Inedible Ink

My eldest daughter was an innkeeper in the Christmas pageant this year. She did a fine job, letting in the first party of travelers and then waving off the late comers. She even looked a little surprised to see Mary and Joseph come along.

It was not a speaking part, none were. But if it had been, she’d have said ‘No. there’s no room at the inn.’

We usually let the innkeeper off the hook at this point in the story, but let’s back up.

Joseph and Mary are on the road due to a Roman census, everyone’s been sent back to their respective family home towns to be counted. So, this is Joseph’s home town.

Bethlehem is a smallish city. I’m not sure what passed for an ‘inn’ in Bethlehem 2000 years ago but we not talking about the Waldorf Astoria, were not even talking about a Motel 6.

If this is Joseph’s home place, the old stomping grounds, the place where he, his father, and father’s father were raised, why is he even looking for a room at the inn? What’s wrong with the couch at Aunt Ethel’s? Full? Why not the back room at Aunt Myrtle’s? Full too?

Everyone had to go home to be counted. It does not say ‘everyone had to go to Bethlehem to be counted’. It stands to reason that while Bethlehem would be getting travelling visitors, it would also have residents that had to go away to their own home places. Bethlehem, the city, should not have been full.

That Joseph took Mary to an inn in his hometown after the other travellers had spaces reserved, suggests to me that, perhaps, he took her to the old family homestead first. Perhaps, after a good deal of talk, maybe even a loud spat with namecalling, the head of the house sent them away.

Even if the family homestead was full, a loving and gracious host would roust someone out of bed to make room for the pregnant girl. You’d do it. Your second or third cousin shows up with his pregnant ‘betrothed’, you’re cramped for space but the girl really needs a spot to lie down, you figure it out, you find a way.

Now, for that inkeeper, maybe an innkeeper doesn’t have the right to kick another patron out of their room, but they could’ve offered their own personal quarters. An innkeeper could’ve asked the other patrons, the ones who were not in labor at that moment, if they would be willing to give up their space for a young woman laboring to give birth.

Maybe it wasn’t just the innkeeper who said ‘No.’ that night. Maybe there was room, somewhere in town and the ‘No.’ came from hardness of heart more than shortness of space.

Part Eight

Updated:

Federal agents’ visit was a hoax
Student admits he lied about Mao book
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for “The Little Red Book” by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story.
The 22-year-old student tearfully admitted he made the story up to his history professor, Dr. Brian Glyn Williams, and his parents, after being confronted with the inconsistencies in his account.
Had the student stuck to his original story, it might never have been proved false.

An item for your Black Helicopters folder:

From SouthcoastToday.com of The Standard Times:

NEW BEDFORD — A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung’s tome on Communism called “The Little Red Book.”

Linking to this story is closer to rumor mongering than my comfort zone. South Coast Today is the news organization closest to mainstream that’s carrying the story, the others include The Common Voice, The Harvard Crimson, and Progressive.org. These are some of the same sources that covered the “Wal-Mart photo processing employee turns student in for anti-Bush poster, 7th grader’s Social Studies homework confiscated by Secret Service.” rumor.

I intend no affirmation of either of these stories. I have no direct knowledge of either.

What is a blogger to do with visions of Mao’s Little Red Book, and visits from Men in Black “Department of Homeland Security, Suspicious Library Activities Division”?

By way of A Stitch in Haste where Kip is more concerned than I that the Red Book story may be true.

Update 1: UMASS Dartmouth issues Statement
Update 2: The Standard Times prints followup article which includes doubts from DHS and FBI officials as well as the two professors continuing to protect the student’s identity.

… so that readers, (management and the vast, award*-winning editorial and writing staffs) can go to church with their families.

Originally uploaded by Captoe sign with help from ChurchSignGenerator.com.

The Daily Eudemon says (this) on the matter of churches closing Christmas Day. Open book has an entry too.

Chicago Tribune | Evangelical churches such as suburban Willow Creek will close on Christmas so members can focus on family

By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 6, 2005
Willow Creek Community Church, one of the largest churches in the Chicago area, will be closed on Sunday, Dec. 25–because it’s Christmas.

Yes, by all means, focus on your family on Christmas Day. Yes, the domestic church, the household church of the family, is really church. That’s all well and good, but who do they think they are, Walgreen’s? No, if they were Walgreen’s they’d be open Christmas Day.

What better way could there possibly be to make it clear to your flock that what we do in our church is not holy than to close on Sunday, Christmas Day? These churches feel that what they do in observance of Christmas is dispensable, and they’ve determined that they can take a day off from normal Sunday services. Those must not be all that critical either. Talk about your Holiday from a Holyday.

*Since I imagine the staff, is is only fitting that I should imagine some hard won awards as well.

Geoff Metcalf, guest columnist at AIM Accuracy In Media has some great thoughts on the Matt Pottinger story I referenced last Friday. Metcalf, a former Green Beret, makes an apt comparison between Pottinger and Pat Tillman. He also remembers those American warriors who leave less visible posts to serve the country.

Guest Column - A Flocking of Eagles - December 22, 2005
April of last year I wrote about ‘The New New Breed’. I observed that Duty, Honor, Country are more than just words. They are a foundation of principles, principles that are more important than fame, fortune, or life.
-*-*-*-*-
We, as a nation, are not perfect, but despite our warts, blemishes, tragic flaws, and myriad shortcomings, we remain the best country on the planet.

Former Marine Corps Commandant General Charles Krulak said,

“The military has a tradition of producing great leaders that possess the highest standards and integrity this is not done instantly. It must be woven into the very fabric of our soul”

Saw the following in my RSS feed from the Christian Science Monitor tonight.
Hmmm.

Some popular RSS feeds have put small adspaces in the footer of each item but this is the whole thing.

