The "Mosts" in 2010

Most Idiotic Statement of the Year:"
"We have to pass this bill so that we can see what's in it."
-Nancy Pelosi on the Obamacare Bill.

Most Insulting Statement of the Year:"We Can't Just Leave It Up To The Parents'" Michelle Obama on why the Feds should be setting local school menus.

Smartest Statement of the year:
"I don’t want to make her mad," quipped Bill Clinton, after Obama said that he had been keeping the First Lady waiting for a half hour and that he would be leaving the Press Conference in Clinton's hands.

Understatement of the year:
"I don't think there's a sense that I've been successful."
-Barrack Hussein Obama

Worst fashion statement of the year:
Lose these so-nerdy-they're-tacky golf shoes. In fact, lose the idea that you need to spend so much time on the golf course. Statistics show that you've already spent more time on the golf course in two years than George Bush did in his entire 8 years. And all the time on the basketball court...

Christmas Still

Many pastors in the liturgical churches plod the honorable campaign of holding Christmas back a bit so that parishioners can enjoy a good and holy Advent, a spiritual preparation time for Christmas. It's a counter-cultural campaign that is not easy to wage, because the stores begin to roll out Christmas in October, and office parties begin immediately after Thanksgiving. Ignorance is part of the problem; it was only a few years ago that the not-so-venerable Minneapolis Star Tribune published a series of articles intended to commemorate the "Twelve Days of Christmas," beginning on December 13! Then--there's the utter disappearance of all things Christmas on December 26--or shortly thereafter. Woe to those gifted with a Brookstone gadget that doesn't work--the Roseville Mall kiosk had already disappeared by Monday morning, December 27--forcing treks to Mega Mall for the inevitable exchanges.

Personally and vocationally, Anglicat still wages the campaign. The family Christmas tree is displayed Thanksgiving week-end, but without Christmas ornaments until "Joy Sunday," the Third Sunday in Advent. The writing of Christmas cards is intentionally delayed until during the true twelve days of Yuletide. The freshness of Christmas carols is still enjoyed at home through Twelfth night, because the CDs were not hauled out until the Christmas tree was decorated. At church, parents are grateful that our Christmas pageant will take place this coming Sunday, after the hyperosity of the secular trappings has subsided.

So how about music at church? Well--pastors seeking to hold onto Christmas through Christmas have to campaign even against the latest in cultural trends at church, as well. This year's "Musician's Handbook" recommends nary a traditional carol except for "Once in Royal David's City" and "The First Nowell."

Christmas is such a profound miracle: God becoming man, that man might be reconciled to God. And the King born on Christmas shall reign forever and ever (halleluia! halleluia!). We need a season to prepare for commemorating this amazing gift, and more than a day to savor it. Merry Still Christmas!

MinneSNOWta

For readers in the sunny climes who have no idea what a major blizzard is like, check this out: time-lapse blizzard. The photographer snapped a still photo once every five minutes for 20 hours, so you get to see twenty hours' accumulation in about 40 seconds. The photos were actually taken during a New Jersey storm, but a blizzard is, after all, a blizzard, and Minnesota's 38 inches would look much the same....

Only in Minnesota...

...Snow Golf! How about a round?

A Minimalist Christmas

Without ever planning it, many Minnesotans are ending up with a minimalist Christmas this year. We've had more snow this month that at any time since record-keeping began, and we still have a week to go, further condensing this stunning accumulation. At Anglicat's house, we simply cannot wade through the deep snow to reach the trees we normally wrap with lights. Our eager-beaver neighbors across the street, who had strung lights along their front fence before Thanksgiving, can't display their lights, because they are buried beneath the snow that the highway department pushed up against the fence. So, its a darker than usual Christmas season, except for the light that is reflected by the snow from various outside night lights.

Too, the fatigue from excessive driveway-cleaning seems to have taken the wind out of many sails: As one very clever neighboring bishop quipped:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
[My son} and I are shov’ling, shov’ling til we groan.
Thirty-seven inches is a lot of snow,
We are not discouraged as our muscles grow.

This human-energy-crisis-evoked scale-down put a new emphasis on the family creche. With fewer decorations catching the eye, Anglicat spent more than the usual amount of time contemplating Joseph and Mary as they slowly approached the Bethlehem stable on our harvest table. The very pregnant Mary in our particular family manger set carried special meaning, as we await the birth of a loved one's first child in January. Tomorrow we'll replace that figurine (with a bit of reluctance) with the one of Mary cradling the baby Jesus in her arms.

