Wishing you and your loved ones a beautiful and blessed Christmas. We went to a Christmas party on Saturday night, and took this photo. Left to right is grandson Zachary James, my wife Tammy, me, grandson Zeph Ethan, and our daughter Anjela. (Not pictured are my sons Rick and John, their wives Jessica and Shiann respectively, and our granddaughter Annabelle).
Here's a short (about a minute) video I took going around the Holy Column in the church of Santa Prassede. This is the column that Jesus was tied to when he was scourged by Pontius Pilate. They don't always have the barrier down, so you usually don't get to see it from all the way around. I wanted to get video of the whole thing all the way around because I ran across a note in an ancient document that said that those who made a pilgrimage (at that time to the Holy Land, since it was still in Jerusalem) could visit the Holy Column, and could see marks left from the hands of Jesus where he gripped it as he was being whipped. I assume that this is pious legend, but I figured since the column has that dark & light marble, maybe there's a place where the dark parts look like hands. I did not see it, but if you do, let me know!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
This past Sunday was Gaudete Sunday - Rejoice!
As we rejoice in the hope of the coming of the Savior, we heard the voice of John the Baptizer. And as it just so happens, our next set of passages in The Journey are all about the arrest and execution of John. But did you know that there is a relic of the HEAD of John in a church in Rome? Yes, the church of San Silvestro in Capite has a reliquary with a head in it, which is supposed to be the head of John the Baptizer. Look close in the pictures - can you see him? One picture is a close-up.
As a reminder, we won't have The Journey this Saturday, but when we come back, we'll get to these passages. So we won't gather for The Journey until after Christmas - have a wonderful Christmas!
Like most people, I like watching Christmas movies in the time leading up to Christmas (yes, I know, it's Advent, not Christmastime yet, but there's a legitimate form of anticipation that allows for the watching of Christmas movies, and listening to Christmas music before Christmas actually arrives, so that one is ready for it when it does).
Anyway, it occurs to me that a lot of the Christmas movies that come out nowadays have this as their theme or message:
It's really important that you believe in Santa Claus, but not so important that you believe in God.
Now don't get me wrong, I still like a lot of these movies, but there's this nagging annoyance in the back of my skull that knows they come from writers with a skewed (or even pagan) worldview. Several of the movies I've seen lately have that element of a dead parent, and yet there is never any talk of God or heaven - the dead parent is "with us always in our hearts" but never actually waiting for us in heaven. Oh, but if people ...
