Christmas Thoughts...

As I noted a bit earlier this morning via Twitter, I discovered last night that the version of It's a Wonderful Life that exists in my memory is notably superior to the Frank Capra film.

I feel unChristmas-like when I say that it was not only boring, but for some reason I had a hard time believing that Harry Bailey was graduating high school at what appeared to be something like 36 years old, and that George Bailey was only slightly older than your typical college-aged guy when he looked 52. Kinda like Napoleon's classmate and antagonist Don in Napoleon Dynamite.

In other news, we're about to go get the ingredients for Christmas Eve fondue! I'd like to point you to BestFondue.com, where last year I discovered an incredible beef fondue recipe. I made the mushroom dipping sauce, too. Not only did the family not hate it, they (and I) actually loved it. I think it kept our Christmas Eve fondue tradition from dying. Had it been bad we might not have planned to do it again this year.

Finally, stop by Amazon.com and download the absolutely free Green Hill Christmas Music Sampler! It's a straight-ahead, mostly traditional (and on occasion easy-listening) Christmas album.

Merry early Christmas!

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Christmas Classics Flash Poll

Okay, dig in:

1. Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra?
2. Johnny Mathis or Nat King Cole?
3. Andy Williams or Frank Sinatra?
4. Dean Martin or Bing Crosby?
5. Jimmy Durante or Burl Ives?

Your responses and vicious arguments are solicited. Leave your comments below.

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Ten Least-Loved Christmas Songs of 2012

I have about 750 Christmas songs on my iPod. The problem, if it could be called that, is that I've cycled through most of them a few times already. (That's okay, because albums like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" never seem to get old.)

So, after listening to our two local Christmas-music-only radio stations in an attempt to enjoy a little variety, I have determined that only about 50 Christmas songs must have ever been recorded other than those on my iPod. Among them are three versions of "Last Christmas" and roughly 26 versions of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (all nearly identical, which makes me wonder why they bothered to record the other 25 versions).

As fate would have it, those two songs are on my "Ten Least-Loved Christmas Songs of 2012" list. It's not enjoyable to wake up to an alarm blaring either of those, so I've decided to start using the buzzer on the alarm instead. It's more inspiring.

Because I enjoy not enjoying certain Christmas songs, I'd like to present the complete list for you. It varies a bit from last year's list in that it's a little longer. Please reciprocate by listing your bottom 10 (or however many you'd like to include) Christmas songs.

Dean's Ten Least-Loved Christmas Songs of 2012:

1. Last Christmas (Wham!, Taylor Swift, the Glee Cast)
2. Step Into Christmas (Elton John)
3. All I Want for Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey)
4. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee, etc., etc., etc.)
5. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) (John Lennon, etc.)
6. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Jackson 5, Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, etc.)
7. The Christmas Shoes (NewSong -- it's a huge victory that I've only heard this song once so far all season!)
8. Do They Know It's Christmas (Feed the World) (Band Aid)
9. Little Saint Nick (Beach Boys)
10. Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry)

Don't forget to post your own list!

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Christmas 2012 Freebie 2

Here's the second set of freebies of the 2012 Christmas season! Like the first, this set of freebies is Christmas music. However, you'll need to be much more selective with these songs than you were with those in the first post.

During my hunt for instrumental (and tasteful) Christmas music last year I uncovered FeelsLikeChristmas.com. Some of the songs will make you feel like Christmas in a way that makes you all warm and fuzzy and makes you pine for olden days -- happy golden days -- of yore. Some may make you recoil in disgust like that one time you heard your Aunt Erma singing Christmas karaoke. It's okay if none of you has an Aunt Erma or has ever heard a family member doing Christmas karaoke. You'll still recoil in disgust at some of these recordings. However, some are excellent!

But they are all free.

First I recommend visiting the Traditional Instrumental Christmas music page. You can preview a song by clicking on its title. Then you'll be taken to a page where you can click the play button and preview it. Like it? Then just right-click on the title of the song and "Save as" to your "My Music" folder (assuming you're using a PC).

