Category: Christmas
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Christmas in Sandy Hook
Read more: Christmas in Sandy HookTomorrow is the one year anniversary of the devastating Sandy Hook shooting, when Adam Lanza opened fire on Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 children and 7 adults before taking his own life. A year ago, the news was filled with memorials and tributes, tears and laments, as our nation grieved in solidarity with Newtown,…
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Timely Truth
Read more: Timely TruthThe seminary where I spent a formative two years had a big, customizable sign out in front, the kind you see outside of a lot of churches. These signs are usually changed periodically, usually to announce a sermon topic or share a groan-worthy humorous aphorism. Our sign never changed; it always read: “Timeless truths for…
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Experiments in Advent
Read more: Experiments in AdventOn Sunday we lit the second Advent candle in church, which means I’ve been observing Advent for the first time as an adult for about a week and a half. I’m pretty sure you need to practice this tradition for years to be able to really sink down into the season and begin to glimpse…
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Good Grief, It’s Christmas Charlie Brown!
Read more: Good Grief, It’s Christmas Charlie Brown!As Christmas quickly approaches, I don’t feel ready for the holiday season. While many people enjoy the holiday cheer and the magic of the Christmas season, I sometimes resonate with Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas, not enjoying the Christmas season because the true Christmas story gets lost in the hustle and bustle of…
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Christ: the Answer for Conflict
Read more: Christ: the Answer for ConflictFor many in Newton, Connecticut, the idea of celebrating Christmas ideals of cheer, joy, and peace seem inhumane this December 25th. Smiling and happiness in the face of massacre, pain, and mourning… doesn’t seem right. In fact, celebrating amidst such darkness almost brings on a feeling of shame. To do anything other than to…
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How the Grinch Was Too Late to Steal Christmas
Read more: How the Grinch Was Too Late to Steal Christmas“Pooh-pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming. “They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming! “They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do! “Their mouths will hang open a minute or two “Then all the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!” “That’s a…
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Jesus and His Father
Read more: Jesus and His FatherAnyone who’s come over for dinner has seen my collection of Peruvian oil paintings of the Virgin Mary. Several years ago, a spending spree and newfound obsession with Catholic art (despite being a Reformed Baptist) landed me with a few too many Marys: three hanging in the hallway and one above my bed. Buyer’s remorse…
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No Room In the Inn?
Read more: No Room In the Inn?Everyone knows how the Christmas story goes. As Stanley Hudson vehemently asserted in the most recent episode of The Office (8.10 Christmas Wishes) regarding the sensitivity to celebrate everything but Christmas during the Holidays: I want Christmas! Just give me plain-baby-Jesus-lying-in-a-manger Christmas! When our culture boils down the Christmas event it looks like this: baby…
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Secular Christmas
Read more: Secular ChristmasThe concept is bizarre when you stop and think about it. Let’s take a couple of days off of work at one of the busiest times of the year. We’ll time our school calendars so that the semester break occurs during the holiday. For the month preceding the holiday, houses and storefronts will be decorated…
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Time Travel & The First Christmas
Read more: Time Travel & The First ChristmasToday (Dec 13) I am flying home after my first term at St Andrews. It feels like time has sped up ever since I arrived. An hour seems a bit shorter than I remembered in the States. Whole weeks have felt like insignificant blocks of time that pass by all too quickly. Why does time…