Irritable Guests

“Christmas dinner, as described by a modern minor poet, would almost certainly be a study in acute agony: the unendurable dullness of Uncle George; the cacophonous voice of Aunt Adelaide. But Chaucer, who sat down at the table with the Miller and the Pardoner, could have sat down to a Christmas dinner with the heaviest uncle or the shrillest aunt. He might have been amused at them, but he would never have been an­gered at them, and certainly he would never have insulted them in irritable little poems. And the reason was partly spiritual and partly practical; spiritual because he had, whatever his faults, a scheme of spiritual values in their right order, and knew that Christmas was more important than Uncle George’s anecdotes; and practical because he had seen the great world of human be­ings, and knew that wherever a man wanders among men..., he will find that the world largely consists of Uncle Georges. This imaginative patience is the thing that men want [that is, “lack”] most in the modern Christmas.” ―G.K. Chesterton, “Chaucer and Christmas,” Illustrated London News, December 26, 1931

HT: Randy Booth

You Have Never Talked to a Mere Mortal

I wonder what our days would look like, and our conversations sound like if we really believed and took to heart what Lewis is saying in the following paragraphs. I believe Lewis is right when he says, "There are no ordinary people."

"It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor.

The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.

All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.

It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.

There are no ordinary people.

You have never talked to a mere mortal.

The Real Christmas

Here is a helpful Christmas meditation. Joyeux Noel!

The Innkeeper (by John Piper)

It's interesting to note that a good number of my favorite pastor/theologians are poets as well. And John Piper is a shining example of this cadre of godly men. Please do yourself and your loved ones a holiday favor and listen to Pastor Piper read his heart-warming "The Innkeeper." Enjoy.

The Innkeeper

John Piper, 1986

Jake's wife would have been fifty-eight
The day that Jesus passed the gate
Of Bethlehem, and slowly walked
Toward Jacob's Inn. The people talked
With friends, and children played along
The paths, and Jesus hummed a song,
And smiled at every child he saw.

He paused with one small lass to draw
A camel in the dirt, then said,
"What's this?" The girl bent down her head
To study what the Lord had made,
She smiled, "A camel, sir!" and laid
Her finger on the bulging back,

Where merchants bind their leather pack
"It's got a hump." "Indeed it does,
And who do you believe it was
Who made this camel with his hump?"
Without a thought that this would stump
The rabbi guild and be reviled,
She said, "God did." And Jesus smiled,
"Good eyes, my child. And would that all
Jerusalem within that wall
Of yonder stone could see the signs
Of peace!" He left the lass with lines
Of simple wonder in her face,
And slowly went to find the place
Where he was born.

Anti-Santy Ranty

Merry Christmas!

Nativity Paradoxes

“Maker of the sun, He is made under the sun. In the Father He remains, from His mother He goes forth. Creator of heaven and earth, He was born on earth under heaven. Unspeakably wise, He is wisely speechless. Filling the world, He lies in a manger. Ruler of the stars, He nurses at His mother’s bosom. He is both great in the nature of God, and small in the form of a servant.” (St. Augustine of Hippo)

Jill Phillips' "Labor of Love"

Putting the "X" in "Xmas"

"It’s been said that “Xmas” is a seasonal, subversive attempt by secularists to kick Christ out of Christmas. I don’t doubt that is the intent of some folks in our culture. In reality, the Greek spelling of the name Christ is Χριστός. In fact, the early Church often referred to Christ simply by his first Greek initial (X), or more commonly by overlapping his first two initials (XP). The simple cross (X) of course carried double meaning for the early Christians. So in that sense there’s not only a Christ in Xmas but also a Calvary. Far from a secularist attack, “Xmas” reminds us of Christ, his birth, and his cross, all at once. Merry Xmas!" (Tony Reinke)

We have what (who) they need...

The Grande Miracle

“The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own uni­verse, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.” ―C.S. Lewis, “The Grand Miracle”

The Wexford Carol is one of the oldest Christmas carols in the European tradition. Do yourself a holiday favor and listen to Alison Krause and Yo-Yo Ma's versions of it here. Hauntingly beautiful. Enjoy.