If you mouse over the "FREE CHRISTMAS MUSIC DOWNLOADS" menu item you'll see a pop-down of a few other categories to explore.

Your mileage may vary, but hopefully you'll find some great new renditions of old favorites.

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More Sleigh Bell!

Were the classic Saturday Night Live cowbell sketch with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken executed in a Christmas setting, Walken would be Arthur Fiedler and Ferrell would be the person who played the sleigh bells on the quintessential Christmas favorite " Sleigh Ride." Of course, Blue Öyster Cult would be the Boston Pops Orchestra. (If you're not familiar with the SNL sketch, click here to see an excerpt at NBC's website. Mild language warning .)

"I've got a fevah (fever)... and the only prescription is more sleigh bell!" Although I'm not sure Arthur Fiedler put it that way, this is what comes across in the Boston Pops recording (link goes to Amazon.com's MP3 store), and although one rarely hears a percussion instrument droning in an orchestral song from start to finish, I'd have a hard time imagining "Sleigh Ride" without it.

The 1867 lithograph "A Brush for the Lead" by Currier and Ives

For this post I made a moderate effort to find the name of the Boston Pops member who played the sleigh bells on this song but I came up empty. If you know, I'd love to hear from you. It's a little odd; the person who has one of the most important parts in the song has gone relatively anonymous since 1949.

Fiedler has enjoyed fame as a conductor, the Boston Pops Orchestra has been in the limelight (if you consider orchestras as being in the limelight), and according to a reference at Wikipedia, "'Sleigh Ride' ... has been performed and recorded by a wider array of musical artists than any other piece in the history of Western music."

But for all that, the sleigh bell player remains an unknown. He did his job, did it quite well, and his effort has assumed its place in history. If he could have foreseen the popularity of the song (written in 1948, lyrics added in 1950), do you think he would have said to himself, "I can't see the benefit for myself in this. It will just promote the conductor, the orchestra, and the record company will make loads while I'll remain a nobody," and as a result decided to let someone else play on the record? I rather doubt it.

Raise your hand if you can tell that I'm about to draw a really obvious parallel here.

As we put our gifts to use as one of many parts of the body of Christ, we are called to play our part and do so to the best of our ability. We are not given direction or license to envy someone who has a seemingly more important role or to have resentment if someone else gets credit for what we think was our work or our accomplishment. That's not easy.

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ." - Colossians 3:23-24 (NLT)

"In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary." - 1 Corinthians 12:22 (NLT)

I've got a fevah... and the only prescription is more sleigh bell!

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Christmas 2012 Freebie Number 1

I've no idea how many of these I'll be passing along, but here's the first freebie of the 2012 Christmas season!

I stumbled across classical guitarist Jon Sayles' holiday music site and found a plethora of well-executed traditional instrumental Christmas songs. He's posted them all for free download here. You'll have to right-click and save them one at a time, but the investment will be well worth it.

If you visit his site and download his music, I encourage you to send him some feedback. There's a contact link at the top of his Holiday Music page.

NOTE: after you save the songs to your computer you should ideally edit the song names, artist name, genre, etc. (the ID3 tags) for each MP3 so that when you play the songs on your computer or put them on your MP3 player, the correct song title and artist will display. If you don't know how to do this or don't know what I'm talking about, you can contact me and I'll do my best to walk you through it. I couldn't find anything very usable on the web -- just a glut of "free" ID3 tag editors you can download -- but it's all confusing if you've never thought about this before and I'll do my best to help.

Don't be intimidated and don't let that stop you from grabbing these tunes, though! If you don't want to contact me or mess with the ID3 tags, worst-case, you'll have a handful of songs called "Untitled" on your MP3 player.

Keep checking back for more free Christmas music over the next few weeks.

May you be a blessing to someone this Christmas season!

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Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Eve fondue was a tremendous success. I can't recommend BestFondue.com enough. We always love the idea of fondue on Christmas Eve (and have only missed it once in the past number of years), but the execution isn't always that great.

