Christ in Christmas

Count me as one of those folks who doesn't like "Seasons Greetings" or "Happy Holidays." Wal-mart ("Your One-Stop Christmas Shop"), Kohl's ("The Biggest Christmas Sale"), Target and other retailers are brave enough to include "Christ" in their marketing. Good for 'em. I want to be greeted with "Merry Christmas."

The word Christmas means Christ's festival. How can it not include Him? Ah, but that's where the really sad part comes in. You see, so many of us (Christians) obey the festival but not the Christ. We celebrate the birth but not the born. We give our money and our time to finding that perfect gift for each other without ever remembering that perfect gift which was given to us. We give the best tech gifts and toy gifts and food gifts and never think about giving the gift of eternal life by sharing the one gift that matters.

My favorite Christmas quote:

How many observe Christ’s Birthday! How few, his precepts! Oh! ‘tis easier to keep holidays than commandments

Ben Franklin—Poor Richard’s Alamanac

This Christmas, yes, shop at Christmas-friendly establishments. Greet cashiers and strangers with "Merry Christmas." Tell others about Christ. Give the gift that you can not afford.

Do all that and I'll let you get away with "Seasons Greetings."

Happy Holidays

venni vidi vici

I was a math major in college. I learned all about Venn diagrams when working with sets. I'd say I had a pretty good education.

Imagine my suprise a couple of weeks ago when kcrazorback daughter began (correctly) explaining Venn diagrams to me and showing me an example of one. Don't forget, kcrd is in kindergarten.

Turns out her K-teacher is pretty good with math and very good at teaching. So she and math-interested daughter are a good fit. All the kids in Ms. H's class are benefiting from this.

Daughter is already pretty good at math (at age 4, she could multiply, say, 2 x 12 in her head--actually doing the computation--I think she was making 24 imaginary tick marks in two rows of 12 and counting them--answering correctly) and dreams about numbers. But with a little bit of genetics and a teacher inspiring her, she can be great in mathematics. I always knew she would, just didn't expect it so soon.

Thank you Ms. H for breaking my preconceived ideas of what an elementary educator is capable of. Thank you also for recognizing what your little learners are capable of. Thanks for intersecting the two. Good job!

have a happy family thanksgiving, amoeba brain

For the first time in a few years, we'll all be together: my mom, her kids, their spouses and kids. It'll be great. Family sticks together. Or at least it should. Even if you're no smarter than an amoeba, stick with your family.

Have a great holiday, turkey.

fontastic hp

You guys that are really into hp calculators will enjoy their calculator font collection.

For the rest of you, clearly you don't know how cool we are.

thank you veterans

I love Veterans' Day (though I don't think I've ever gotten off of work on this day). My life has been blessed by a few veterans that I knew very well and by thousands that I never knew.

Published this post in July. However, it contains a letter to the editor written for Veterans' Day. Pointing you back to this post is my Veterans' Day tribute. Read it here.

Thank you to all of the veterans.

dream reified

MLK Jr. had a dream. Yesterday, the greatest nation on earth elected a president based on his merit.

Of course, that has happened in most presidential elections in history. The difference, this time, is that this president-elect is African American. So are his wife and children (won't it be neat having children in the White House again?). Doesn't matter. You see, that is the amazing thing about this election. The candidate that won, did so irrespective of the color of his skin.

Of course some vestiges of racism still exist in this country. But, I truly believe that most of the people, whether they voted for or against him, are extremely interested in how well he will preside over our country and don't even care about what color his skin is. I think our country has turned a corner and will never turn back.

Congratulations President-elect Obama. I hope you go down in history as one of the greatest U.S. presidents ever. Because that is what is best for our country; not because of your race.

MLK, Jr.: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

Perhaps, yesterday, November 4, 2008 was that day this nation rose up.

great day in the history of america

Election day is here! Today is Tuesday after the first Monday of November. The harvest is in. You have no excuse not to vote. Or at least I don't want to hear it.

Today is also historic. When polls close this evening, together we will have elected our first African American president or our first woman VP. Either way, the coming January inauguration will be amazing.

We Christians are in a unique position in this country which is defined by both its Christian roots and its love of democracy. There are enough of us to make a huge difference in this country. Get out and vote, brothers and sisters. Make a difference. Vote your values. Live your values.

But don't worry about the results. No matter who wins, Jesus Christ reigns supreme--yes, over this country. The Lord of Lords and King of Kings' reign will continue.

Colossians 1:15-17 (New International Reader's Version)
Copyright © 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society

Christ Is Far Above Everything
15 Christ is the exact likeness of God, who can't be seen. He is first, and he is over all of creation. 16 All things were created by him. He created everything in heaven and on earth. He created everything that can be seen and everything that can't be seen. He created kings, powers, rulers and authorities. Everything was created by him and for him. 17 Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together.

One other favorite quote, this one from John Quincy Adams:

The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. From the day of the Declaration...they were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct.