by Greg | Dec 22, 2010 | Blog Posts
This Sunday, December 26, instead of our live broadcast of the worship service, we will broadcast the music special “A Festival of Carols” performed by our Church Choir and Orchestra. This was a special evening of music and worship on December 12th, now available to those who will otherwise be unable to attend worship this Sunday. The broadcast will be at 11 AM on WRDW, this...
by Greg | Dec 21, 2010 | Blog Posts
For years I have attempted to convince my sons that “they” wanted a telescope for Christmas. Year after year, however, no telescope would be on their list for Santa. Finally they took the hint and about four years ago they gave me a telescope for Christmas. I admit that I do not use it that often – it is a bit cumbersome to carry and delicate to set up – but when I do I am not disappointed at what I see, even when it is at two o’clock in the morning. Two o’clock in the morning is a time on my clock that I almost never see. It is too “late” for me to stay up and too “early” for me to start the day. Yet on Tuesday, at 2 AM Amy and I were awake and shivering in the front yard peering through my telescope. Yes, we were one of those eccentrics who actually got up to watch the lunar eclipse. This, as you have no doubt read by now, was not just any lunar eclipse. According to NASA this was the first time a total lunar eclipse occurred on the winter solstice since 1638. As a result, the moon appeared “very high in the night sky, as the solstice marks the time when Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun.” This will not happen again until 2094, and by then I will be 128 and my eyes will in all likelihood be too weak to view the eclipse! The eclipsed moon reflected the earth’s own reflection of the sun rising and setting all over...
by Greg | Dec 14, 2010 | Blog Posts
Recently on NPR I listened to a report of a billboard advertisement near the Lincoln Tunnel in New York. It depicted a nativity scene, a star and three wise men with the message: “You know it’s a myth,” courtesy of a group called American Atheists. Not to be outdone there is now another billboard sponsored by a religious organization with the same scene but with the message: “You know it’s real.” I am not sure what these competing billboards cost, but I am certain the money could have been put to better use. What is it about this season that leads many believers and unbelievers into an unofficial war on Christmas? There is more than a little debate concerning what we should call Christmas in the public. Do you own a Christmas tree or a Holiday tree? Do you wish your friends, even those that are not even Christian, merry Christmas or Seasons Greetings? When you think about it, this is really not new. In the days of the Second World War Americans were scribbling on cards, and scrawling on storefronts the words “Merry X-Mas.” It has sort of fallen out of vogue to use that abbreviation because it sounds as though we are dropping the Christ out of Christmas. But maybe what we are seeing today is different. After all, it seems far more intentional, more contrived to rename our trees, our customs so that Christmas is dropped in favor of more sanitized names. So children in the public school are out on Winter holidays instead of Christmas holidays; soldiers are depicted in the media wishing “Seasons Greetings”...
by Greg | Dec 8, 2010 | Blog Posts
…there were radios. Sitting on a shelf of our bookcase at home is an old Philco Transitone radio. I remember it sitting on top of the kitchen counter alongside the coffee pot and beside the wooden rocking chair where Papa would sit after the evening chores at the barn. Eventually, I am not sure when, it stopped working and was tucked away in a closet, forgotten but thankfully not discarded. I salvaged it years later and now keep it as a nostalgic and sentimental reminder of a simple farmhouse and two hardworking grandparents. My grandmother told me that they purchased the radio right after electricity, thanks in large part to Franklin D. Roosevelt, was made available in rural Putnam County. The year was 1941 and the radio was their first major purchase of an electrical appliance. According to my research the purchase price was $12.95 – about $198.34 today, which for dairy farmers was an extravagant price. This luxury allowed my family to listen at nights to the Atlanta Crackers baseball team. (If you have never heard of the Atlanta Crackers baseball team then you are probably not from Georgia or you are under 40 years old). I am sure they also listened to morning farm reports, daily news, and social events happening around the state. Maybe they even listened to a little music, although I do not have a memory of hearing music come out of its Bakelite shell. I am writing this particular article on December 7, so I am wondering if they learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor by way of that radio. I have...
by Greg | Nov 30, 2010 | Blog Posts
Once again I am proud to tout in this esteemed article that we have a beautiful Christmas tree in our Living/Family/Herding room. It is a Frazier Fir, ten feet tall and full all around. In keeping with tradition we purchased the tree a few days after Thanksgiving and soon filled it with endless strands of lights and Christmas ornaments that are kooky but special. We have enjoyed the tree ever since. Once again we have the same small problem that nags us every year: the tree is leaning. I have tried everything to remedy the problem. I have readjusted the stand; trimmed limbs; prayed over it and now I am just trying to ignore the tilt altogether. Our evening dialogue goes something like this: “Honey, the tree is leaning,” says Amy. “No it is not,” I reply, “your eyes are just tilted. The tree looks fine.” And then to add a final statement assuring authority on the subject I say, “Besides, it looks more natural leaning like it is.” Eventually I start brooding. I cannot blame it on the tree and the stand seems to be working fine. Our house is not leaning. This is just one more thing that goes along with Christmas: even the best Christmas plans fall short of perfection. Is your Christmas perfect? I am sure it is not. Not only do trees lean and strands of light fizzle out, but people disappoint, illness sets in, and the unexpected and unplanned lands at the doorstep. When we try to pretend that we can pull off the “perfect” Christmas, watch out – not only will the...
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