Last night it was amazing, though. We made the second beef broth fondue and the mushroom dipping sauce (which was listed under the hot oil fondues). Our food consisted of a couple of large filet mignon steaks, thinly sliced, broccoli, mushrooms, and baby purple potatoes. I'm hungry again thinking about it.

I'm very thankful for my family and my friends on this day. I'm thankful for Jesus Christ, and it's beyond simply a privilege to be able to celebrate the day that the Word became human and made His home among us.

(Image via Smashing Magazine)

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Christmas Eve Tradition

About ten years ago, Callie and I decided that we would start a new Christmas Eve tradition. We quickly settled on fondue. And so it was born: Lusk Christmas Eve Fondue.

It hasn't always been successful. We tried a beer-and-cheese fondue two years ago after having gone to The Melting Pot and carefully watching the server prepare what turned out to be an amazing meal. Our Christmas Eve fondue was disgustingly terrible that year. Most times we've done a hot oil fondue, but it's typically a bit flavorless no matter what I do to season the meat.

Right now I have a beef broth simmering on the stove for tomorrow night's fondue. I think it's going to be a winner.

Do you have a Christmas Eve (or Christmas day) family food tradition?

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Your Five Favorite Christmas Songs?

The Christmas season tends to make me really happy. Except for the parts that involve shopping in the midst of hyper-populated stores (this year Hobby Lobby and Sam's Club win the "isn't this number of people a violation of fire code?" awards).

At its ideal moments, Christmas lights and music whisk my mind back to my childhood in the 70's, when my parents had green shag carpet in their room and my mom wore trendy dresses with poofy sleeves. In my mind, though Christmas defies time and space, it exists in a few eras: 2000 years ago, the 1970's, the 1940's, the late 1800's, and the middle ages. The last three of those are particularly accessible in my imagination via music. This is why I tend to dislike modern Christmas music. While many are about Jesus' birth, they just don't represent Christmas past to me.

My perennial favorite artist/group award goes to the Ray Conniff Singers. They take me back to my early childhood; Ray Conniff was always on the record player during the Christmas season back then. Same thing with Billy Vaughn. Last year I purchased the mono version of "Christmas Carols" (this album was originally recorded in both stereo and mono versions).

Given that background, here are my five favorite Christmas songs. This list was more difficult than the one that named my least favorite ones.

1. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Veni, Veni, Emmanuel)
2. The Holly and the Ivy
3. The Coventry Carol (the link goes to an Amazon.com freebie!)
4. Pat-a-Pan
5. The Sussex Carol (On Christmas Night All Christians Sing)

I wish there were room on the list for "The Wassail Song (Here We Come A-Caroling)" and "Sing We Now of Christmas".

Now, if I had to use songs from this century, my list would look like this:

1. Sleigh Ride (orchestral or Johnny Mathis' version)
2. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams)
3. The Christmas Song
4. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
5. A Charlie Brown Christmas (the Vince Guaraldi Trio album). This 16-song album is a must-purchase download at the Amazon MP3 store -- only $5.00!

Time for your input -- share your favorite five (or more) with everyone in the comments below!

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Your Five Least Favorite Christmas Songs?

Yesterday I was struck with a serious question. I had no choice but to tweet it and put it on Facebook for my very best friends to consider. You may have read it already:

If "I don't want a lot for Christmas," yet "all I want for Christmas is you," isn't that song ultimately one big insult?

With that, you can probably guess that "All I Want for Christmas is You" handily earns a spot in the list of my least favorite Christmas songs of all time. This isn't an easy list for me to make because I'm so opinionated. Lots of songs should make the list, but only five lucky ones will.

By the way, I thought about making this post about favorite Christmas songs, but that's just not as fun.

I'll be focusing on popular Christmas songs; not the obscure tunes that almost everyone hates. There's a high probability that you will like -- nay, even love -- multiple songs on my list. I'm willing to take that chance.

