Out with the old, in with the new.

367

Does "time" matter?  Does the passing of one year into the next signify anything?

I'm in a "Grumpy Solomon" mood.

Ecclesiastes 3

 ⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him


 ¹⁵ Whatever is has already been,
   and what will be has been before;
   and God will call the past to account.^[b]
 16 And I saw something else under the sun:
   In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
   in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

 ¹⁷ I said to myself,

   “God will bring into judgment
   both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
   a time to judge every deed.”

 ¹⁸ I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. ¹⁹ Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. ²⁰ All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

 ²² So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

To January or not to January. That is the question!

368

New Years Eve is tomorrow (Saturday) followed by New Years Day.  It's so warm today, but I remember a year ago we had a giant snow storm that shut everything down for a week.

This made me wonder, why do we start our year in the dead of winter? Why not Spring when things are beginning to bloom and become new?

Well, here's the answer:

The celebration of the new year on January 1st is a relatively new phenomenon. The earliest recording of a new year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C. and was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March. A variety of other dates tied to the seasons were also used by various ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians began their new year with the fall equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice.

Early Roman Calendar: March 1st Rings in the New Year

The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the new year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. That the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months.  September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were originally positioned as the seventh through tenth months (septem is Latin for "seven," octo is "eight," novem is "nine," and decem is "ten."

January Joins the Calendar

The first time the new year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 B.C. (In fact, the month of January did not even exist until around 700 B.C., when the second king of Rome, Numa Pontilius, added the months of January and February.) The new year was moved from March to January because that was the beginning of the civil year, the month that the two newly elected Roman Consuls-the highest officials in the Roman republic—began their one-year tenure. But this new year date was not always strictly and widely observed, and the new year was still sometimes celebrated on March 1.

Julian Calendar: January 1st Officially Instituted as the New Year

In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced a new, solar-based calendar that was a vast improvement on the ancient Roman calendar, which was a lunar system that had become wildly inaccurate over the years. The Julian Calendar decreed that the new year would occur with January 1, and within the Roman world, January 1 became the consistently observed start of the new year.

Middle Ages: January 1st Abolished

In medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the new year were considered pagan and unchristian like, and in 567 the Council of Tours abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1; March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation; and Easter.

Gregorian Calendar: January 1st Restored

In 1582, the Gregorian Calendar reform restored January 1 as New Years Day.  Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752. Until then, the British Empire —and their American colonies— still celebrated the new year in March.

Actually, now that I look back on all the info above...I never really answered my own question...

chris

Home Alone 2 (and Jaron)

369

I saw Home Alone 2 was on TV the other day ('cause of Christmas) and it reminded me of this story...

It was Summer 2001 and we were getting a giant new roof on our giant house in Newton.  There were a lot of guys working on the roof and therefore, a lot of cars in our driveway and yard.

As we were all busily working, a Newton police car pulled up and two officers came sauntering up to the door.  The contractor leaned over to me and said, "I bet it's all the cars we have in the yard."

The officers came on the porch and one sheepishly asked, "Uh, ya. We got a 911 call from this address."

The roofer and I looked at each other, "Did you? No? Well I didn't." etc.

Officer, "Uh, ya. Well we have to check anyway." So the proceeded to go inside.

I go up to the boys bedroom, and under the covers of the one of the top bunks I see the outline of 7-year-old Jaron.  I pull back the bedspread and there he is with a coil of rope around his shoulder and the phone in his hand,

          ME: Jaron, what are you doing?

          JARON: Playing Home Alone 2.

Fair enough...

chris

War Horse

370

GO SEE THE MOVIE WARHORSE!

and see the play,

and read the book.

chris

About the movie:
http://www.warhorsemovie.com/

About the play:
http://www.warhorseonbroadway.com/

About the book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Horse_%28novel%29

Coffee Shops

371

I love little coffee shops.

I even love Starbucks.

I would like to own/run a Coffee/Bakery/Book Store/Music Venue/Art Space/Deli Type resturant.  I know they are going out of style, or more accurately, the glut of them is thinning back down to the number they should have been (survival of the fittest and all that.)

I really can't justify a $4 coffee every day, but I can a couple times a month.

