Charlie Brown's Christmas

I just wanted to post my favorite Christmas TV moment of all time. It is low tech and not very flashy, and the best that has ever been put to film. Merry Christmas & Enjoy!

Twas the Night Before Christmas (revisited)

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring except me and my spouse;
Credit card bills were stacked by the chimney with care,
And I was assembling toys trying to make it look like St. Nicholas had been there.

The children were lying restless in their beds,
While visions of "X-Boxes" danced in their heads;
I cursed the assembly instructions, understanding not a word,
While in the kitchen ma toiled stuffing the bird.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to the window to see what was the matter;
I peaked through the blinds, trying not to be seen,
I thought maybe the vandals had returned to the scene.

You see, two nights before my lights they did take,
And my eight-foot Santa they threw in the lake;
Don't they know what this season's all about?
I would have won the lighting contest, no doubt.

I peered, and squinted, watching the yard,
Hoping to catch the punks all off-guard;
"Call 911," I said to my wife,
Ready to pounce on the first sign of life.

Then what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But someone lurking by the plastic remains of my reindeer;
He was looking over Dasher, and Dancer, and the antlers of Vixen,
But there was nothing left of Comet, Cupid, Donder, or Blitzen.

I put on my shoes, and stepped out the front door,
Then I spoke to the stranger, "I see you've returned to do more."
His clothes were all threadbare from his head to his feet,
But his eyes shown like jewels and their gaze I couldn't meet.

"I was looking at all the damage that was done,
They didn't ruin it all, they missed the little one;"
He motioned to my little manger scene,
The small set I got from Aunt Jean.

The man was shaking as he spoke,
The wind must have blown right through his coat.
"I love to gaze upon that little child, whenever I can,
And I remember that he was God became man."

"He was hidden behind an inn that night,
"Hidden from harm, safe out of sight.
He grew and reached out to a world in pain
But on deaf ears his words fell, his efforts seemed to be in vain."

"No longer safe in his manger,
The world was hostile and he walked into danger;
He was betrayed, and then taken by force,
But, He did not fight back for this was part of his course."

"Soldiers whipped and beat him with glee,
Then he was hung to die on a tree;"
The old man shivered and trembled and shook,
Then told me. "When he died our sins He took."

"Then He rose again on the third day,
His life he lived to show us the way;"
Then the old man's Spirit did lift,
He said with a smile, "That was the greatest Christmas gift"

The night was cold and the wind made a racket,
Then I went in the house and grabbed him a jacket;
Humbly he took it and put it on with a smile,
Then I asked him to come in for a while.

He thanked me for the offer but kindly refused,
"I have many people to see before this night is through;"
I looked down for a moment then he vanished form sight,
But I heard his voice ring through the night, "Remember Christ this Christmas, and Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight."

Advent Conspiracy

We are going to participate in this, why don't you join us. Watch the video and go to http://www.adventconspiracy.org/ and join us.



God Bless You All.

WALL-E: Movie review

Wall-E

Here is my first review for the blog. I chose a critically acclaimed thriller for my first review, well maybe not. It is however a movie I loved. So here is my review of Wall-E, the Pixar Animations release that came out this week on DVD.

Wall-E is a about a little robot left to clean up the planet earth, while the humans have been living on a ship in space for eight hundred years. He is the last remaining robot on the planet and has developed a personality and is lonely. Enter Eve, a highly sophisticated robot sent back to earth search for any living vegetation. Wall-E immediately falls for her.




This movie is an example of masterful writing and directing. The two lead characters have a vocabulary of about five words yet have the ability convey a wealth of emotions. It is a touching and humorous story.

On another level it is packed with symbolism and hidden meaning. The first and most obvious message is that of the over-consumption of mankind and how it could literally bury us. Some may or may not subscribe that viewpoint but it is worth considering.

The next message is symbolized by Eve. It is an obvious reference to the dove sent out by Noah that returned to the ark with the olive branch. She does look very dove like as she flies about searching for life.

Lastly, Wall-E himself is a messianic figure. Everyone he comes in contact with is set free in some way. They begin to follow him and help him. He finally dies and is resurrected as mankind is returned to earth ready for them to start over reign.

This movie is one of the best of the year in my opinion. It's masterfully done. I give this movie 4 stars.

So check out WALL-E.

The Almighty says he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure your f**ked.

"The Almighty says he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure your f**ked." You might recognize that quote from one of the battle scenes in Braveheart. It is one of my all-time favorite movie quotes. It also happens to describe the attitude many of us evangelicals have toward those who have not been “Born Again”. We have gotten caught up in a regimen of “Sin management”. We are focused on our behavior, we don't swear, we don't lie, we don't watch “R-rated” movies, so we are “IN”. Then, when we think we have our sin managed, we begin to take on everyone else's sin. We make sure that they don't do those wicked things that we used to do and if they do we make sure to try and shame or humiliate them into being just like us. When you see Christian's marching with signs that read “God Hates Fags” it just makes people line up to be just like us. Okay, well maybe not.

This “Sin Management” program is really only effective in one thing, keeping us from doing what Christ called us to do in the beginning. In Matthew 22:37-40 he says:

...‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

If we would concentrate on these commands we would be kept busy for a lifetime. I believe that it is the devil who gets us so caught up in worrying about morality because it makes us worthless. We believe we are saved by grace yet we waste our lives trying earn our salvation instead of loving our neighbor. If we begin to look at the ramifications of what it means to love our neighbor it would blow our minds.

In future updates I will talk more about just what "loving our neighbor" really means. But for now I just want to encourage fellow Christians to try forget about sin management and begin to live a life that Christ would applaud.

I have included a link to a video of the song “Grace” by U2 it defines what Grace is in a beautiful way.

Naked Aliens

Over the last several years I have become increasingly more uncomfortable and disillusioned with my belief systems, some things just didn't “fit”. Over and over I told myself I just needed to accept it all by faith. I'm not just talking about my religion, though that is a big part of it, but also my politics, my attitudes towards the world around me, the people, the planet, the systems I had grown to trust to keep it all working in harmony, everything.

I began to explore and search, reading books listening to podcasts. I really came to believe the old proverb, “When the student is ready, the master will appear”. The more I searched the more I sought, the more the answers started showing up in areas where I wasn't even looking.

I would stand back and stare at it all, and scratch my head. It was like staring at a naked alien, all green and slimy, not quite sure what I was looking at but I knew it wasn't quite right.

That's the purpose of this blog to study this naked alien standing before us and try to make some sense out of it. I promise to keep my posts short and (hopefully) interesting. I hope you'll read this and see, not something new, but something familiar, something that when you read it it's more like remembering something you had forgotten.

I hope you are entertained and informed, even if you don't agree with everything. Please feel free to comment and contact me if you like.

Paul

***In my next post I will share my favorite film quote of all time.***

Welcome to SHIFT HAPPENS

I finally decided to join the narcissistic legion of bloggers. I hope this blog will make you think a little and laugh a little. I will post my first update in the next day or two.