So without further ado, here is The Dean's List: My Five Least Favorite Christmas Songs of All Time (if you'd like to purchase any of these stinkers for whatever weird and disturbed reason, I've linked them to MP3's at Amazon.com):

1. All I Want for Christmas is You
2. The Christmas Shoes
3. All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth 
4. Last Christmas 
5. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (the butchered Jackson 5/Bruce Springsteen, etc. version, NOT the unassailable classic song upon which Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass based their gripping drama of the same name.)

I've chosen one song on the list to explain its inclusion. Ranting about each song would be very impractical from a time standpoint. I'd be here too long. Let's run with Newsong's "The Christmas Shoes" (who knew the title had "The" in it?):



There is so much I want to say about this song. It's possibly the most contrived urban legend I've ever heard, which is how this song unfortunately came to life (some will argue that it's based on a true story. I don't believe that for a moment). Shoes?? For a kid's dying mother? I probably shouldn't state the obvious, but very likely, well... she's not going to have an opportunity to wear them. And it's Christmas Eve! The boy should be at his mom's bedside, not leeching off of some stranger on the street. The lone child singing the last line is consumer manipulation at its worst. I can almost hear the producer saying to his associates in the recording studio, "You know what will really get 'em? We'll have a kid sing the last line!" and everybody in the room breaks into kudos for this bit of unexpected production genius.

Enough of that. You get the idea. Now, if my list were, say, a "Top Eight" list, I could easily think of three more songs. Since this is a "Top Five" list, though, I have to make a whole new one:

The Dean's List: I Really Dislike These Christmas Songs, As Well:

1. Little St. Nick (my daughter loves this song. I feel terrible having it on my list)
2. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (same comment as the previous song)
3. Hey, Santa (this apparently isn't the correct name, but I believe these are the first lyrics in the song. A little help?)

The floor is open for you to share your list or just to give me some serious grief for dissing your favorite Christmas song!

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IDFLC Syndrome

My daughter and I geared up for the Christmas season moderately early this year. Lights were on the edge of the roof of the house and in the yard before Thanksgiving, and the Christmas tree went up Thanksgiving night.
Christmas music was in effect by then, too. My wife even called me "Clark Griswold" two or three times. Really.

The month has been rushing by so quickly, though, with the standard amount of December stuff happening, that I seem to have acquired the dreaded IDFLC Syndrome.

It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas.

Nevertheless, the Christmas season is upon us whether it feels like it to me or not. I know this. My personal perspective in no way impacts the truth that our special celebration of Jesus' birth will happen on December 25 and festivities and music and decorations will bookend it, but it would be nice to "feel" it throughout the season.

This general sensation isn't something new or isolated to blue Christmases. Removing the festive holiday setting and thinking about day-in, day-out life throughout the year, God is always at work around us (hat-tip to Henry Blackaby) but from my perspective it sometimes seems like He's forgotten about something or isn't working in my idea of a God-like way; usually regarding my special concern or situation at the time.

Just as the Beach Boys sang in one of my non-preferred Christmas songs (but one my daughter loves), "Christmas comes this time each year."

And just as the Word says:

I look up to the mountains-
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
- Psalm 121:1-4 (NLT) (emphasis mine)

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What Is Your Essential Annual Christmas Gift?

I remember when Hallmark didn't make Keepsake Ornaments. I believe the first time I saw a collectible/gift ornament was around 1981 or 1982. Back then they tended to be regular ol' spheres with a print wrapped around them (at least, that's all I was familiar with). Our parents began to give me and my brother collectible ornaments around that time and they became "staple gifts," so to speak, every Christmas for several years.

When I got married we followed suit, but with Hallmark-style specialty ornaments. This continued for a while after we had kiddos.

Eventually we collected too many and they stopped being quite so awesome or cute or novel. Consequently, specialty ornaments fell out of Lusk favor (although we still get them from time to time). Now I tend to get a nutcracker for each of our two kids. I don't think my wife really likes nutcrackers because now we have too many of them now (as if that were possible). I'm such a typical American consumer in this respect, I'm afraid.

