Merry Christmas

When I was a boy around Christmas time we had an old book that had stories, songs, and poem in it.  As I remember they were all Christmassy, but may not have been.  There was one small poem that became a family favorite, called The Snowman.  I am sorry, but I don’t know who to credit as the authority.

The Snowman
Once there was a snowman who stood outside the door,
He thought he'd like to come inside and play upon the floor, 
He thought he'd like to warm himself by the fire light red
He thought he’d  like to play upon the big white bed 
So he called the north wind, “help me now I pray,” 
I'm completely frozen standing here all day,  
So the north wind came along and blew him in the door, 
Now there’s nothing left of him but a puddle on the floor.

Have a very Merry Christmas

Jerry Falwell and Kicking Butts

Does anyone know the source of the oft repeated quote from Jerry Falwell about “kicking butts?”  Jerry is not always the most delicate spokesperson but I would like some proof that he said this.  

"The fact is we've gone on the offense now. We've put them on the defense. We're kicking their butts and they're unhappy."

I have seen it quoted in a lot of places.  No one has said where or when he said it.  I just wonder.

    

Joining the Holiday vs Christmas debate

     This is quite interesting methinks.   On both sides the heat is up and the thinking is down.  Or maybe I am just dense and don’t even know when I am insulted.  When I was younger and heard the phrase Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings it didn’t immediately jump to my mind that someone was replacing Christmas.  I thought they were being inclusive of the three major holidays in 5 ½ weeks to end each year.  There are actually 5 holidays if you include the eves.  So if you wanted to wish someone a great 5 ½ weeks you could just abbreviate and say, “Happy Holidays”  That phrase was meant to include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, and if you were Jewish you could substitute Hanukah  for Christmas if you wanted to, and nobody seemed to mind.

     Christians don’t mind sharing their season.  What they mind is getting kicked out of their own holiday.  The problems began when it became politically correct to avoid the terrible C word.  Whatever you do don’t say Merry Christmas.  You might offend one of the 6% of Americans who carry such a chip on their shoulder.  When a store begins to demand political correctness from its employees they need to be ready to take the heat.  

     There are some great cartoons, (representing both sides in the debate) at http://www.cagle.com/news/PoliticallyCorrectChristmas/main.asp

Sports Nut or Nutty Sports

The last two nights have been unusual sports nights for me.  On Thursday night I saw the Lakers beat the Jazz.  What is unusual?  I am not crazy about the NBA.  I agree with a friend of mine who said “In the NBA they ought to give both teams 100 points and start the fourth quarter.”  

The game ended in controversy.  Kobe Bryant shot a desperation shot as time ran out and missed. Utah and Utah fans thought they had won the game.  The Delta Center erupted in noise.  But—and this is a big one—There was a foul called.  Kobe made the foul shots and the game went to overtime where the Lakers prevailed.  Two days later the Utah papers are crying foul, or rather “what foul?”

Then last night I went to the first college volleyball match I have ever attended.  It is the first round of the NCAA playoffs.  I learned that volleyball scoring has changed since I was in gym.  Some of the other rules have changed too, but since I never knew the rules anyway that didn’t make a difference.  The other thing I learned is that there are an awful lot of really tall girls in college these days.  

I enjoyed the two nights mainly because of the friends I went with.  Thank the Lord for friends, they make the day worthwhile.