To me The Grinch is really a Christian parable — it’s a story of conversion, repentance, and forgiveness. Or at least I started seeing these themes the year I had to read it every night for three months. Pitchers and catchers had reported for Spring Training and I was still reading about all the Whos down in Who-ville.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the Church of England and converted to Catholicism, the faith of his wife and children. Blair converted during
“When people end up in enclaves of like-minded people, they usually move toward a more extreme point in the direction to which the group’s members were originally inclined. Enclave extremism is a special case of the broader phenomenon of group polarization, which extends well beyond politics and occurs as groups adopt a more extreme version of whatever view is antecedently favored by their members.”
Author Philip Pullman says that people who are tempted to take offence should first see the film or read the books. “They’ll find a story that attacks such things as cruelty, oppression, intolerance, unkindness, narrow-mindedness, and celebrates love, kindness, open-mindedness, tolerance, curiosity, human intelligence. It’s very hard to disagree with those. But people will.”
The Slate staff has chosen its least favorite Christmas movies of all time. The list includes Fred Claus, Jim Carrey’s The Grinch, Jingle All the Way and holiday slasher fare like Jack Frost. Have a look, then nominate your own candidates in the comments section.
This four-piece S’mores nativity set includes S’more Mary wearing a blue head piece with her arms outstretched welcoming the new S’more King lying in the manger. Joseph stands back observing the scene before him traditionally dressed in a green head piece and holding his staff. The 5.5” S’mores nativity crèche makes a magnificent backdrop for this display.
All the commercial hype, the earlier timetable for decorating and the passion to engage with that “jolly old elf” is rooted in our understanding that we are being buffeted by changes. Whether we are looking at the Iraq war, the falling dollar, foreclosures, global warming or the horribly complex instability of the Middle East, there is a question on everyone’s mind. What will the future look like?
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of the nations and the Savior of them all: Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Two items, plucked from the blogosphere to help you contemplate the Christmas season: At Telling Secrets, Elizabeth Kaeton has written about a deeply moving moment in her ministry, and from our own back pages, comes a clear-eyed poem on the Incarnation from the late Denise Levertov.
Many Episcopal Church buildings are found in urban or downtown settings. A century ago this was were their parishioners lived. But that’s not the case today. St. Bartholomew’s parish on Park Avenue in New York City is one of the premier examples of how congregations need to transform the way they function in order to survive and flourish.