I'm sitting here @Dunn Bros on Red Bridge.  I like their Chai Tea Latte (I'm trying anyway.)

A people read @ coffee shops although there is a lot of computer usage going on as well (pretentious bloggers!)

I'm thinking of getting an e-reader or tablet.  I am interested in the Barnes & Noble Nook. I've heard the Amazon Kindle Fire has had some technical problems. Of course, if I win the lottery, It'll be a souped up iPad.

I have no life lesson today other than, If you're out there and you want to give me a Coffee Shop, Nook, Kindle-Fire, or iPad, I won't say, "No."


chris

To learn more about the B&N Nook:
B&N Nook

To learn more about the Amazon Kindle Fire:
Amazon Kindle-Fire

To learn more about the iPad:
Apple iPad

To compare the three:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009738-1/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/

Eragon

372

Throughout my son's lives I have read to them at bed time.  We have read many books (The Chronicles of Narnia multiple times.)

In 2003 I read the book "Eragon" to them.  It was written by a 15-year-old home schooled boy from Idaho.  Wesley and Christian loved it.

Now. at the end of 2011 we have started reading "Inheritance" the 4th and final book.  Wesley and Christian still like to listen to me read.  We read the summary of the previous three books and got into the 1st chapter.

854 pages to go...

chris

the learn more about Eragon and the "Inheritance" serirs go to:
http://www.alagaesia.com/

Action Figures...

373

Meagan and Rana stayed the night last night so everyone is still in bed (9:35 CST) and I expect them to be in bed for a while.

Eric works at 4:00 this afternoon, so we'll have a couple hours of Christmas gifts and such before he has to go.

This year, from a shopping perspective, has been unique.

This is the first year in many that we have not bought a toy.  Xbox games do not count, board games do not count, I'm talkin' TOYS from the toy department, specifically Action Figures.

Christian is in 6th grade, and technically on the high-side of action figure action.  But because of his older (rotten) brothers, he tends to do what they are doing, so he plays some video games, likes Nerf and Airsoft guns, and music, and clothes...not "Batman."

We have (I would guess) hundreds of Action Figures in our attic.

1.) The most: Batman. We have a dodecahillion Batmans (Batmen?) All of the boys have loved Batman.  Christian would only ask for "Batman" for any gift opportunity (Birthday, Christmas, Arbor Day, Hey-I-Have-Some-Money-To-Spend Day.)

2.) Close Second: Star Wars.  We have been very, very good to George Lucas.

3.) Lord of the Rings. Those movies came out when December 19th, 2001. Eric was 10. My Dad, Eric, and I went to see it.  It was a pivotal experience for the boys.  When I was 10 we had movies like, "The Sting", "American Graffiti", and "The Exorcist." (not really kid-fare.)

Mr. Jackson really raked in on the Geil family. Remember we buy everything x4.

Here is a list of Lord of the Rings stuff we've had:
> VHS Copies of all three movies
> DVD Copies of all three movies
> DVD Extended box set of all three movies
> Action Figure of all Major, Minor, Sub, Rejected, Thought-of, or manufactured character (we still have more Batmans/Batmen)
> All three LOTR Playstation-2 games (+ The Hobbit)
> The LOTR Milton/Bradley Board Game
> LORT Chess
> LOTR Stratego
> LOTR Risk (which is awesome)
> LOTR Trading Cards (I still find them tucked in couches and under dressers)
> Multiple versions of the LOTR books
> LORT Posters
> LORT Weapons and Armor

We like Lord of the Rings.

Now it's all quasi-adult gifts. They each got (will get) an Xbox game (good for one, good for all) cologne/body wash stuff, clothes, books, candy, money, boring stuff.

As Ecclesiastes says, "For every thing there is a season." or as Roland Dechain says, "The world has moved on."

chris

(PS. Christian did ask for and got Batman: Arkham City  for Xbox 360...some things are the same.)

Merry Christmas!

374

Christmas eve...

Amy worked until 4:30.

Eric works at 7:00 PM.

Meagan & Rana are here.

Big pot of chilli on the stove...

