Category: Holidays

Holy Mondegreens, Batman, Here He Goes Again!

In addition to the ones I wrote about last year, here are a few more:

  • Give us this day our deli bread.
  • Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Whole East Coast.
    • We shall come to Joyce’s, bringing in the cheese.
    • Gladly, the cross-eyed bear
    • Yield not to Penn Station.
    • Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures, HERE WE GO!
    • Olive, the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names
    • While shepherds washed their socks by night

    Any worthy contributions to this list will be rewarded with a life sentence subscription to my blog plus a signed copy of my world-infamous Christmas family newsletter.… Read the rest

    Holiday Letters–Yea or Nay?

    Sorry, there won’t be the usual stunningly professional, thought-provoking and humorous post today. You see, I used up all my good stuff on the holiday letter that I composed this weekend. You know, the newsy and chatty one that you send to all your far-flung friends regaling them with the events of the year and about how all the men are strong, the women good-looking and the children way, way above average in your little neck of the woods.

    If you’re still working on yours (news flash: you’d better hurry), then you might find this list of helpful hints useful. Or not.… Read the rest

    You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!

    Tis the season for the Sojourner Class at our church to watch some Christmas movies and try to unpack a few spiritual lessons. Last year, we spent a few weeks watching It’s a Wonderful Life, and so far this year we’ve viewed and discussed clips from Miracle on 34th Street and The Bishop’s Wife.

    christmas_story_c.jpgThis Sunday we’ll be watching A Christmas Story. As you might recall, that’s the one where little Ralphie Parker (played by Peter Billingsley) sets his heart on the mother of all Christmas presents: “an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and ‘this thing’, which tells time.”… Read the rest

    Seeing a Sermon

    Our search for a good Yuletide fix led us yesterday to the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Huntsville for their annual performance of The Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival. Being both a medieval aficionado and a lover of pomp and circumstance, this is one that I simply don’t miss. I mean where else can an old Latin geek like me belt out lyrics like these at the top of his lungs?

    Caput apri defero

    Reddens laudes Domino!

    That phrase is from “The Boar’s Head Carol” and translates roughly to “Lo, behold the head I bring, giving praise to God we sing!”… Read the rest

    Lux Aurumque

    nativity-church.jpgThere’s nothing like soaring choral music to get one’s Advent Season off to a good start.

    Yesterday, I put Alabama’s coaching woes far behind me and dove headlong into Advent by attending a concert of the University of Alabama at Huntsville Chorus and the Huntsville Youth Chorus at the historic Episcopal Church of the Nativity in downtown (kudos to RocketCityPoet for the stunning view of Nativity above).

    Small in numbers but large in both volume and spirit, both choruses hit several high notes, including such classics as Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium and Vilvadi’s Magnificat in G Minor. Throw in some rousing audience participation on favorites like O Come, All Ye Faithful and Hark!… Read the rest

    A Kindred Spirit

    My post-Halloween depression is shared by a kindred spirit out west.

    Kate, aka “girlfriday,” waxes eloquently (as she often does on a variety of topics) on the dearth of trick-or-treaters in her neck of the woods. I particularly like this quote:

    “Packed like sardines into pre-fabricated, self-contained villages, we’re buried in gadgets designed to give us more time but we don’t seem to use it to meet the souls that live 15 feet away from us.”

    halloween-eye.gifI’m buried in gadgets too, and maybe it’s time I took a stroll around the block and try to make some eye contact with a few of my neighbors.… Read the rest

    Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?

    halloween-1998.jpgThere’s a bowl nearly full of Halloween candy on our kitchen counter. It’s not supposed to be that way, you know. But last night, we had a grand total of 10 trick-or-treaters knock on our front door and accost us for candy. What a bummer.

    When we moved into this neighborhood 11 years ago, our street was the place to be on Halloween night. The sidewalks were packed with moms and dads escorting cute little ghouls and goblins from one house to another. It was one of the few times when everybody was out–a block party if there ever was one–and the spirit of community mingled freely with the other shades and shadows conjured up on those crisp, moonlit fall nights.… Read the rest

    A Southern Halloween

    grim-reaper.jpgHave you ever met a ghost?

    I haven’t (as far as I know). But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. My friend Jeff believes he has met some ghosts and offers up some sobering thoughts and Halloween reflections on these denizens of the afterworld in his essay, “Stumbling in Endor.” I felt a shiver or two running up my spine (at least I think that’s all it was) when I read this, and I bet you will too.

    With its storied tradition of gothic tragedy, it figures the South would produce more than its share of tortured souls wandering the earth in search of redemption and release.… Read the rest

    The Road From Malibu to Searcy Runs Through Birmingham

    Pepperdine.jpgI didn’t graduate from Pepperdine University. In fact, I’ve never set foot on the beautiful Malibu campus nestled by the jagged shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. But thanks to our youth minister, Jason, who recently attended the annual lectureship there, I am the proud owner of a bright orange Pepperdine t-shirt with arched, blue letters and a school seal with motto that reads “Freely ye received, freely give.” It was the first shirt that I pulled out of my drawer last Friday as I prepared to travel to Ozark, Alabama to spend Memorial Day weekend with my younger sister and her family.… Read the rest