Christ The Lord: The Road To Cana
By Anne Rice

This is the second book in the series telling the story of Jesus from his perspective: quite an ambitious undertaking. When I read the first book I expected to be disappointed and critical concerning all the “mistakes” I thought I would find. After all, what is right does an author known for vampire stories have to write about Christ? Ms. Rice answers that question in a lengthy personal testimony as an Afterward to the first book. It seems that a few years ago she returned to the faith of her childhood and felt that God was calling her to use her gifts in a way that would bring him glory. One of the things that made her vampire stories so popular is the research she did about the historical periods in which she sets her stories. Her readers learn a good bit of history and culture in each book. I remember hearing some critic commenting that she did a similar level of research as James Michener did for his epic novels. Ms. Rice shares with her readers that she read over 300 books in preparation for writing this series. That amount of reading, of course, does not guarantee success but in her capable hands it brings first century Palestine to life.

Now that I have finished the second book I confess that I was actually very intrigued by both the story lines and by the way Ms. Rice gives us insights into what the God-man may have been thinking. The first book begins with the return from Egypt and carries through the journey to Jerusalem when Jesus is 12. The second book picks up just before Jesus begins his public ministry and carries through the wedding feast and the calling of the first group of Apostles. In the second book she gives her opinion on what it was like for Jesus to be tempted: both in the day-to-day occurrences of life and by Satan after his forty days in the wilderness. In some respects I don’t like to think about Jesus being tempted because I closely acquaint temptation with sin. How could Jesus look at a woman and somehow be sexually tempted? I don’t know – but if he didn’t then he has not walked where I walk and Scripture and the Church Fathers are wrong about his humanity. Even more interesting is the way she handles the encounter with Satan. I don’t want to spoil anyone’s reading, so I won’t give any details. I will say that it is very creative, consistent with the Biblical account, and, I think, most insightful into the character of the Great Deceiver.

Luke 2:52 tells us that after the visit to Jerusalem and Jesus’ encounter with the Teachers, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature.” In both books, Ms. Rice gives an glimpse as to what it may have been like for Jesus to grow in wisdom while being fully God and fully man. I look forward to the next story.

Bail Out for the Bowls?
There may be a need for one more of those wonderful, outrageous bail outs we have now grown accustomed to. In case anyone has failed to notice, each bailed-out entity has expanded its size before letting anyone know how serious their problems were. In essence they became “too big to be allowed to fail.” General Motors was working hard to acquire Chrysler for that very purpose. We know now the college football bowl games are following the same outrageous method. The number of bowl games has been expanded to the point that there are now more Division 1 teams playing in bowl games than those teams sitting at home watching. Why the big increase? Because if the bowl system is replaced with an actual playoff system, the argument can be made that there will be some teams left out of the mix – and we wouldn’t want that to happen. The latest BCS calamity occurred this evening – Utah dominated the mighty Alabama team to become the only undefeated team in the country. The Utes have a legitimate claim on the #1 ranking but will not get the chance to either play for the championship or to be recognized for their achievement because the BCS has a vital interest in declaring either Florida or Oklahoma the championship. The “bail out” the bowls need is not monetary (thank God for small favors). They are going to need a credibility bail out because once again the BCS (and the bowl system) has failed to give football fans a true champion!

Goodbye 2008

“We always enjoy looking down a long road lined with beautiful trees. The trees are a delightful sight and seem to be forming a temple of plants, with strong wooden pillars and arches of leaves. In the same way you look down a beautiful road like this, why not look back on the road of the years of your life? Look at the large green limbs of God’s mercy overhead and the strong pillars of His loving-kindness and faithfulness that have brought you much joy. Do you see any birds singing in the branches? If you look closely, surely you will see many, for they are singing of God’s mercy received ‘thus far.’”

This quote is from the December 31 devotional in Streams in the Desert. It is such a fitting quote as I say goodbye to 2008. It was a year that was sprinkled with God’s blessings which stand out so brightly against the dark, foreboding background of much of the year. It was a year that was filled with much pain. It was a year in which I was forced to question some of the things that had become almost like bedrock in my life. It was a year in which emotional turmoil was manifest in real physical distress. It was a year in which others in my extended family were enduring different but very difficult circumstances. In my book, 2008 is being filed away with 2004, 1999 and 1996 – very hard years which would not have been endurable without those branches of God’s tender mercies.

