Get-Mas

The so called "war on Christmas" drives me crazy. The e-mails are going around again whining about various organizations wishing "happy holidays" instead of the traditional "Merry Christmas." I see Christians sneer at those who say ''happy holidays" and I hear the snide response "I celebrate Christmas!" and cringe. Even those Christians who sweetly and gently respond make me cringe because they are exposing a poor understanding of history and theology. A catchy and meaningless cry of those who want to "defend" Christmas is "Jesus is the reason for the season." This strange statement assumes that Christmas was invented by or for Jesus. Another meaningless catchphrase is "keep Christ in Christmas" as if Christ was at the origin of Christmas.

Theologically this whole "war on Christmas" is a puzzle. If Christmas is a Christian holy day why do we even allow outsiders to participate much less force them to celebrate our way? Each God-ordained holiday in Scripture required cleansing form the heart out for even outsiders. On top of this, no celebration of Christ's birth is recommended in the Scripture or even referenced as practiced by the early believers, unlike the long-time celebration of Christ's resurrection. More interestingly birth dates have little importance in Scripture as commemoration times. Few people are celebrated for their births as compared to the those who were celebrated for what they did. To declare the common "Jesus is the reason for the season" is also a theological mistake because Jesus is not the reason for this season any more than Shakespeare is the reason for midsummer. Scripture identifies Jesus as one with God the Creator and as such He is not only the Creator of all seasons beyond Christmas, but He is the focus of all seasons. More on this in a moment

Historically Christmas as an important ancient Christian holy day is a legend. "Keep Christ in Christmas" is slightly more silly than insisting on "keep the Easter Bunny in Easter!" While the events of Christ's death and resurrection do somewhat coincide with pagan spring celebrations, it is almost certain that the events of Christ's birth almost certainly did not coincide with pagan winter celebrations. While we can place Christ's resurrection pretty accurately we question the time of Christ's birth, and so we must wonder why December 25th was chosen.

And [De Origine Festorum Christ.] Hospinian speaketh judiciously, when he
saith, that he doth not believe that they who first of all observed the Feast of
Christ’s Nativity in the latter end of December, did it as thinking that Christ
was born in that Month, but because the Heathens Saturnalia was at that time
kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian. Hence December was called Mensis Genialis, the Voluptuous Month.
Whilst the Saturnalian Days lasted, the observers of them were wont to send
Gifts one to another, which therefore Tertullian calls Saturnalitia, and Jerom
giveth them the Name of Saturnalium Sportulae. The like is done by many in
Christmas time. ~"A TESTIMONY Against several Prophane and Superstitious
CUSTOMS, Now Practised by some in New-England, The Evil whereof is evinced from the Holy Scriptures, and from the Writings both of Ancient and Modern Divines."
By Increase Mather, 1687

Rather than keeping Christ in Christmas it seems that Christians have been forever trying to put Christ into some sort of pagan winter celebration. He doesn't exactly fit. I have recently observed that Americans spend more time thinking about the gifts and celebrations that occur using Christ's name than in actually reflecting on the Savior- an indictment on myself and many others with whom I share genes and fellowship. My Wonderful countered that her Aunt Jane certainly did not fit that description, and she is correct, but Wonderful's Aunt Jane also represents the mindset I would want to embody- "Jesus is my reason to live every season."

So, am I going to attempt to outlaw in my home the giving of gifts and decorations that we enjoy this time of year? No. What I want to do is celebrate like my friends in Russia did on their quiet Christmas celebration January 7, 1996. I want to have a special day just for Christ where there is no Santa or reindeer or gifts to distract. I want to have a time for quiet reflection much like we have on Sunday's in our home or Veteran's Day in the US. I want to eventually move the gift-giving to New-Year's day where we can welcome the new year and celebrate the evidences of what God gave us in the old year. I don't know if this all will happen in our home, but this is my wish. Oh, and don't mention the war on Christmas to me. I don't hear "Christmas" anymore but it sounds like "Get-mas" in my ears.

Cancer Prevention

I have fought a constant battle with weight since I turned 21 because I feel that I am at high risk for lots of nasty things like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Research in the recent past has led me to believe that being overweight is associated with increased risk of those things I mentioned above. One thing to think about is that just because two things happen together don't mean one caused the other. My favorite example of this is pickle toxicity- just about every American who died in a car crash last year ate at least one pickle in the prior 12 months. The pickle obviously had nothing to do with the risk of death but the above statement is still true. The pickle example illustrates the fact that just because two things happen together should not lead one to believe that they are related. A number of theories exist as to why obesity is associated with other problems, but given the complexities of the situation it is difficult to establish direct cause and effect. "Fat" people may be found to engage in other risky behaviors that have nothing to do with their weight. In fact some studies have suggested that if someone with excess body fat is otherwise in good physical shape their risk for other problems is lower than sedentary "normal" weight individuals.
In her series of New York Times articles on the battle against cancer http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/health/research/13prevent.html?_r=1 Gina Kolata details how this difficulty in defining causation adds to the confusion over how to prevent cancer. One major problem for those trying to find answers isthe vast amount of information out there. For every study that seems to point to a cause another seems to contradict it. Gina does a fine job of considering all the info and distilling it. Some of the advice that is now in question about behaviors that are thought to reduce cancer risk such as high fiber and low fat diets are still good ideas. All Americans would benefit from eating more vegetables and less junk food for reasons that have little to do with cancer. Interestingly the evidence seems to point to the fact that most of the dietary and lifestyle changes that reduce the risk of many cancers are actually effective when implemented during young childhood. This could mean that the die is cast after puberty or that the benefits are cumulative over a lifetime. In practice the result is the same- good diet and exercise need to be modeled by parents and taught to children as early as possible. I tend to think we have time to get my three kids online with healthy choices but the truth is we should have been more strict long ago. It is time for more low-fat cow's milk, less candy, less soda, more family walks, and better stress management for my wife and I to share wth our kids. This also means I that we need to consider what supplements and flllers are added to our processed foods. Just as adults need to limit their soy consumption we need to watch how much soy is used in the food our kids eat and drink. It's time to go- there are some labels I need to read and new trails to run!

The Joy of the Lord

I use videos I glean off Youtube for Wednesday nights with the kids at Church. While searching for a version of "The Joy of the Lord" I came across this video. I think you will find it touching.

A Nasty Preventative Option For Fighting Flu

Effect Measure is a blog I follow on health care issues. Today they posted excerpts from a report on how the common cold virus (rhinovirus) infection may prevent the development of influenza infection simply because there aren't cells available to infect. A few months ago I noted how crazy it is that some people were considering "swine flu parties" now I wonder how many parents are going to plan "rhinovirus parties". Just a thought.

PSA That Makes one think

I am often fascinated at how easily we are able to miss what is going on right in front of our eyes.

Thanks to http://unreasonablefaith.com/