Hush, all ye sounds of war, Ye nations all be still, A voice of heav'nly joy Steals over vale and hill, O hear the angels sing The captive world's release, This day is born in Bethlehem The Prince of Peace
No more divided be, Ye families of men, Old enmity forget, Old friendship knit again, In the new year of God Let brothers' love increase, This day is born in Behtlehem The Prince of Peace
William H. Draper, 1855–1933
Although there are many people trying to eliminate Christmas from our nation, there is still evidence that even in a jaded city like Washington, DC, people still love this holiday. The picture above is 10th Street and the building that covers the majority of the photo (on the left side of the photo) is my office building there. We are 10 blocks from the Capitol building, about 3 blocks from the White House, and 5 blocks from the Washington Monument. It's hard to see from the above picture, but there are wreaths and bows hanging on the building lights.
Around the corner from my office there are lighted snowflakes on each of the lampposts. The picture to the left is one of those snowflakes. Without a tripod, at this time of morning I would not be able to handhold a photo of a distant shot lining these up, but it really is a beautiful sight to see the repeating patterns of these snowflakes.
But my favorite shot from this morning was the one to the right. This is the lobby of my office building, which is shared by a luxury hotel. It's a little hard to see at this size, but there are Christmas trees on each floor and evergreen garland and red bows on the railings. A gorgeous scene to look at while I wait for my 6:00 am Starbucks coffee. I took this photo while I was waiting in line at Starbucks, which is also attached to the hotel lobby.
I don't like the "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" or the use of Santa Claus and Christmas trees while eliminating manger scenes, but I still love the sense of peace and joy that accompanies the Christmas season. Rather than fighting the culture warriors opposed to all things Christmas, we should take advantage of the fact that this season still evokes a sense of "peace to men of goodwill."
We all think the music we listened to when we were young was the best music ever. We remember fondly music that probably wasn't really all that good, but has such emotional ties that we still appreciate it years later. I have purchased CDs of rock bands that I loved as a teenager, only to find out that the additional years and a greater understanding of quality music has removed the enjoyment from some of these less-than-stellar bands of my childhood.
There are a few bands whose musicianship stands up to the test of time. I have collected a few CDs and DVDs of some of my childhood favorites who are still sounding good many years later. I have DVDs of Kenny Loggins, James Taylor, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Earth Wind & Fire, Yes, Peter Frampton, and the Doobie Bros. that I watch regularly. All of these musicians seem to have gotten better with time and put on quite a show in their later middle-age years. I even have a DVD of a good concert by Barry Manilow (who I couldn't stand when I was young) that is actually quite good.
But the band that I always thought was the best band in history recently reformed to do a charity fund-raising concert. As a teenager I thought there would never be a band that would be better than this band. I now have another 30 years behind me and a college education in musical performance to help me judge musical quality. This video shows the best band ever (and I still think that today) playing as 60-year-old men. They still rock. They're still awesome. They're still the best. Today's young musicians should be inspired (or embarrased).
As Led Zeppelin said, The Song Remains the Same:
I am getting excited about the political campaign of Governor Mike Huckabee. I met Gov. Huckabee about a decade ago through my involvements in pro-life activism and was very impressed with him at the time. But I have been cautious regarding his current campaign for nomination by the Republican Party.
The more I watch him in this campaign season, the more excited I get. Today I read an article from almost a decade ago that reports a speech he gave to a group of evangelical ministers in Salt Lake City. The quotes in this article reveal Gov. Huckabee to be right on the money about some very serious issues facing the United States today. Read the article. I hope it excites you as much as it excites me.
A decade ago I was an employee of a pro-life political activism organization. As a strong advocate of the sanctity of life, I felt compelled to push what I thought to be right through political activism, letter- and article-writing, and even intimidation at times.
Then at a pro-life rally sponsored by my organization, I heard an outstanding sermon by the Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America. Pastor Benham encouraged us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbors and those we come in contact with. His presentation gave me a completely new (and, I believe, more biblically accurate) view of pro-life activism.
Part of the problem is that we American Christians tend to cherish our nation more highly than we cherish Jesus Christ. If the U.S. is our highest treasure, we will work primarily to keep our nation safe and secure. If we treasure Christ most highly, we will work primarily to share what he has done to secure our salvation with our neighbors and friends. It is not abandoning our patriotism to proclaim Christ, and we should still be involved in the political process, but we should not consider politics our highest priority.
This post from Pulpit Magazine (John MacArthur's blog) deals with this issue. Please read this post and consider how you may properly set your political and evangelistic priorities to bring them into line with Scriptural mandates.
Just for a moment I was back at school,
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home,
The snow turned into rain
Dan Fogelberg
There's a place in most of us where the rain is pretty much constant, the shadows are always long, and the woods are full of monsters. It is good to have a voice in which the terrors of such a place can be articulated and its geography partially described, without denying the sunshine and clarity that fill so much of our ordinary lives.
—Richard Bachman
But when we are kept from being able to voice this portion of our lives, this area of life seems to overcome the sunlit and clear portions like a slow-moving, but ever-creeping fog.
I'm not in the habit of endorsing candidates. I doubt that my endorsement would provide any more votes than my own anyway. But I have to share this video. I believe that the United States is at a crossroads. Will we, as a nation, follow the path of our founding fathers and continue our coinage slogan "In God We Trust," or will we turn the direction of the European nations and stake our claim in the sovereignty of man?
I like Mike Huckaby's view:
They may not represent the true meaning of Christmas, or be particularly depictive of "Silent Night, Holy Night," but they sure are fun to watch:
