While it’s easy to forget this side of New Year’s, we are still actually in the season of Christmas. Knowing that the marvel and wonder and mystery of the Incarnation can’t be comprehended too quickly, the Church established twelve days of Christmas that stretch from the Feast of the Incarnation, on December 25, to the day before the Epiphany of our Lord, on January 6. So on this the 9th day of Christmas, and anticipating the Epiphany celebration that falls this Sunday, I thought I would highlight one more Unlike Christmas Carol. This one also comes from A Very Special Christmas 3: Patti Smith’s version of “We Three...

Tonight millions of Christians will gather to hear the Christmas story read, preached on, and – perhaps most especially – sung. And as we prepare to hear this story once more it occurs to me what an odd, even slightly absurd story it is. Shepherds, virgins, wandering kings, angels, stars. It really is quite a tale. Which is why, I think, that lately I’ve been struck by the ads and billboards atheists have purchased once again this year suggesting that Christmas is, to put it kindly, a myth. Struck. In light of my own musings, I have to say that I’m not particularly offended or angered, just struck. The gist of the advertisements is...

A couple of weeks ago I posted Denise Levertov’s poem Annunciation. Several readers suggested another of my favorite Levertov poems, “On the Mystery of the Incarnation,” and today seems the perfect day to share it. Since the killings a week ago in Newtown, her poem has become all the more meaningful, as it confesses that we only really appreciate the mystery and beauty of the Incarnation – God becoming human in Jesus – when we recognize just how much we don’t deserve, yet simultaneously need, such a gesture of love. I could say more, but won’t. Her poem speaks for itself. I would invite you, though, to read it slowly, and...

I’m going to omit our usual Wednesday TEDTalks episode for a week or two to make a little more room for holiday cheer. Today’s feature…a modern day – and rockin’ – little drummer boy named Sean Quigley. Sean, a native of Winnipeg, put together a very fun – and very well made – video of his version of the “The Little Drummer Boy.” What’s kind of amazing is that he plays all the instruments as well as produced the video. And his exuberance as a drummer is, well, seriously fun. As he said in an interview with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) last year shortly after the video went up and went viral, “Drummer Boy...

The trail of gratitude on the internet can at times be both long and complex. Case in point: I came across this piece on Christmas gifts at MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s great blog, “The Blue Room,” where she referenced an article written by Gretchen Ziegenhals on Duke’s fine Faith and Leadership website where she (Gretchen) talks about an idea she received at a workshop given by Susan Vogt. Still with me…? I suppose it doesn’t matter. Here are the relevant paragraphs on Christmas gift-giving at home, first from Gretchen (as quoted by MaryAnn): At a retreat on Christian life, I heard Susan V. Vogt describe a wonderful tradition...

I’ve said before – more than a few times, actually ☺ – that I love just about everything about Advent and Christmas, and that I especially love the music of the season. Ancient and modern, sacred and secular, I love them all. (Well, not all, but a whole lot!) So in the spirit of the season I want to share a few of my favorite Christmas songs, some of which you may know, others that perhaps are less familiar, but all of which representatives of what that I like to call “unlikely Christmas carols.” They’re unlikely not because there is something wrong or inappropriate about them. Indeed I find each one points out something...

As of yesterday, we are within four weeks of Christmas. If that thought stresses you ought just a bit, you’re not alone. An untold number of studies say that the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s are among the most stressful of the year. And while I think that’s true for all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons, I think that’s particularly true for parents. Parents who want to make sure Christmas is great for their kids while also attending to all the usual stuff at work and home and, at this time of the year, trying to please their own siblings and parents as well. And, truth be told, when I say parents, I want to add a...