Twas a good night for TV

Last night, I wish I had two Tivo sets and a picture in picture TV. For some reason, two news magazine shows caught my attention (which they never do) along with the Spurs OT loss to the Bucks. On CBS, 48 Hours correspondent Maureen Maher explored the Mystery of Christmas and on ABC, Barbara Walters was investigating, as much as you can, Heaven. At one point, I was flipping back and forth between the final moments of a heart breaking, last second (.7 seconds actually) tap-in by the Bucks, Maher's Bible Land journey with scholar Ben Witherington, and Walter's interview with an atheist who accepts that there is no life after death, even though she's not happy about that. (Some of the evidence and archeological data that Witherington mentioned last night can also be found in the interesting book The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel). I thought it odd, but probably not coincidental, that both news shows were dealing with religious topics on the same night...figures. The Spurs play again tonight; we'll see who competes with them besides the Knicks.
I have now bought a few Christmas gifts, but there's plenty left to do. The traffic's getting heavier--hopefully I'll make it.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is now in high gear at house. The tree is decorated, the lights are up, and we bought our first gifts yesterday. Below, you'll see Meredith by our tree, sitting on her red scooter, which was a gift from Grandma last year. She just now can really enjoy it...isn't she pretty?


On a different note, I read an interesting quote in TIME where Harold Pinter, noble prize winner, slammed America claiming that the US is only playing the part of good guy in the global spectrum. World Politics may always be about power, but I don't know that the US foreign policy is really manipulating anybody but the American public.

are we there yet?

Christmas is coming...Christmas is coming! That's always the cry soon after Halloween and all through Thanksgiving and December. Most of the time, I try not to be sucked in to the hype and all the early decorations and that crazy dancing Santa at Wal-Mart. But I think it's safe to say that Christmas is now just around the corner and I still have not bought a single present. This makes me nervous and happy. I know I will buy a gift soon and will have to face the traffic in the stores, but I also am trying to live this season withouth the burden of materialism. Racking up gifts and debt obviously is not what Christmas is about, but many times, we (collectively) and I, just cannot help ourselves. So hopefully, this Christmas, Kristen and I can resist the idea that somehow, our self worth and identity have anything to do with how many gifts we give and receive, but rather, may we dwell in the adoration of Christ, the gift of God.

Buurrrrr...the high today in San Antonio is only in the mid-40's. The sky is cloudy, the wind is blowing, people are breaking out their parkas and burning all the mesquite wood they can find. Our weather people are in a frenzy at the possibility of "wintery" weather tomorrow. How can this be? It just doesn't feel like Christmas in SA with the weather so...well, wintery. I suppose our week of winter has arrived early this year. I'm sure by Christmas, we'll be back to wearing shorts and t-shirts. I still have bought zero Christmas presents.