Over the years several things have been on my list and my family's, some short-lived and some long-lasting, some keepsakes and others consumables. Here are just a few:

- Ornaments (obviously)
- Nutcrackers (also obviously)
- Holiday Barbie of the year
- Life Savers candy storybook
- Ribbon candy

What gift, if any, is on your essential annual Christmas list?.

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Rockin' Around Epiphany

I think I come across as an anti-traditionalist, but I'm really just typically against tradition for the sake of tradition. In so many cases that's harmful and counter-productive.

Given that, it seems odd to me that I thrive off of Christmas traditions. Though I almost always over-think, I won't go into the origins of the Christ Mass, arguments for tie-ins to ancient pagan rituals or festivals, the evils of Santa Claus, or even launch into a tirade about the commercialization of the holiday. I just love the Christmas season and I'm willing to discard almost all of the controversy about its traditions. I don't think I do this with anything else in existence. Just Christmas.

This post will be unusual in that it doesn't examine things from a spiritual aspect. It's pretty materialistic, I guess, and really shows how self-centered I can be. Run with me on that and try to avoid raking me over the coals, please. You may identify with something here (including vintage toys and Christmas music)

I had an epiphany the other day.

It's possible that the memories you have yet to make will turn out to be better than the ones you wish you could experience again.

I haven't always felt like that. Nosiree. Here's some extended background.

I'm sentimental about Christmas past. Incredibly so. I still have my first Christmas stocking. I occasionally Google for toys from the era of the early 70's so I can imagine the excitement all over again. I remember Shoot Out In Space, the coveted Evel Knievel motorcycle (right now there's one for $229 at Amazon.com, my cheap-but-so-awesome Starbase Zeus playset, Gnip Gnop, and much more Christmas toy goodness. I always wanted a Stretch Armstrong but my dad said it was a sadistic toy (that's when I learned the general meaning of "sadist").



My favorite Christmas music tends to be from the 40's and 50's. My dad had so many albums from this era and that's what we listened to every Christmas when I was a boy. I've gone to Amazon.com and iTunes and dug up numerous Christmas albums by the Ray Conniff Singers, Billy Vaughn, Arthur Fieldler, The Abbey Choir, etc. I can't overstate how much I generally dislike new Christmas songs or how apathetic in general I am toward traditional Christmas songs that have been re-recorded since the 80's.

At some point I graduated to the "where did all the magic of Christmas go?" stage. I think I was around 13 years old, but I'm not sure. It was mind-bogglingly terrible. For years afterward, from the time I was a teenager through my adulthood (which is still going on) I tried to find decorations, specific nativity sets, ornaments, etc., that would remind me enough of those Christmases long ago to make me feel that ultra-incredible sense of child-like excitement and "magic." It never came back. It was a sad and horrible feeling -- almost as bad as a loved one passing away each Christmas. I can't describe it. Some of you may have experienced this or may still experience it. Or I could be the only one who's completely messed up.

Our children came along and although I've loved every Christmas since then and have found great pleasure in seeing their excitement at Christmas, I've found that it's impossible to recapture Christmas magic from my own childhood. And honestly, that's made me sad. (I think it's been crazy selfish of me, too.)

A week ago I was listening to Darius Rucker's "Candy Cane Christmas" and realized that I love the song. Yes, really. I almost I enjoy it in the same way I enjoy Christmas music from my childhood. Later in the day it dawned on me that one of my favorite Christmas albums ever is Relient K's "Let it Snow Baby, Let it Reindeer" (an incredible value at $6.99 for 17 songs at Amazon.com). A day or two later, as I was putting up Christmas decorations with my daughter, now 12 years old, it hit me that over the years I've been experiencing some crazy kind of new "Christmas magic."

