related unrelated stories: sitting in a coffee shop listening to three women talk about how much they HATE Christmas shopping… yet they are doing it daily, one of them reports that she has spent over $10,000 so far this year (to be fair, including jewelry she bought herself), and […]
My posts of the past two weeks have generated some fun and interesting discussions around Christmas. While I am not a fan of the “war on Christmas” rhetoric adopted by evangelicals operating from a victim mentality, I do agree that Christmas as a religious observance is in trouble. My contention, […]
United Methodeviations 