Merry Christmas!

chris

Matthew 1:18-25This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (KJV)

Luke 2:1-14In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (KJV)

The Visit of the Shepherds

Luke 2:15-20When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (KJV) 

The Visit of the Magi (Wise Men)

Matthew 2:1-12After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' " Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (KJV)

When Christmas Was Banned in Boston.

375

When Christmas Was Banned in Boston.

Outlaw-ing the celebration of Christmas sounds a little extreme, but it happened. The ban existed as law for only 22 years, but disapproval of Christmas celebration took many more years to change. In fact, it wasn't until the mid-1800s that celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region.

First of all, it reminded them of the Church of England and the old-world customs, which they were trying to escape. 

Second, they didn't consider the holiday a truly religious day. December 25th wasn't selected as the birth date of Christ until several centuries after his death. 

Third, the holiday celebration usually included drinking, feasting, and playing games - all things which the Puritans frowned upon. (One such tradition, "wassailing" occasionally turned violent. The older custom entailed people of a lower economic class visiting wealthier community members and begging, or demanding, food and drink in return for toasts to their hosts' health. If a host refused, there was the threat of retribution. Although rare, there were cases of wassailing in early New England.)

Fourth, the British had been applying pressure on the Puritans for a while to conform to English customs. The ban was probably as much a political choice as it was a religious one for many.

 

"For preventing disorders, arising in several places within this jurisdiction by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other communities, to the great dishonor of God and offense of others: it is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon any such account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offense five shilling as a fine to the county."

- From the records of the General Court, Massachusetts Bay Colony, May 11, 1659
 

Records indicate the first Christmas the Puritans celebrated in the new world passed uneventfully. Some of the new settlers celebrated Christmas while others did not. But the events of the second Christmas were documented by the group's governor, William Bradford. Sickness had wiped out many of their group, and for the first time they were facing hostility by one of the Native American tribes in the area. Bradford recorded that on the morning of the 25th, he had called everyone out to work, but some men from the newly arrived ship "Fortune" told him it was against their conscience to work on Christmas. He responded he would spare them "until they were better informed." But when he returned at noon, he found them playing games in the street. His response, as noted in his writings was: "If they made the keeping of it matter of devotion, let them kepe their houses, but there should be no gameing or revelling in the streets."

That second Christmas was the first time the celebration was forbidden in Massachusetts, but the ban didn't make it into the law books until several years later. As the settlement grew and more English settled in the area, tensions grew between the Puritans and British. The more pressure the English king exerted on the colonists, the more they resisted. In 1659, the ban became official. The General Court banned the celebration of Christmas and other such holidays at the same time it banned gambling and other lawless behavior, grouping all such behaviors together. The court placed a fine of five shillings on anyone caught feasting or celebrating the holiday in another manner.

"The generality of Christmas-keepers observe that festival after such a manner as is highly dishonourable to the name of Christ. How few are there comparatively that spend those holidays (as they are called) after an holy manner. But they are consumed in Compotations, in Interludes, in playing at Cards, in Revellings, in excess of Wine, in mad Mirth ..."

- Reverend Increase Mather, 1687
 

The ban was revoked in 1681 by an English-appointed governor Sir Edmund Andros, who also revoked a Puritan ban against festivities on Saturday night. But even after the ban was lifted, the majority of colonists still abstained from celebrations. Samuel Sewell, whose diary of life in Massachusetts Bay Colony was later published, made a habit of watching the holiday - specifically how it was observed each year.  "Carts came to town and Shops open as is usual. Some, somehow, observe the day; but are vexed, I believe, that the Body of the People profane it, - and, blessed be God! no Authority yet to compel them to keep it," Sewell wrote in 1685.

OK, I missed one.

376 (10:54 AM)

So, I missed one.

It was Thursday and my 2nd day of Christmas break.

I spent the day shopping w/Amy, watching the new Muppet Movie, then shopping some more.

I plopped in bed about 1 AM and that was that.

I don't feel guilty or a failure for missing yesterday.

chris

Luke

377

Christmas of 2005 Amy, Eric, Wesley, and Christian all got sick.  Puking up everything they ate.  Jaron and I ran from bed to bed changing sheets and getting water and mopping up...stuff.

