"Infant Holy, Infant Lowly"

The grocery store has relegated their Christmas stuff to a corner at huge discounts. They don't care about the visual beauty of their displays. Ornaments are scattered hodge-podge, the boxes of Christmas lights are askew on the shelf, and the Christmas candy sits unceremoniously next to the Hannah Montana doll.

It doesn't bother me, for this is not what Christmas is anyway. Just as this hymn title is a study in contrasts, so is our Lord. It's about the Baby Who came to die. The Baby, wrapped in cloths, foreshadowing His inevitable purpose. The Son of God, placed in a feeding trough; He, Who is the bread of life.

The link below takes you to an accompaniment of this hymn, but unfortunately it doesn't accurately capture the correct harmony. As written, the soprano and alto parts "clash" at least once in every line of this hymn. It's that sound that makes you think, "Is that the right note?" But, when you look at the part, it is correct. The dissonance builds tension, and then is resolved to a chord that sounds right. Isn't this just what our Lord did? He built tension, He took everyone by surprise. Then, He resolved the ultimate tension between God and Satan. Between God and us. Between God and me.

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
Infant holy, Infant lowly, for His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing, Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing, noels ringing, tidings bringing:
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Sign of the Times

Did this make you kind of sick?

I took our daughter to a ballet performance yesterday afternoon. She loves to dance and wants to be at the studio as much as possible. The next best thing to being able to dance herself, is watching others dance. We were in a good mood, and looking forward to the afternoon.

On the way to the theater, we passed a church that has one of those signs with letters you change to make new sayings every week. I couldn't believe what they put up. I think I gasped, I was so taken aback.

Now, incorrect usage of apostrophes and the letter s really bugs me. But that pales in comparison to the message. It's so flippant and denegrating. You read the sign and are more apt to think of a beer commercial rather than our Savior on the cross.

Judging by the attire we spotted, many people were traveling that road to go to the Denver Bronco football game, or to a bar or friend's house to watch the game. Maybe the church thought they'd catch the eye of that captive audience with their "clever" quip. Instead, I thought it cheapened the gospel. It made a mockery of our Lord's sacrifice.

It was another example of Christians copying the culture and not doing it very well.

(I don't know the name of the church we passed. I made this sign up at churchsigngenerator.com to closely approximate the type of sign I saw. Unfortunately, I copied the words exactly as they were on the real sign.)

Greenest Convention Ever?

Before I forget...

A day before the Democratic Convention opened here in Colorado a few weeks ago, I heard Denver Mayor Hickenlooper say that the DNC was going to be the Greenest Convention In History.

We heard that the waste was going to be composted. Carbon credits were being sold. Bicycles were provided for convention goers. Etc., etc., etc.

Making a proclamation like this merely shows our ignorance of history. Our ignorance of the excesses of the times we live in. I'd be willing to bet our house that this year's Democratic National Convention used more energy than any other convention ever.

(Photo of American flags taken from the DNC stadium site, all bagged up in garbage bags and sitting by the trash.)

You Are With Me

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4

I have a friend who volunteers as a victim's advocate with the Sheriff's Department. What the job usually entails is helping people who've unexpectedly lost a loved one. She's been musing lately that when you strip away the veneer and the things that entangle us in this world, what we really have left is: learning what to do with death.

A quick pass through the girls' clothing area in Target last week illustrated this perfectly. There were colorful girls' t-shirts hanging on the racks, but on the front of the shirts were skulls outlined in sequins. One design even had a cute bow on the skeleton's head. (Perfect back-to-school wear for your first grader, don't you think?)

Many people don't want to contemplate death because it's something to be feared and avoided. Instead, they flirt with it. They pierce their bodies in all sorts of strange ways, participate in dangerous extreme sports, and wear clothing with "cute" skulls. They want to be in control of this strange phenomenon called death. If they downgrade it, ignore it, or gussy it up, perhaps it won't be such a scary thing.

I know of three people who have died in the past week and they leave behind grieving loved ones. But all three people have joined their Heavenly Father, and that's something to rejoice in!

(Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Colorado, July 2008, taken by my husband)

Maturity

Every so often when I'm in the kitchen, I listen to snippets of the Dennis Prager Show on the radio. Today, I heard parts of an hour long interview with Dr. Steven Marmer about the topic of maturity. With our current culture's fixation on youthfulness, our children are becoming mature (i.e. responsible) later than in past generations. With immaturity, come destuctive behaviors that attempt to bring momentary distractions and joy from external sources. This often includes engaging in destructive and/or addictive behaviors.

Here are three signs of maturity, according to Dr. Marmer. As I gather the curriculum I want to use this year in school, I want to remember these sorts of life skills that are very good goals to impart to our children.

1. Don't let life's adversities drag you down. It is inevitable that they will come--we live in a fallen world. Deal with them without blowing up at your children or spouse.

2. Don't be blind to the past; learn from it. At the same time, don't be a prisoner of the past, either. Go on with life.

3. Willingly fulfill obligations.

Overheard at the Ballgame

We took my mother to a Rockies baseball game last night, her first major league game in over 50 years. She liked it so much she wants to go again this season! The Rockies beat St. Louis, 7-0, in a near perfect game, but that isn't what I want to write about.