I do love to remember Christmas with my mom, dad, and brother. I still enjoy Googling for vintage G.I. Joe stuff in an almost obsessive manner. But I'm grateful that I eventually came to realize that it's just possible -- dare I say likely? -- that the Christmases I've yet to experience with my family and friends may have a special, new "Christmas magic." Even better than my childhood Christmases? I'm not sure, but I'm more than willing to see what happens.

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The Best Memories Are Those That Are Never Made?

What an awful title, eh? To that I say welcome, Dr. Blog Reader! Please have a steno pad and pencil handy as I plop onto your psychiatrist couch and spill my guts and invite your feedback.

I've had a problem with Christmas ever since I was a very little lad. Actually, I don't have a problem with Christmas itself; it's post-Christmas that gives me problems (but if I anticipate the post-Christmas blues in time, I can get an early start, to the chagrin of those closest to me).

My family had a perfect Christmas this year (well, I did, at least). It was so over-the-top good that when I realized it had passed, it was emotionally wrenching. Now it exists only etched in my memory and in the memories of my family and friends.

I'm sure this is very immature, but I sometimes tend to lean toward the sentiment that good memories are generally bad things, because if they're good enough, they're going to make you very sad in the future. And I'm not sure if this kind of sadness is of a sort that's good, as people typically make it out to be.

For all I know, I invented this idea. I've never had anyone talk to me about it. Anyone who thinks about this kind of thing is probably smart enough to avoid talking about it. Except for me, I suppose.

I'm obviously not talking about being sorrowful at Christmas over the birth of Jesus Christ. I'm also not talking about some kind of regret that comes from one not receiving what he wants as a gift. I'm talking about the personal amazing, warm, happy memories of Christmas past -- in my case, the ones with my family, both when I was a child and now with my own wife and children -- that seem to bring sadness to the surface after all is said and done.

Now, obviously, the idea that one shouldn't make good memories would mean that if we really wanted to avoid sadness at all costs, we'd never own a dog, we wouldn't buy our mom a Christmas present, we wouldn't play ball with our son, we'd avoid going roller skating with our daughter, we definitely wouldn't gaze out over an ocean sunset with our spouse, etc. And that would make for a really boring and sad life. So for me, reason always wins the battle, but not without the other part going down swinging (the part of me that says, "Avoid happy stuff at all costs!").

Surely I'm not the only semi-rational person who's struggled with this, am I? I suppose it could be argued that this isn't a rational thought process, but I think I'd argue that it's highly rational and logical to wrestle with it. We just need to be careful and deliberate about which side we come down on.

The pessimist in me says that there will never be another Christmas as magical as 2010. The realist says, "If it happened in 2010, there's nothing to prevent it from being even better in 2011."

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A sCarey Morning

This morning while still a little bleary-eyed (around 4:40 AM), I went into the bathroom down the hall from our bedroom and I ran the water, stopping it just before I opened the door (I don't know why I close the bathroom door when I'm washing my hands, particularly that early in the morning, but I do). This meant that I couldn't really hear anything outside the bathroom until I opened the door.

Diverting a little bit here, to say that I'm not a fan of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" would be a bit of a collosal understatement (I actually don't want you to click on the link to the song there, because you might purchase it, thereby making record execs think that the song is still popular, provoking radio stations to play it again next year). There are plenty of reasons I don't like the song, but they're not important to the story. Okay, maybe one of them is, and it's not the contrived "melody" or the fact that an uninspired, hackneyed-themed song was written around one lyric line. But I digress...

So anyhow, I opened the door and stepped into the hall, and as I did I heard an alarming, even eerie, sound. I couldn't make out what it was, but I thought that Buddy the Christmas Puppy and/or Molly the Needy Puppy had hurt themselves badly. It was sort of like a sustained howling sound, but it varied in pitch. Something was truly wrong. Startled and paranoid for the puppies, I quickly made my way through the darkness down the hall toward our bedroom.

Mercifully, the scurrying of little paws on the wood floor soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread (there's my Christmas literary allusion). The two puppies were running around my feet.

