Thursday, December 25, 2008

MR. KRATCHET!!!


Ok, so not to start this blog off on an off-key note or anything, but i just found out i am on urbandictionary.com. That is pretty cool, i mean im not the most hoped for definition, but still cool... I hope its not Gieve or Ethan or someone else playing a trick on me.

So today is Christmas. This is the most time i have spent around only my immidiate family in a while. It is the last time i am allowed to sleep at my home for more than a week without having to pay rent, thats wierd. But we at the Shank household have a long line of traditions, starting on Christmas eve. We go to a Christmas eve service, come back, sit around and eat homemade Christmas tree cookies, burn a Yule log, try and get the angel chimes to work, and usually open a present of PJ's. Then we watch Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol," featuring George C. Scott (its the best version) in which we all fall asleep to it at some point or another, then rest our heads untill the sun rises. In the morning, we eat some breakfast in front of the fire, poor out our stockings which include every single year: a can of pringles, some floss picks, gum, a trinket thats freshens or a stainpen, some chocolate, and some other random stuff (my mom does stocking stuffing just right!). Then we elect (bicker until someone volunteers) someone to be "Santa Clause" and hand out the presents, opening in order one-by-one.

This year was marvelous, i loved the events, and we almost went through the entire day without a big debate, argument, or fight. This year it was a minor one over the family cribbage tournament. It was a great day, God has really helped to change our family over the years, or at least my view of our family. Today, i went for a prayer run, and i'll tell ya what, it really helped me appreciate my family for who they are. Even though we didn't mention Jesus much through out the day, i could see him in our actions. Everyone's buttons got pressed at some point during the day, and in the past that would have lasted all day, but today, i watched patience stretch itself and mask my family's faces. I saw my brother recognize his imposition, and calm himself, i worked myself through a few situations by letting my heart let go of selfishness, and i saw my sister accept a present with only minor critiques, and then later shower the giver with compliments of thanks a praise. What a blessed day it was!!! I forgot about how hard it is to serve, especially when at home when you would think it would be easiest (its the hardest for me). But being home, and experiencing a Christmas like this one, really helped me to understand why Jesus came, and why we celebrate his birth.

I celebrate it today because if he didn't come, i would have probably put my brother in a choke hold dispite his thoughtfulness in giving me a tool set. I celebrate because he redeemed my family, and has given me comfort and is teaching me to appreciate my family, and love them without constant critique. He is turning the Mr. Scrooge i am at home, into an Ebenezer.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Celestial Days (Why i love C.S. Lewis)



So its Christmas break, i just read "The Great Divorce" and loved it. The following excerpts explain why, and why i love C.S. Lewis.

"I cannot now remember whether she was naked or clothed. If she were naked, then it must have been the almost visible penumbra of her courtesy and joy which produces in my memory the illusion of a great and shining train that followed her across the the happy grass. If she were clothed, the the illusion of nakedness is doubtless due to the clarity with which her innermost spirit shone through the clothes. For clothes in that country are not a disguise; the spiritual body lives along each thread and turns them into living organs, A robe or a crown is there as much one of the wearer's features as a lip or an eye." (pg 120).

and

"Pity was meant to be a spur that drives joy to help misery." (131).

and

"There is but one good, that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him, and bad when it turns from Him." (106).


I'm not sure i agree with all of the theology Lewis throws out, but i think its a pretty good description of some people, and something to consider. Its probably the most feasible explanation of why people go to Hell that i have read thus far.