Tip of the fur brimmed toque towards The Cornell Society for a Good Time, who advise that this ermine trimmed style is reserved for the pope, in other words “Not available in stores.”
Image from Yahoo News.

You asked for it. The 5 best Christmas movies:

Patrick Stewart’s version of A Christmas Carol (1999) Stewart is an alumni of both Star Trek N.G. and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He’s King Richard, he’s Captain Picard, and he is Scrooge.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) (TV) with Boris Karloff who could be Grinchier than Karloff?

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) with James Stewart and Donna Reed. Two words: Zouzou’s petals.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) with Maureen O’Hara and a young Natalie Wood. Those two coulda been in anything.

The Polar Express (2004) with Tom Hanks.

Honorable mentions:

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) for Vince Guaraldi’s score.
The Santa Clause (1994) for Tim Allen.
The Year without a Santa Claus (1974) for the Heat Miser.

And, as is my perogative and policy, the meme stops here. You want to do your own list and link back here, have at it, like I could stop ya.

I rather doubt that Scott Adams, the Dilbert artist, is a proponent of Intelligent Design per se, but it’s pretty clear here that he sees the humor in some of the presumptions that the “Look at Me! I’m descended from Plankton!” Evolutionaries crowd seem to make. If he stops by to tell me to take the image clipping down, I’ll ask him.

The “mid-species” idea is already funny, even when it doesn’t involve oysters. The pre-eye light sensitive blob is already funny, even before the character hopes for it to evolve into an eye right there on his head.

Dilbert Comic Strip from Dilbert.com

Is that a tail?

The gospel of Matthew starts out looking more like Genesis than the other three gospels. Fourteen generations of begats get us from Abraham to David, fourteen more begats get us from David to Jesus Christ by way of Joseph.

Mat 1:1-3 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

Joseph is decended from King David, King Solomon and Abraham. This royal family is not in power, all of Palestine is under Rome’s thumb and Joseph has to work for a living.

A girl named Mary is promised to Joseph but she is found to be with child.

Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

“Sorry, deal’s off.” he must’ve said. I bet he was just plain furious, “You’re WHAT!?, you CAN’T be!” Even more than it is today, having a baby “before they came together” is enough to get Jospeh out of any promise he’s made to Mary and her family. Somebody else’s baby is a huge problem for Joseph.

Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily

What do you think this “make her a publick example” refers to? Stoning? Jail time? I truly don’t know but I’m confident that it involves punishment and a severe public shaming. What does “put her away privily.” mean? I don’t know that either but it is clearly not “to have and to hold in sickness and in health in good times and in bad ’til death do us part.” Nope, he’s working on dumping her.

Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Another angelic visit for the “What Child is This?” series and AGAIN he says “Fear not.” The baby is of the Holy Spirit, take care of Mary as your wife and care for the baby. Joseph gets the message and does as he’s been told by the angel:

Mat 1:24-25 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

I’ve pointed to this passage (Mt 1:19-25) as an explanation for my having thought that Mary and Joseph were a normally married couple after the birth of Jesus that could possibly have had more children.

If you consider the implications of the whole story, however, if Joseph believed the conception within Mary to be of the Holy Spirit, the child could only be the Messiah. If Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Word of God made flesh, Mary is the the fitting vessel for the Word. The only other fitting vessel for the Word of God in Joseph’s imagination is the Ark of the Covenant, the gilded box that carried the ten commandments, the “Ark” as in “Raiders of the Lost…” This gold box is something that Joseph wouldn’t have been allowed to touch or even look at. Joseph could no more have slept with Mary than he could have stolen the Ark.

Part Seven

As if meditating on the Way of the Cross was not already strenuous enough… how about thinking and meditating on the path of Christ’s progression from condemnation to the tomb integrated with some early morning USMC PT?
Excerpted from op29online.com of Twentyninepalms Ca.

At first glance, the mass looked like the usual military early-morning troop formation. Hard-chargers wearing boots and utes kept in step while double timing to a cadence. But a closer look revealed the distinct difference of this particular physical training session: in place of the usual guide-on up front, a Marine wielded a wooden cross as he led the participants in physical training.

A group of 15 service members and civilians from the base conducted “Cross PT” here Dec. 9 in an effort to meditate on Christ’s Way of the Cross to Calvary and experience some of the pain and joy He felt during that time, said Lt. Cmdr. John Hannigan, 7th Marines regimental chaplain.

“As Christians, we believe Christ went through much pain and physical strain when He showed His great love for us on the cross,” said Hannigan, a Chicago native. “The Cross PT gives us a glimpse of that strain and is a way for us to show our love for Him. The lessons learned from Christ’s Way of the Cross helps us through this spiritual exercise of Cross PT to be prepared for our upcoming deployment to Iraq.

“Perseverance, other-centeredness, disciplining our flesh to be in accord with the spirit, helping others, outward signs of commitment, sacrifice, conditioning our bodies, moral courage, accepting challenges, stripping ourselves of earthly pleasures so as to focus on heavenly goals, giving our all for a good cause, teamwork, putting on a growth-filled mindset, these lofty ideas and so many more came to mind during this run. The virtues that were called to mind with this PT certainly are the virtues that make up the Core Values for our Navy - Marine Corps!”

The motivators purposely punished themselves with a grueling workout, which consisted of running for more than three miles and stopping at 14 stations along the way.

The fourteen stations of the cross
1. Christ condemned to death;
2. the cross is laid upon him;
3. His first fall;
4. He meets His Blessed Mother;
5. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross;
6. Christ’s face is wiped by Veronica;
7. His second fall;
8. He meets the women of Jerusalem;
9. His third fall;
10. He is stripped of His garments;
11. His crucifixion;
12. His death on the cross;
13. His body is taken down from the cross; and
14. laid in the tomb.