Saturday + Celebrities + Christmas + Thankfulness + Happiness

SATURDAY

Lois plans to paint the guest bathroom upstairs today. I'm planning to sort through a plethora of papers & sort through pictures. We printed pictures from our trip to Glacier this summer, & we finally printed pictures from our trip to the Tetons & Yellowstone several years ago. The kids & grandkids will be here for Thanksgiving. We'll put up Christmas decorations on Wednesday. We'll hold back on the ornaments so the grandkids can help decorate the tree. We'll do Christmas on Friday or Saturday night, depending on Rachel's work schedule. We'll also do Thanksgiving dinner, depending on Rachel's work schedule.

THE COMMERCIALISM OF CHRISTMAS

At least the commercialism of Christmas carries within it news of “joy” and “goodwill to men.” And in a time of great change, it offers us stodgy, solid traditions. In a dark mood, it blares in with a message of light. The Victorian-era residue on Christmas points us away from our meritocratic striving and our ceaseless pursuits of distinction. It reminds us to do charitable works, and to share our blessings with the poor, the less fortunate. It points east, with the giddy rumor of some great outburst of hope and a promise of peace. So let it come. Break out the jazzy crooner Christmas albums. Deck the halls, find a new recipe for Chestnut soup. Let the women put on those cheesy rom-coms. And let a little of the joy come early. I think we need it.--Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review Online, 11/23

CELEBRITIES

Celebrity testimony is an age-old political stunt on Capitol Hill. If you want the press at your hearing, you lunge at the chance to have a star athlete, or a famous singer or actor, bring some zing to your issue. Democrats do this better because they have a lot more friends in Hollywood and they're always more willing to push the envelope with silliness. When you want to push your agenda on agriculture to the left and you need attention, you get Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek to testify. Their credentials? They all starred in movies about agriculture. --Brent Bozell, Townhall, 11/22

GIVE THANKS

The death of a friend and the ongoing battle against cancer in my own family make me very thankful for very many things. Most of all, I am thankful for a very real God I can call upon in times of stress, worry and trouble. He gives me no escape, but then, He could not escape 
the cross. But I am thankful and comforted by the thought that He will walk beside me. --Erick Erickson, ditto

HAPPINESS

"You will never be happy if your happiness depends on getting solely what you want. Change the focus. Get a new center. Will what God wills, and your joy no man shall take from you." Be not afraid, in other words . . .Think not that you could do more good if you were well, or that you could be more kind if you had more money, or that you could exercise more power for good if you had another position! What matters is not what we are, or what we are doing, but whether we are doing God's will." --Kathryn Lopez, Townhall, 11/23