burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness

The readings this morning were

Isaiah 9:2-7
Luke 2:15-20

FCS-Ian said that he's struck by the image of the little baby in the Isaiah passage, in contrast to all the stuff about warriors, garments drenched in blood and all that. I said, "but the garments drenched in blood will be fuel for the fire -- war is over."

Ian, his dad, Tim D., and I, went to breakfast at The Broken Yolk.

I had almost nothing to do at work, so I caught up on YouTube embeds on "when loves come to town" blog. One was U2 doing "I Believe in Father Christmas." [blogpost, YouTube, lyrics]

One line is "Hallelujah Noel, be it Heaven or Hell, the Christmas you we get you we deserve." I expected the song to go on and undermine that line, but it turns out to be the last line.

I, of course, have problems with that. There are people who are grieving, and the deaths of their loved ones are not their fault, and grief isn't something you can just turn off at will.

In her Reflection last night, Laura Ruth talked about how one thing that helps her in the Christmas season is the reminder that we do this every year -- that she doesn't have to wholly "get it right" this time.

As I was nearing my house around ten past two this afternoon, birds were twittering and stuff was melted and it felt rather like spring (weather.com said 37F *shrug*), which felt somewhat fitting. (It got cold once the sun had set, though.)

On the Senate passing the health care bill, Megan McArdle said:

I'm not sure how much more point there is in talking about it until the legislative particulars emerge from the final bill. At this point, pretty much everyone is exhausted--the politicians, the CBO analysts, and the journalists who cover it. I assume y'all are too.

So go have a merry Christmas. Whatever you think of this bill, things will still be better than they ever have been in all of human history whether or not it passes. So go out and sample some peace on earth and goodwill to men for a few days. After the holiday, we can all get back to shouting at each other.

I was unimpressed by CHPC's Christmas Eve service. I did like that in the Prayer, Karl said, "In this season of excess, we remember all who are empty." And I also liked the Affirmation of Faith:

I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.

I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world in towns large and small.

I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes wants to exclude Christ and others from my life today.

I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among the common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.

I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible.

I believe in the one whose cradle was a mother's arms and who by love brought sinners back to life, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.

I confess our ever-lasting need of God, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.

I believe in Jesus, the beloved child of the living God, born in Bethlehem this night, for me and for the world.

(Walter Russell Bowie, adapted)

[NGL, I almost got choked up at that last bit.]

UCN's Christmas Eve service was, basically, the same one it is every year (see tag/previous year's entries). CHPC uses The New Century Hymnal (to Karl's disgruntlement) and tonight I kept feeling really thrown by the slightly changed lyrics (and it's not all gender -- "O Little Town of Bethlehem" has "No one discerns God's coming..." instead of the ableist "No ear may hear His coming...") because I was instinctively singing the traditional words, even all the "O come let us adore Him," without even registering them as male-default/hierarchical; but then I was at UCN (whose hymnal has all the traditional words) and noticed all the male etc. language and wasn't pleased about singing the traditional versions.

CHPC didn't dim the sanctuary at all, and UCN was dim but then we raised the lights on the front part so Pastor Bill could read everything (he's in a wheelchair, so he was down at the Communion table rather than up in a pulpit which would have its own light) and didn't ever dim them again. Lessens the effect of the candlelit "Silent Night" a bit. Sigh.

Scott emailed me tonight, Subject: "MC, QED! <eom>"
♥

Man, it is so good to feel normal (shuddup) again.  I think it really did take a week for me to fully recover from travel-lag -- which is lame, 'cause it was 2 weeks and I'm 24 years old, but there it is.

I had pasta for lunch today because I hadn't had Spangler pasta in ages.  It wasn't all that fulfilling and I suspect I may be living on burritos a lot, but that's okay.

I went back to the gym today for the first time since I came back from Europe.  (Memberships expire on August 31, so I also renewed my membership.  Is $200 for a full year -- which averages to <$17/month.)

I seem to be a masochist because I decided to do the treadmill.  I started at 5.5mph and after a few minutes (literally) I was so ready to be done.  Weirdly, my hips were hurting (though it got better by about halfway through).  A couple times I brought it down to walking pace (4mph) briefly, and after the first ten minutes I only brought it back up to 5mph, but I still did 2.55miles in 30minutes.  I looked in the mirror when I went back to the locker room, and I was so red.

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Via: InstaPundit: "Research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health in 2004 found that adolescents whose parents permitted them to attend unchaperoned parties where drinking occurred had twice the average binge-drinking rate. But the study also had another, more arresting conclusion: Children whose parents introduced drinking to the children at home were one-third as likely to binge."
[Megan McArdle also has commentary, though I don't understand why she's using the phrase "genetic determinist" for her philosophy.]

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I know that Democrats are the big government party, but isn't the idea of government requiring people to do stuff somewhat frightening, especially these days?  I know, it's better/safer when one's own people are in power, but what's that old adage about not your own party power you wouldn't want your enemies to have?

( Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care. )

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The front page of the WSJ today had a teaser for "Issues to Make Women Vote Republican," so of course I had to check that out.  The article was called "What Women Want"  (by Kimberley A. Strassel).  I really don't know economics, but I found it really interesting. ( excerpts )

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In the complaint department:
I bought an external hard drive, plugged in the USB cord and everything, my computer recognized it . . . but it's not showing up in My Computer or anything.  Sigh.  Will stop by Staples (where I bought it) after work tomorrow.