It dawned on me that I must have "snoozed" the alarm rather than turning it off when I got up, because as I arrived at the bedroom door the howling sound stopped and was replaced by sleigh bells and a musical build-up -- the painful sounds I'd heard were vocal embellishments featured from about 25-40 seconds into Mariah Carey's ultimate holiday classic, "All I Want For Christmas Is You." In case you're wondering exactly what I heard, feel free to play the following when I'm not anywhere near your computer...



I'm serious. I thought one of my dogs was either hurt or dying. The radio was cranked so loud that I couldn't hear any bass, or even much definition in the vocals or instruments. It was distorted, and I'm sure that's why I mistook the singing at the beginning for something other than a person's voice.

To be sure, Mariah Carey is a great vocalist with an amazing range, and I know it would hurt her feelings to find out that Dean Lusk isn't a fan of this song (so don't tell her, okay?). And for the record, I don't think that she sounds like dogs howling. Really, I don't. But that ad lib part at the beginning played on a cheap-ish clock radio at full blast at 4:40 in the morning...? well... that does.

Here's how much I know, and how much my musical taste is worth: according to Mariah Carey's tweet on December 9, 2010, "Yahoo.com All I Want For Christmas Is You has sold more copies than any other holiday song in digital history 1,715,000 downloads" -- go figure.

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Nicholas of Myra

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." (James 1:27, NLT)

In 270 AD a wealthy husband and wife had a baby boy, whom they named Nicholas. Sadly, while he was still a young boy, Nicholas' parents died as a result of an epidemic, and his uncle, a bishop (also named Nicholas), took him in and raised him. The elder brought the younger Nicholas up with a love of reading and a love for the church.

One of the things Nicholas is most remembered for was the fact that he used his inherited fortune to help those who were in need. He did this secretly (though he may not have been too efficient at keeping it a secret, seeing as how everyone knows about it now), never expecting anything in return.

Incidentally, here's what Jesus said about giving:

"Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you." (Matthew 6:1-4, NLT)

During Nicholas' life, Rome came under the rule of one of the most oppressive of its anti-Christian emperors, Diocletian. Nero is more widely known, but under Diocletian, Christians were hunted in caves and forests, they were burned, thrown to wild animals, and tortured and put to death in horrible ways. It is said that under Diocletian, so many Christians were imprisoned that there was hardly enough room in prisons for actual criminals. Nicholas was imprisoned along with many other believers.

One of the evidences of how brutally Christians were treated under Diocletian may have been uncovered in forensic examinations of Nicholas' bones in 1950. His nose was badly broken. Here is a link to a computer-generated forensic reconstruction of Nicholas' face (wish I could post the photo, but haven't obtained permission). The CG work was done in 2004, based on 2D images of his skull from the 1950 examination.

In 325 AD, Constantine became emperor and Nicholas was released from prison along with other Christians. (It was at this point that Christianity became the national religion and the church was not only no longer persecuted, but began to enjoy preferential treatment and benefits like tax exemption. Under Constantine it became popular to identify oneself with Christianity, since many saw it as a way to power and influence. Rather than continuing efforts to stamp Christianity out, Satan began to corrupt it from within. And that's a whole different story.)

Over the years Nicholas' reputation has obviously grown into fable (miracles have been attributed to him, both during his life and after his death). The basis we have for Santa Claus is a weird mixture of truth and fiction. It seems ironic to me that so much has been built up around this figure who made efforts to avoid putting himself in the spotlight.

(By the way, I don't have time to write about his official "sainthood" status being granted about 100 years after his death. That status is not for anyone other than God to grant, and the title belongs to all living true believers.)

Merry Christmas!

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C. S. Lewis on Christmas

I offer sincere thanks to my friend Jason for e-mailing me the following. C. S. Lewis is easily my favorite author. I think you'll identify with his sentiments.

What Christmas Means To Me [An essay from God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics]
by C.S. Lewis

Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn't go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a 'view' on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business.

