Reflections on Christmas - and a couple notes

Putting the notes first so no one who doesn't want to has to read through the below reflections on the holiday.

I've dropped another 1.5 pounds to 306.5 Down from a high of 320-something. If I recall, we're 19.5 pounds down from May. Not going to hit 300 by Christmas, but maybe New Years. Also, I benched more weight yesterday than I have in years...but I'm not saying how much because it's still a sad number.

What else, I'll be in Cincinnati for a solid week so I hope to see everyone who lives out that way.

I might do one more blog, a top 5 of blog posts or something, before Christmas but this is probably the last one before the holiday.
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To my regulars:

The bit below is all religious and such and I don't blame you guys for skipping it if you do. But I do want to give a public shout out to Dungy and Matt for their blogs and their interaction with this one.

I believe every word I write below, but three of my best friends — you guys and Jeff — are atheists and I'm grateful for you guys as much as anything.

A faith improperly formed is a dangerous weapon wielded by a fool, and a faith that cannot withstand assault is no faith at all. I am better formed in mine and I think intellectually a better person because of your challenges. So thank you. And Merry Christmas.

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So Christmas is here and Kelli and I are excited to spend time with our families.

My excitement though is  tempered by the usual holiday stress, but I'm trying to let it go. All our families can be nuts but I'm glad to have them just the same.

Time for a little hyperbole and religion.

I'm trying harder than ever to remember that no matter what is going on in our regular lives this holiday season, no matter how bad things are (or how good), there is cause to rejoice. For on that day so long ago a savior was born.
 It's bigger than us. Eternity, salvation, God. We're but a small part of a grand plan and we know how it ends — with victory over sin and death.

I think as people of faith we Christians sometimes sit in the pews so often we forget that something spectacular has happened. More than 2,000 years ago, the one true and almighty God became man. To use more accurate words, the one true and almighty God became a little fugitive baby born in a backwoods town to a carpenter and a virgin of no particular standing.

For Catholics, every Sunday (every day really) that miracle is echoed in the Eucharist as the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus.

But for all Christians, many of our friends and families don't go to church except on Christmas and Easter only (hence the term CEO Catholic/Christian). They'll be there this coming Sunday. For all the poinsettias, carols and pageantry, remind them if you get the chance, that this isn't just a tradition we celebrate. It's bigger than us.

It's not the gifts, or the snow. It's not the songs, or the food. Yes, it's the time with loved ones and remembering those who've gone on. Yes, it's the peace on earth and charity to the poor.

But it's even more than that. Christmas marks the beginning of the fullness of God's plan of salvation. He humbled himself and became one of us in all ways but sin.

His folks would forget him at church, he didn't go into the career field his step-dad probably wanted him too and his life would bring his mother untold sorrow, and the world, untold grace.

But it all started on a normal night where most of the world went about their business. A star appeared, shepherds were told, wise men came, angels sang.

And alternately sleeping, crying, eating and doing all else that babies do, the savior of the world rested as the weakest of creatures in the arms of his mother and under the watchful gaze of the man the world knew as his father. When he grew up, everything would change.

 So if Uncle Jimbo drinks one eggnog too many or if grandma Sue fees like a martyr over spilt milk, rejoice anyway. We're celebrating the incarnation of God as a man — as a baby — to save us all.

 If that's not a recipe for a Merry Christmas, then nothing is.