Luke came by that day, and ended up staying for the next 8 months.

Luke was a senior at Newton High School.  He split time living with his Grand Parents and his mother.  We knew him from church and he and Eric were close.

He stayed over night that night and then kept staying.

When we moved to Kansas City, he essentially moved with us.  He was going to school in Springfield, so he came to KC every weekend that first year.  When people saw us all together, the assumed Luke was one of our sons, which, I guess was kind of accurate.

Today, Luke's wife, Stephanie had a baby, Eleanor Joy Bentima.

Guess that makes me a "kind of" Grandpa!

Congratulations Luke, Stephanie, & Eleanor Joy!

chris

The move to Columbia, TN (continued)

378

186

In Nashville we had settled into Hope Baptist Church, a small church that shared space with a Seventh Day Adventist Church (they met on Saturdays, we met on Sundays.)  I was involved with the worship bands. Amy had many new mothers to get to know.  We had great home groups and a lot of aspiring musicians.  The preacher was chill and liked to play basketball (so did I at the time.) It was a great place of stability and growth.

It was a hard decision to move an hour south, but we needed to, both professionally and personally.  I worked in one community. Amy essentially worked in another.  We lived in one community and went to church in another community.  I felt so…stretched.  I talked to Amy about the need to live, work, and go to church in the same community.  That ended up being Columbia.

Columbia is about 50 miles from Nashville, but only 25 miles from Franklin, which is the start of the Davidson County Metro area.  However, Columbia is its own community.  The population is around 35k.  There is a community college and a lot of light industry.  It is famous for being “The Mule Capitol of the World” because of the gianormous mules that are bred in the county.

General Motors built a state-of-the-art automobile manufacturing facility in the county between Columbia and Spring Hill. They built the “Saturn” line from 1990 to 2009.  It was quite an “interesting” time for the traditional southern area to be flooded with hundreds of “Yankees” from Michigan.

Nashville and Davidson County in general were used to an influx of people from all over the country and the world.  Nashville surrendered to “The North” early in the Civil War.  The citizens of Nashville had seen what could happen to cities like Richmond. Not wanting their city burned to the ground, they surrendered quickly to the Northern troops, and Fort Nashboro was a Northern occupation for the entire Civil War.  Columbia and Maury County were a bit less “Metropolitan” and more “Old South” in their ways.

The story is that the day before the “Battle of Franklin” in 1864, Southern General Nathan Bedford Forest and his cohorts “made vows” that were precursors to the Ku Klux Klan as they camped between Columbia and Spring Hill in Maury County countryside.  The next day fourteen Confederate generals (six killed or mortally wounded, seven wounded, and one captured) and 55 regimental commanders were casualties.

In the late 40’s there was the “Columbia Race Riots” incident where the Tennessee Highway patrol was called in to sweep through the “College Hill” neighborhood.  There was gunfire from both African Americans and White Americans.  Officers were shot and two African Americans in police custody were killed.  It was ugly.

I lived in Middle Tennessee for 13 years and I heard exactly 1 racial slur come from a white individual about African Americans.  I did not live an insulated life.  I worked with a variety of people from a variety of social and financial strata. My perception was that “white folk” were in a delicate position.  Historically, our race was responsible for slavery and discrimination, yet none of us were individually responsible for slavery and we were damn-sure we weren’t going to perpetuate the discrimination.  Actually, I have felt more “racial tension” here in Kansas City than I ever felt in Columbia.

Columbia also had such a wide variety of what I can only call “stereotypical” housing.  On one end of the spectrum, there were giant Antebellum plantation-sized homes.  Some were tourist attractions, but others were simply private residences.  Some were in the middle of town. Others were in the middle of fields with long tree-lined driveways leading up to column-ed front porches with rocking chairs.  Other parts of town had rickety tarpaper shanties on dirt plots.