A Holy Day
Growing up Catholic, December 8 was one of those Holy Days on which all the practicing faithful were required to attend Mass. Its been about 30 years since I left those beliefs and became Reformed. As I was reflecting this morning, I realized that this day has once again become a "holy" day for me. The word holy has its roots in something being set apart, normally for some religious purpose. This day is holy to our family, not because of any belief about Mary, the Mother of God, but because it is the day our beloved Andy departed this veil of tears for "that big house up above." Today is the twelfth anniversary of that most painful day. Dianne and I were talking about it as we drove back from St. Louis recently. I told her I have an almost photographic memory of all the events of the day (something very remarkable for me). This day is one of less than a handful of days that have radically transformed my life. Just as the birth of Christ marks the division of world history, December 8, 1996 divides my life. I had experienced loss before but nothing like the real, physical pain that settled in my chest for days. I had faith before, but realized on that day it had been much more head knowledge than a complete loving and trusting relationship with my heavenly Father. I believed in heaven before but now I live every day with one spiritual foot firmly planted there. But for all this transformation and the maturing it has wrought in my life, I still miss Andy so much and long to see him face to face.

Thanksgiving
"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." Ps 16:6 This is one of my favorite verses from the Psalms. The "lines" are boundary lines and the picture David is painting for us is that of a beautiful and fruitful field or farm. The farm can be seen as our lives. As children of God we can look around at our lives and see countless blessings and abundance. It is for these that we are called to be thankful and full of peace and joy. I think we are also called to be discerning with respect to those things in our lives which are not easy for us — things that are hurtful, even devastating. A farmer knows that his farm is good and productive even though it may have a sinkhole or two; a boggy area unsuitable for crops; or a rocky field that is impossible to plow. There can also be droughts which are severe enough to dry up our springs for a season. Yet, the farmer is still thankful for this pleasant place for he knows the drought will pass and the bounty will return.

I am very thankful today and see God’s blessings in so many places in my life. I have walked through a few boggy spots this year but today I stand on the firm Rock and know that Jesus calls me his friend. Though I am thankful, I am also grieving with my friends. Luke and Christy Davis lost their son, Jordan, this week. Eric and Kelly Scherrer lost their infant son, Beau, this week. Allen and Gillian Peabody lost their son, Joseph, in August. These are the sinkholes we fall into and which God, by his grace and comfort, pulls us from. We know because we have been though it ourselves.

This week as I have reflected on all this sorrow I remembered our son’s homegoing service and the song one of our pastor’s sung. It’s an old Red Foley song (Steal Away) and it captures so clearly the message God would have us hear during these "sinkhole" times. I found a video of Foley singing it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czvX07wZUy8

We See So Little Yet Desire So Much

"If only the veil could be torn away and our eyes strengthened to bear the luminous brightness of divine glory! It is so plain, from what we know so well of ourselves, that this would be a hopeless dream. What are our bodily eyes to demand such a vision when they miss so much of things as obvious as the unclouded sparkle in a child’s eyes, the freshness of sky and countryside after a spring rain, or even the triumph of artistic coloring in a single petal of a rose? We see so little of the bodily things for which our eyes were made; we can hope for nothing from them of the invisible and unlimited splendor of God. Our minds plunge easily, even eagerly, beneath the surface of physical things to the intangible realities that enrich and nourish our minds; yet how much we miss of the courage of little men, of stubborn hope, of dreams, regrets, loves too fine for the rough wrappings of words. These things our minds can see for they fit into the finite limits of a concept — the wedding garment essential for every guest of our minds. Not so for the infinite perfection of divinity." — Thomas Aquinas

The Demise of Journalism
My cousin uses a quote from Mark Twain as a tag line in his emails: "If you don’t read the newspaper, then you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." This Twain-ism has taken on new meaning during the 2008 election cycle. Journalism, in the classical sense, may have completely retired from the field. I remember one of my "vacation things" when the kids were growing up was to purchase a copy of the New York Times daily and read a good portion of it. While I did not agree with the editorial policy of the NYT, I did enjoy the depth of the articles and the high standard of English composition and grammar. Even twenty years ago, our local newspaper was full of typos, misspelled words, sentence fragments, poor grammar, and a general disregard for the King’s English. Reading the NYT daily was a refreshing break from all that sloppy writing and editing.

Today, those vacation memories seem like a myth. Other than the Wall Street Journal I have not picked up a newspaper this year that did not look and feel like a tabloid. I’m not saying that there is no good reporting to be found in newsprint — its just very hard to find. More importantly, the subtle bias of yesteryear has been replaced by in-your-face political propaganda written into almost every article. Maybe the worst, (I say maybe because there was so much other stuff I just refused to read) were the attacks on Sarah Palin. These went beyond the pale in every respect.

It was announced a few weeks ago that the Christian Science Monitor will cease producing a newsprint copy of their publication in the near future. The publication will still be available online but the only thing you can hold in your hand is your laptop. Our local paper, the Tennessean, shrunk its page size a couple of weeks ago and it is beginning to look like some third world rag. The response of the journalist establishment to decreased circulation is to "dumb it down another notch." Sounds like the same approach our professional educators apply to the school system. All this seems like we bidding farewell to a thinking America. (Check out this blog http://www.twistimage.com/blog/ )