New Years is one of those funny holidays. You can celebrate it several times during the year if you like. You can celebrate the Jewish New Year in the autumn and the Chinese New Year in the winter. And of course, you can celebrate the New Year along with Dick Clark. When I was a boy, it was Guy Lombardo. He always said that when he died he would take New Years with him. He didn’t, and in the course of history New Years will come and go whether any of us are here to see them or not. But why are there so many New Years? The reason we have so many New Years Days is because we don’t all use the...

People were very offended when President Obama received the Nobel Prize for peace this year and rightly so.  After all, we are currently involved in two, count them, two wars.  And seldom have I ever seen a person deliver an acceptance speech that defends warfare while receiving a peace prize.  You have to admit that takes balls.  Even GW never would have done that, I’m sure.  But then GW probably would have figured that only a pussy would accept a peace prize. Anyway, with all the attention on the Nobel Prizes this year, it is not surprising that, yet again, the media failed to properly...

I have been reading the psychic predictions for the upcoming year, 2010, and I have to tell you it doesn’t look good.  According to the psychics, we can expect a year of turmoil.  Apparently, there will be civil war in the United States.  Some see a total collapse in our economy.  Others see an assassination attempt against the president.  There are some who see the beginning of the end of the world, with the return of Jesus coming sometime in the fall. Naturally, these predictions are rather upsetting.  And we can see how accurate those psychics are, as we look back at 2009 as seen through...

Sometimes I lose things. Being old, that doesn’t surprise me. It happens. There are books of which I was sure I knew their whereabouts, then I go to get them out off the shelf, and they aren’t there. And at work I am always losing paperwork. I put some important form down on my desk and then three days later when I need it, it is nowhere to be found. I have even had to request new forms from time to time to replace the ones I’ve lost. And then I once lost a twenty-dollar bill. I had it in my pocket, then later in the day, in the cafeteria, I went to pull it out and it was gone....

I am held fast by chains of fear and yet The day will come when fear will let me go So many fears that I could not forget And many fears to come I do not know When my young days were long I was afraid Of losing love and being left alone I yearned the comfort of my mother’s words My father’s arms as strong as any stone They both held back the perils of the night That I might set my face to the unknown In these dim days I find my fears the same Of being old, and living on my own Without my heart’s true love to hold my hand And comfort me when night begins to fall I fear one day...

It’s funny when you spend a few hours on the freeway watching the cars, how many of the most rude and obnoxious drivers drive around with little fishes, or crosses plastered on their cars. I usually notice the fish just about the same time the driver of the car is greeting me with a gesture that is not usually associated with the Christian religion, and is far from the holy kiss with which the early Christians were advised to greet one another, but then, I guess they don’t realize that we’re Christians as they cut us off. But then Christians have always been good at messing with...

Today we went to visit some family who live close by. It’s always nice to see those people you don’t often get the chance to see because, for some reason, busy schedules and the demands of life always seem to get in the way. Sometimes you get to be with people you haven’t seen since the last Christmas. So, after a few necessary pleasantries, you get to talking with folks and you realize how much you’ve missed them during the year. Before long, you’re chatting as if you’ve never been hanging out together all year. That’s the beautiful thing about love. It...

Well, today is Christmas. And this day always brings images of Mary and Joseph coming into the little town of Bethlehem looking for some place to lay their heads and for Mary to give birth to the child who would grow up to change the world forever, or at least as long as there are people here. It’s a beautiful story; it really is. I hope it’s true, or at least most of it. Of course there are a lot of historical problems with the story. And this all stems from the simple fact that the only sources we have for this story come from two of the gospels, Luke and Matthew. Mark and John both...

God Rest ye, ye olde Democrats You’re finally in control But Lieberman took all your gifts And left you lumps of coal Of course the nations so in debt We’re really in a hole Oh tidings of taxes and of war Taxes and war Oh tidings of taxes and of war The house has passed a health care bill The senate passed one too There’s not much good in either one And so what else is new? The times are better now, they say, Except for me and you Oh tidings of taxes and of war Taxes and war Oh tidings of taxes and of war Obama got a prize for peace While sending us to war The nations going quite insane What’s...

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him...