We moved to a great neighborhood on “Wahella Way.”  It was a unique area.  Our house was plain, and one-story.  But our lot was huge (over 300 feet deep) and perfect for our boys.  The back yard was like a park.  The front yard had a magnolia tree (as did everyone else in our neighborhood.) Instead of living 39 miles from work I now lived 1.5 miles from work.  It was a great place of growth for our family for the next 5 years.

chris

For more information about the Battle of Franklin:

http://www.carter-house.org/the-battle-of-franklin/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Franklin_(1864)

http://battleoffranklin.wordpress.com/

For more information about the “Columbia Race Riots”:

http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/era_id/8/major_id/11/minor_id/26/a_id/110

For more information about the “Saturn Corporation”:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Corporation

I am getting a Migraine...

379

I am prone to migraines.

I started getting one yesterday and today it has gotten worse.

Even trying to watch the computer screen is making me nauseous.

Migraines suck!

chris

To learn more about Migraines:
http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/default.htm

Chiefs 19, Green Bay 14 12/18/11

380

chris

A Full Day

381

8:30- Got out of bed

9:10- Shower

10:30- Price Chopper

11:50-Drove to 280 Paintball with 16 other people

12:10- Got paintball gear

12:30- Started first Paintball Game (shot a total of 5 paint balls)

12:32- Got shot twice in the leg (out.)

1:00- Next game started (shot a total of 2 paint balls)

1:05- Shot in head (out.)

1:15- Gave the rest of my paint balls to Wesley.

3:00- Get home and cook pizza for 16 people.

4:30- Kids start playing "Satan's Revenge" in our house.

6:30- Evan Maggelson smashes Taylor Qualls forehead into a door (gashing it open.)

6:35- Taylor asks Tanner to take a picture of his gashed forehead and put it on Facebook.

6:40- I call Becky Qualls and giver her the "Good News/Bad News" routine,
         ME: The Bad news is, Evan Maggelson split Taylor's forehead open with a door and he needs stitches.
         BECKY: What's the good news?
         ME: He didn't break his glasses.

6:45- Amy, Christian, Evan Phillips and I go to CYT East "Christmas Carol."

8:40- Get message from Mike Qualls that Taylor got 11 stitches.

9:40- Arrive home and watch the rest of the worst movie ever made, "The Stuff" with the boys.

10:50- Amy made pancakes.

A full day.

chris

The Click

382

187

I have Tinnitus; a pervasive ringing in my ears. I failed my last audiological exam.  I couldn’t distinguish the tones in my head to the tones through the earphones.  The speech of others is often muffled or jarbled.  I can tell that people are talking; I just can’t distinguish half of the words.  When someone says something to me from another room, all I hear is, “Babblesnaglapplemummbleblayblablo.”  It’s frustrating.

At the Newton Correctional Facility in Newton, Iowa, there are many locked doors.  At the front, past the first set of officers are two magnetically locked iron doors.  They are unlocked from the security tower.  The officers at the front “buzz” the tower.  The security officers there watch the camera to see who is passing through and then unlock the door.  At times there is a lot of commotion up front.  Officers and staff may be coming in and out.  Sometimes family members and visitors are going to the visiting room.

In front of the first security door there is a bright yellow line painted on the floor.  You must stand behind the yellow line until the security door is unlocked, then you may proceed through the door.  If you cross the yellow line, an infrared light is tripped and the security cameras are alerted.  It is good to not irritate the security officers because there are a series of 5 locked security doors and you will find yourself waiting at each one if you do.

When I first started coming into the prison I could never tell when the doors were unlocked.  There is no light or sign that flashes.  I would be standing with staff or Sam Dye at the front waiting.  I may begin to take a step towards the door and Sam would grab my arm. “Not yet,” he would say.  Then he would say, “Ok, we can go.”  Was Sam psychic?  Did he have magical powers that caused the door to open at his command?  I felt like an idiot.  I just had to stand there.  A sarcastic voice would sometimes come over the speaker, “You can go through now…wah, wah, waaaaaaaaah.”

Then one day I heard it.  I heard, “The Click.”

One early morning I was the only one entering the prison.  I was standing dutifully at the yellow line.  Then I heard a “click.”  With my Tinnitus, it is difficult to determine what direction some sounds come from.  But I definitely heard the, “click.”  So I walked forward and pushed the heavy door open. As I stood in the small “Sally Port” I recognized the next “click.”  And I went through the next door.

