Advent Thoughts: It's True

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25


Eight little verses in Matthew open a new chapter in the most fantastic story ever told. Nearly 28,000 verses of back-story in the prelude of the Old Testament, all leading to the first bodily appearance by our Hero... who arrives as a squirming, red-faced baby boy. Who was born of a virgin. Who, along with her husband-to-be, was told about all this in a dream and visitation by an angel. And did you catch the part where the baby was to be the savior of the world, God-incarnate?

It's fantastic. It's so crazy. It's more out-there than the plotline of anything we have ever come up with. Any book, any movie, any other story: there's those and then there's This.

C. S. Lewis, in describing some of how he came to believe that Christ was the Son of God, wrote that he eventually realized that "the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened: and one must be content to accept it in the same way."

He understood that the human race is a people of stories and storytelling. It's our tradition that really and truly sets us apart from the rest of nature. We love stories and we allow them daily to affect us. We cry at movies, we connect with song lyrics, we are inspired by characters in books and their quests and we name our children after them. Lewis came to understand that we shouldn't turn off that part of ourselves when it comes to facing the story of Jesus.

So fall in love with this magical, fantastic story, embracing everything it means. And then, go one step further. See the one "tremendous difference" from all other myths out there.

It's true. Utterly, mercifully, graciously, wonderfully true. Read it again. It's true.

Adorable a la Mode

Pushing Daisies, ABC's critically-loved - but sadly, cancelled - romantic dramedy, was a show I was interested in watching from the beginning. The quirky plot sounded right up my alley, but my Wednesday nights were taken with church and of course, Lost. The show suffered from last year's writers' strike, unable to complete it's original order for the first season and left with insufficient time to pick up and engage new viewers. A second season was ordered but after airing ten episodes, the show was officially cancelled and no word yet as to when the last three episodes, already shot, will air.

Point being, I never did get around to watching it while it aired. So last time he was at the store, Ben picked up the first season on DVD. We've spent the last few nights falling head-over-heels in love with this adorable show. Witty, spunky writing, a fresh-faced cast, the vibrantly stylized look - all icing on the cake... er, icecream on the pie... of a truly original premise.


Aside from making delicious pies, our leading man Ned has an unusual gift. One touch and he can bring something dead back to life. A second touch, and whatever it was is dead again - this time forever. He enters an unusual partnership with a private investigator, using his talents to help solve crimes. The romantic crux of the show is that in a moment of weakness he revives his murdered childhood sweetheart, a girl named Chuck. How very Prince Charming/Sleeping Beauty, I know. But now, despite the fact that they're falling in love all over again, the fact remains - he can never, ever touch her, or she's dead for good.


Isn't that just wonderful? Aren't they just precious? I can hardly stand it. And I'll admit, I'm a sucker for whimsy. I love shows, books, movies, and music that somehow blur the lines between genres - the way something can be adventurous, dreamy, frightening, enlightening, hilarious, all at once. To me, the magic of story-telling has to be just that - a little bit magical. Pushing Daisies has definitely fit the bill. But I need to stop getting attached to TV shows that have already gotten the ax!

My Thesis: Part One

Okay, here you go! This is the first 10 pages of the thesis... and the first 4 pages are really freebies like my dedication and table of contents, so you're only really looking at about 6 pages of serious reading. It covers my introduction, where I explain my project, and then my condensed biography of Stephen King himself.

And for the record, I haven't touched this document in four years... I thought about going back and tweaking things (like where I used the word "great" twice in my very first sentence... forehead slap) but figured it should stay how it was when I submitted it.

And for the second record, I wasn't even a Stephen King fan before I started this project. I had read a few of his things and of course like most everyone else I loved the movies based on his stories - The Shining, Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me. But I was fascinated, and still am, by the vast divide between the "literary" - the academic, high-brow, whatever - and the popular. It is not an issue specific to the written word, and can be seen rearing its ugly head in art, in music, and I'm sure a myriad of other pursuits. So I came into my project with that in mind, and found Stephen King as this really cool piece of the puzzle.

And for the third record, I am now an official big fan of Stephen King.

If you are not, I'll direct you to his volume of four novellas entitled Different Seasons. It is the perfect place to dip your toe into his work, and I assure you there is nary a rabid dog, deranged killer clown, or apocalyptic showdown to be found. Just fascinating, richly told human stories including the ones that inspired the aforementioned movies The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me.

Now, without further ado, click here to get the file. I'm working on a way to hotlink the PDF but for now you will have to click and download from the file hosting site. It's a pretty small file so it should be a snap to download.

Best Thing About Last Weekend

My 80-year-old grandma receiving and taking her first picture with her brand new digital camera:



I spent a few days in Kansas City with her, my mom, and my two aunts... it was really a blessing to be with them and hear all these amazing stories from these amazing women. Here are some of the fascinating things I found out:

My great-grandmother was always called "Babe." She died when my Grandma was just 15, leaving her to raise her three younger siblings.

My aunt Judy was engaged to a man before she married my uncle Phil. She found out just in the nick of time that this man was already married with five children. They confirmed this by calling his house and pretending to take a survey of household detergent users. Seriously!

My aunt Sandy, like me, loves horses. One of her happiest moments was when my Uncle Bob gave her one on Christmas morning - his name was Buddy, and he was tied up in the back yard with a red ribbon on his head.

When they were growing up, Judy had her own room since she was the oldest and my mom, Sally, had to share a room with Sandy. Even so, they all usually ended up sleeping together in one double bed. That made me smile because until I was about 14, Ashley and I did the same thing.

Anyway, there were more stories shared than I could recount here and several lifetimes' worth of memories and all of it reminded me of how very much I love my family.