We were seated in front of a group of five twenty-something kids (two girls and three guys), all Cardinal fans with ties to St. Louis. Their loud conversations volleyed back and forth between their narcissistic prattlings and the superiority of the Cardinals.

One of the two girls is engaged to be married this fall. (I can tell you all about their first date, how he proposed, where they're having their wedding photos taken, and the reception...she never stopped talking). But, before her monologue, one of the guys asked, "Why do people ever bother to get married anyway?" Another guy sagely replied, "In my tax bracket, you can save money if you're married!"

My husband and I both remarked on the drive home what a sad commentary on our society that marriage would be so trivialized and degraded. Given the state of American culture today, it's not surprising, but it's troubling nonetheless. Troubling, too, was that in Miss Bride-to-Be's conversation, nary a word was spoken about how much she loved her intended. In fact, the only opinions she expressed of the guy were how she thought it was past time they have a joint bank account, and how she was disappointed by his uninspired marriage proposal. The rest of the one-sided conversation between her and the other female companion consisted primarily of particulars surrounding the wedding day.

I think back to my grandparents and their very simple wedding, or to the simple wedding of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder written about in her Little House books, and of the lifelong devotion of each of these couples to one another. Many of the weddings of today (mostly in non-Christian circles) seem to be spectacles of opulence, without enough thought given to the vows or the days and years that follow the ceremony. Oh, that our culture would recapture the awe, reverence, and sacredness towards marriage.

Huh???

Rocky Mountain News, July 6, 2006
"State ed board member Polis announces he's gay"

"Jared Polis, the state board of education member whose wealth helped Democrats take control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time in decades, told the Daily Camera this weekend that he is gay."

"I think sexual orientation, like religion or race, has nothing to do with one's values, and to most people it's not important one way or the other," [said Polis.]

Huh? Sexual orientation, religion, and race have nothing to do with one's values? They aren't important one way or another???? Those three things define all of us in very substantial ways!

Clash of Cultures

After the past weekend of an inspiring home school conference I chanced to thumb through an old magazine and was struck by the vast dichotomy between the two. The conference speakers I heard exhorted us to be in the Word and to teach it to our children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). We were reminded of the immense blessing our children are, and of the fact that it is our solemn duty to train them and educate them in the things of the Lord.

On Sunday, I happened to leaf through the August 2005 issue of Sunset magazine before putting it on the recycle pile. I think it was sent to us for joining the Art Museum. The issue's theme was, "Last Minute Vacations."

Ponder these opening words of the editor's column:

"When it comes to last-minute vacations, I'm something of a veteran. Sudden desire to flee to Hawaii over spring break? Been there, and planned it in about three weeks. Spontaneous trip to Disneyland? Did that one too.

It seems I'm prone to these quick getaways because I have a habit of thinking I can't possibly take days off. Then suddenly, it hits me: Time is passing fast, my daughters are growing up, my mind needs a break. I decide we need family time, and fast."

If you can get quickly past the bragging and name dropping of the first paragraph, take a close look at the second. She "can't possibly take days off." Can't possibly take days off from what? Aren't our children more important than our "careers?" It hits her "suddenly." What, she doesn't think of it often? These are her children! Her mind needs a break? Oh, I thought it was that her daughters were growing up. And, notice how one has to go to Hawaii to give the mind a break? "We need family time..." At Disneyland?? What kind of family time does one get there? Standing in line for 30 minutes in order to hear "It's a Small World" ten million times?

Now, I love Hawaii as much as the next guy. But, what can be more important than our children's eternal souls? Certainly, not our mastery of executing last-minute vacations to places with palm trees!

So What Does This Have to Do with Motherhood?

So what exactly do the riots in France have to do with motherhood in suburbia? They have quite a bit to do with it actually. France did not get into this situation overnight. If we're astute, we in America will learn from Europe's mistakes before it is too late.

We're following much too closely in their footsteps as it is. First, the degree of ignorance of IMPORTANT truths is appalling. We spend so much time, effort, and money on the entertainment industry (I include professional sports in this category) and the fluff of life. Second, political correctness has run amok in our culture. We have denied ourselves the ability, even the obligation, to say what needs to be said. Consequently, evil is allowed to fester and eventually triumph. Third, too many people in the U.S. look to the government to solve society's ills (nevermind the problem of agreement on what those ills are, in the first place). Fourth, most people in political office are looking out for their political futures and the advancement of the Party, rather than what is best for this country.

What is best for the cattle rancher in Nebraska? What is best for the teacher in inner city Detroit? What is best for the housekeeper at the Days Inn in Miami? What is best for the coal miner in West Virginia? What is best for the priest of the small parish in rural Vermont? What is best for the single welfare mom in Houston? What is best for the home schooling mom in Lander, Wyoming? What is best for the WWII vet at the VA hospital in Honolulu? What is best for the concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony? What is best for the drunk sleeping on the sidewalk in L.A.? What is best for the soldiers in Iraq? And, yes, what is best for Jennifer Aniston?

If I don't care what happens to America, if I don't try to see what is happening in the world and how it impacts us, if I don't try to teach my children the truth, how to recognize the truth, how to fight for the truth...then I have failed as a parent. If I teach them who they are in Christ, if I teach them to get A's in Math, if I shuttle them to their music lessons; but I don't urge them to search out the truth and fight for it...then I have failed as a parent. And if I say nothing about "youths" rioting all over France...then, too, I have failed as a parent.