At a neighborhood Christmas party, I had a lively and stimulating conversation about some of the technical elements of filmmaking--editing, cinematography, action choreography, and the like. Neither my neighbor nor I work in the field, and we don't have serious aspirations of movie careers. We just find that our appreciation of the movies we enjoy is enhanced by understanding the processes involved. … [Read more...] about Science In Review — Christmas Craft
christmas
Scholar’s Compass: Sir Gawain Seeks Christmas
David Russell Mosley delves into Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a poem that starts at Christmas. Mosley draws on an argument by Tolkien, not coincidentally one of the translators of Sir Gawain, that fairy tales and mythical figures point beyond themselves to the truth of the Gospel. David will share more about Faerie and the Gospel in future Scholar's Compass posts. Reading Quotations from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in this post. … [Read more...] about Scholar’s Compass: Sir Gawain Seeks Christmas
The Day After Christmas
On Sunday, December 29th, Gene Wingert[1] wove The Day After Christmas throughout the morning worship service at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (referred to as EBIC in the PDF). The meditation was so stirring that I asked for a copy to share with you (click here for a PDF). How apt to post on Epiphany, The Day of Three Kings, and in anticipation of sharing gifts in ministry with InterVarsity staff at our triennial staff conference (January 7 - 11, St. Louis). As a teaser, below is the first part. May you … [Read more...] about The Day After Christmas
Science in Review — December 2013
1,800 miles per second. 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second. 214,200 reindeer. These are the numbers from typical treatments of the science of Christmas. You know the sort of thing -- make some assumptions and estimates about the number of (Christian? Western? Christmas-observant?) children in the world, where they live, how much their presents weigh, etc., plug it all into a model, solve for the unknowns, and you've got a sort of reductio ad absurdum argument against the existence of Santa Claus. So imagine my … [Read more...] about Science in Review — December 2013
Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: Angels
This time of year in churches all over, little children dress up in white robes, put on wings and halos, and in general, look cute! Children dressed as angels are a staple of Christmas plays everywhere. Congregations voice their “Ahhhhs” and parents and family members hope that their “angels” behave themselves. This is as it should be – angels do play a part in the Christmas story. Christmas pageants are stylized portrayals of the story of Jesus' birth, and children dressed as angels fit right in. But we should, … [Read more...] about Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: Angels