The door had always been making that sound. The sound of that “click” didn’t suddenly happen or get louder.  There were so many other competing sounds that overwhelmed my ability to hear it.  Once I recognized the “click” I could tune my ear to it.  I would intently listen for it and I could ignore other superfluous sounds in the room.

Some time later, I was standing behind the yellow line with a potential volunteer.  He started to walk forward and I gently tapped his forearm,

ME: Not yet, the door is still locked

DOOR: Click

ME: Okay, we can go through now.

POTENTIAL VOLUNTEER: How did you know that? Is there a light or something?

ME: …or something (said smugly.)

I’ve told that story a lot, especially to the men in that prison who asked me about hearing God’s voice.

It is not a matter of God not speaking.  It is a matter of us not tuning our ears to hear Him.  We have Spiritual Tinnitus, a constant ringing in our spirits that can make it hard to determine what direction things are coming from.  We have a lot of competing exterior sounds.  We are not tuned to God’s voice.

Jesus uses the phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear!” six times in the New Testament.  It’s not a matter of physical ears.  It is a matter of “tuned” ears, like tuning a radio.

“³To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:3-5

^“27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” John 10:27

chris

To learn more about the Newton Correctional Facility:

http://www.doc.state.ia.us/InstitutionDesc.asp

To learn more about “Tinnitus”:

http://www.ata.org/

To learn more about the InnerChange Freedom Initiative:

http://www.ifiprison.org/ifi-home

Leaving Iraq

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In remembrance of our leaving Iraq, here's a story I doubt many of you have read.

The ‘Abu Earless’ Brigade
By Rod Nordland
NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE

Saddam Hussein’s ear-amputation campaign went on for three days, May 17-19, 1994, in every city in Iraq. Some of the estimated 3,500 men who lost their ears are now telling their stories

April 23 — They’re among the saddest of the sad, in a land full of sadness. They push forward from the crowd of beggars and supplicants that gathers wherever they find foreigners, whether soldiers or journalists or aid workers.

MOST, LIKE AHMED Hussein, have no words in English, but they don’t need them. Outside the HQ of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in An Nasiriya yesterday, Hussein only had to turn his head to show his profile, and utter a single word, “Saddam,” as he pointed to the stump where his right ear used to be. He wasn’t begging for money, though he had none, or asking for a bottle of water or a telephone call abroad, like so many others in a place where the water doesn’t run and the phones don’t work. He just wanted to tell his story.

The story of Iraqi men with amputated ears is becoming a depressingly familiar one as people grow more convinced that Saddam Hussein and the Baathists will never come back. Finally, they can talk freely. This will probably not be the greatest atrocity committed by Saddam’s regime, but with its clinical brutality and its echoes of Nazi medical mutilations, it stands out.

Hussein was among those arrested in a crackdown on Iraqi Army deserters in 1994; he had left his unit because, he said, “I didn’t want to invade Kuwait again.” The same day that he was arrested, he was taken to an operating room in Saddam General Hospital in An Nasiriya and blindfolded. A surgeon gave him a local anesthetic, but it was still severely painful when he severed the ear nearly to the bone with a long-bladed scalpel. “I wanted to kill myself right away,” he said. “How can a man live without his ear?”

Afterward, sentenced to 25 years, he was thrown into prison and tortured on a daily basis in an effort to get him to confess that he was plotting against the regime—which would have meant a death sentence. He has deep knife gashes and bones that were broken and healed improperly in his arms and legs. A general amnesty four years later brought little respite; his ear stump was his red letter D for deserter, and it made him unemployable. “I could not get married while my ear is off,” he said. “No woman would want me.”