So far, Anglicat seems to be more at home with expectation mode than fulfillment mode this year. This, actually, is not a bad way to begin the Twelve Days of Christmas. The usual twelve varieties of cookies most definitely did not get baked this year, but will still be baked before Yuletide segues to Epiphany. This minimalist Christmas Day hearkens back to a time when people did not put up their trees until Christmas Eve, when Christmas began on the 25th, rather than ended with it.

Yes--it's only BEGINNING to look a lot like Christmas. Anglicat wishes all her readers a very happy one.

We're Sorry, England

It was plenty bad that we sent you Gene Robinson to permanently muck up the Anglican Communion. But no, America had to muck things up in the world of secular international relations, as well. We elected a President who so hates America, that his hatred extends to her closest ally.

Back to England went the bust of Sir Winston Churchill that had comfortingly rested in the Oval Office as a symbol of British-American solidarity since 9/11. During his first state visit to the Obama White House, the Obamas contemptuously gifted Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a cheap DVD set available at any Target and unplayable on European equipment. When the Obamas were welcomed at Buckingham Palace, their gift to the Queen was an Ipod loaded with Obama's speeches. Add to these diplomatic slights Obama's failure to EVER mention Britain's 10,000-strong support of our efforts in Afghanistan, his refusal to support Britain in its dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands and in its efforts to limit the growth of pan-European government, and it becomes abundantly clear why the Obamas were not invited to join the other international heads of state at Prince William's wedding. Their exclusion from the guest list sends the clearest message of all just how far the Obamas have distanced themselves from our much-needed ally.

It will be a classier celebration without them. We'll try to mend our ways before Prince Harry is ready to step to the altar. Please forgive us our exceptionally poor choices in electing bishops--and presidents.

Major hat tip to David Cassidy

Two Feet of Snow!

That's what nearly fell on the Twin Cities this week-end. The Metrodome has collapsed, many churches cancelled services, and the plows are only now catching up with the smaller streets. That's MinneSNOWta!

Incarnation in our Midst

Joy breaks into lunchtime at the mall: surprise! The season of alleluia is coming soon, very soon.....

St. Nicholas at Ground Zero

While many of us enjoyed our traditional "gold coin" chocolates at church yesterday in anticipation of St. Nicholas' Feast Day today, a more somber commemoration took place at New York's Ground Zero. Among the buildings demolished by terrorists on September 11, 2001, was the Greek Orthodox church of St.Nicholas. Loyal St. Nicholas parishioners gather each year to light candles and pray at the location of their former church home. Why not simply rebuild? That possibility is lost in a myriad of rules and wrangling with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. While the red tape can be sliced and funding multiplied for the egregious Islamic Center proposed for Ground Zero, the red tape only seems to pile higher for poor St. Nicholas. The faithfulness alone of the parish's 70-odd families suggests that their sojourn of nearly 10 years be brought to an appropriate and happy end. Details.

Hat tip to Bill Morris.

Of Thee I Cringe

In between his basketball and golf games, President Obama has found the time to write a book. It is a children's book published--surprise, surprise--just in time for the Christmas gift-buying season. He severely botched management of the Gulf Oil Spill through delay, wasted trillions in pork that did nothing to help our economic recession, ramrodded through massive health care changes that leave businesses crippled and fearful about the future, has made us a laughing stock among the international community, and still he takes the time to write a children's book.

Exasperation with this book is not limited to his taking the time to write it. The title tramples too close to hallowed ground. "Of Thee I Sing" are words from a patriot's love song to America: "My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing." Obama hijacks these words for the name of a book praising his daughters Malia and Sasha. Anglicat is tired of Obama and his wife dissing America. Remember how Michelle said after her husband's nomination that FOR THE FIRST TIME, she was proud of America? So Obama's heart does not swell with pride over this once-great land; it swells for his privileged daughters. No surprise here, given all the apologizing he has done to foreign leaders concerning what he considers America's faults. We so need to return to the White House a first family that appreciates, loves, and sings the praises of America.

Glad you love your daughters. B.O. but please save any future book writing for your retirement years. May those years come very soon. Meanwhile, please give a few thoughts of gratitude to the country and people that made your meteoric rise to affluence and power possible. Do you think that could have happened in any other nation?