I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr. Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers. Neither of these circumstances is in itself a reason for condemning it. I condemn it on the following grounds.

1. It gives on the whole much more pain than pleasure. You have only to stay over Christmas with a family who seriously try to 'keep' it (in its third, or commercial, aspect) in order to see that the thing is a nightmare. Long before December 25th everyone is worn out -- physically worn out by weeks of daily struggle in overcrowded shops, mentally worn out by the effort to remember all the right recipients and to think out suitable gifts for them. They are in no trim for merry-making; much less (if they should want to) to take part in a religious act. They look far more as if there had been a long illness in the house.

2. Most of it is involuntary. The modern rule is that anyone can force you to give him a present by sending you a quite unprovoked present of his own. It is almost a blackmail. Who has not heard the wail of despair, and indeed of resentment, when, at the last moment, just as everyone hoped that the nuisance was over for one more year, the unwanted gift from Mrs. Busy (whom we hardly remember) flops unwelcomed through the letter-box, and back to the dreadful shops one of us has to go?

3. Things are given as presents which no mortal every bought for himself -- gaudy and useless gadgets, 'novelties' because no one was ever fool enough to make their like before. Have we really no better use for materials and for human skill and time than to spend them on all this rubbish?

4. The nuisance. For after all, during the racket we still have all our ordinary and necessary shopping to do, and the racket trebles the labour of it.

We are told that the whole dreary business must go on because it is good for trade. It is in fact merely one annual symptom of that lunatic condition of our country, and indeed of the world, in which everyone lives by persuading everyone else to buy things. I don't know the way out. But can it really be my duty to buy and receive masses of junk every winter just to help the shopkeepers? If the worst comes to the worst I'd sooner give them money for nothing and write if off as a charity. For nothing? Why, better for nothing than for a nuisance.

The above is reprinted from God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (Editor), Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Reprint edition (October 1994; original copyright 1970 by the Trustees of the Estate of C. S. Lewis).

Speaking of C. S. Lewis, I wonder if you've seen The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader yet...? I intend to write something specifically about the movie soon, so hopefully you'll be on the lookout for an opportunity to chime in with your personal review (or at least your two cents).

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...and re-presents on the tree

I'm curious... Did any of you re-gift something(s) this Christmas? For instance, on December 22 when you had "Christmas Eve" with your spouse's parents and brothers and/or sisters, you got a brass cheese grater knuckle protector, and upon realizing that you hadn't gotten your great aunt anything and were supposed to go to her house on the 23rd to exchange gifts, you repackaged the cheese grater knuckle protector and gave it to her.

You know, that kind of thing.

(It's perfectly legal to post any comments as "Anonymous." I won't push for full disclosure.)

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rohirrim of angels

I'm not completely sure, but I think that some of you may have seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I want  you to remember those armies of orcs, ,of elves, and of men at Helm's Deep just prior to the massive battle in The Two Towers. Remembering that, read the Christmas story from Luke 2.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.Suddenly, an angel [just one angel] of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” [again, one angel appears and they're terrified. I probably would be, too.]


Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

A "vast host of others—the armies of heaven...." -- a massive army of angels. Just imagine a huge mass of men; shouting out in unison the words they loved to shout: "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased!"

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my favorite things

I love Christmas music, but I'm extremely picky about it. For the past month or so I've been on a quest to hunt down some of the old Christmas music that my family listened to when I was very young. I've wound up with some fantastic Christmas memories.

Currently my favorite Christmas song (I say "currently" because it fluctuates wildly) is one that comes from my childhood: "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" as recorded by the Ray Conniff Singers, circa 1959. No, I wasn't around when the album was released, but got to enjoy it many years later. My current favorite album would have to be either Ray Conniff's classic release Christmas Caroling or Relient K's tastefully rocking Let It Snow, Baby... Let It Reindeer. (A major value at Amazon.com as a $5.00 MP3 album download -- 20 songs! Click the link on the album name.)

What's your current favorite Christmas song or CD/album?

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