The ear amputation campaign went on for three days, May 17-19, 1994, in every city in Iraq. It was unknown to the outside world, as was so much that went on inside Saddam’s Iraq. No one knows how many men lost their ears, but it must number in the thousands. One victim said his guards told him the total nationwide was 3,500. In Basra alone, 750 Iraqi soldiers were imprisoned at a police lockup called Seryat Dhowaria al Shirta, near the marketplace in downtown Basra. They were all taken in groups of 10 to each of the city’s three major hospitals, where rotations of surgeons were set up to perform the amputations over that three-day period. All surgeons were obliged to participate; a few managed to flee the country, and one, at the Al Joumariyah Hospital, refused to pick up his scalpel and was executed on the spot, according to doctors there. There’s little doubt that the order came down from the top; in Basra, victims said that they saw both Abdul Bakr Saddoun and Noori Saddoun, the two top Baath Party officials in the city, at one of the hospitals just before their amputations. “Why are you deserters?” Noori Saddoun allegedly said to Anwar Razak. “I said, ‘I’m not,’ and he hit me himself.”

Anwar was one of many victims who were caught up in the sweep, even though they weren’t deserters. He had been granted leave by his officer for the weekend, but didn’t have his papers with him when he was stopped at a party checkpoint near his home and recognized as a soldier. They refused to check with his unit, probably since party cadres who caught deserters were paid a handsome bounty. In some cases, the bounties paid were as high as 200,000 dinars, according to Baath Party documents: roughly 18 months’ average salary. After the beating from Saddoun, Anwar was taken to an operating room where he managed to lift his blindfold enough to see and recognize the surgeon. But he won’t name him. “He was apologizing and said they forced him to do that,” he said. “It wasn’t his fault.” They were not given painkillers, only tied down to their gurneys. “We were all crying, all of us,” he said. Anwar lost both his ears; other victims only one. Why isn’t clear.

Anwar Razak, like Ahmed Hussein and the other victims, was imprisoned afterward and tortured routinely. The guards taunted them. “They called us Abu Thanat Mabtura,” he said. It’s Arabic for Abu Earless, or Father Earless. Released after two years, his fiancé broke up with him rather than marry a disfigured man with no job prospects. None of the earless men were able to find work, since the party controlled employment in most sectors of the economy. All of the earless men know numerous others who suffered the same fate. “I know at least 50 just here,” said Hussein of Nasiriya, a small city.

Anwar’s cousin, Nabil Abdul Razak, similarly was picked up in Basra for being away from his unit, though he says he had no intention of deserting. He was just AWOL for a couple days to finish his accounting exams. He was lucky, though. An accountant in a Pepsi firm owned by one of Basra’s richest men, Ghareb Kubba, Nabil was also an old friend of Kubba’s. Kubba managed to pay a million dinars in bribes to soften Nabil’s mutilation. Nabil was allowed to give blood first, in case he needed to replace what he lost in surgery. He’d get painkillers. And most importantly, the doctor would only slice half his right ear off. “He kissed me and said he was really sorry but he had to do this.” Other victims weren’t so lucky. “Many of us bled to death in prison afterward,” says Anwar Razak. Some were even branded with a hot poker at the hospital, with the Arabic word for coward scorched across their foreheads.

It’s striking that none of the victims seem to blame the doctors who had to perform the operations. Many of the surgeons still seem racked with guilt and shame over it, and few will talk openly about it. “They wanted to make us complicit,” said a surgeon at the Basra Teaching Hospital, who maintains he managed to evade the duty by calling in sick when his rotation came up. “And they wanted everybody to know about it.” Afterward, doctors didn’t dare try to help the disfigured men. “It was such a dirty business,” said Dr. Abdul Khalik Zater Benyan, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the teaching hospital. “No one would dare do plastic surgery.”

Plastic surgery is what these men all want most now. Many of them suffer hearing loss, and infections from poor aftercare in prison often caused inner ear problems, as well. Anwar Razak says he’s had tinnitus ever since the amputation. Rebuilding the outer ear, using skin and cartilage from elsewhere on the patient’s body, is well within reach with modern plastic surgery. “We’re just hoping that some NGO from America will come and give us our ears back,” says Nabil Razak. For men who have suffered so much, it’s a modest request.

We shouldn't have made those prisoners at Abu Ghraib stand on boxes with no pants on.

That was wrong to do.


We did not, however, cut their ears off, which is what their own government would have done...

chris

The Move to Columbia, TN

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The Move to Columbia, TN

During my first five years teaching at The King’s Daughters School I took on more and more responsibility for the academic program, particularly in the area of discipline.  I was committed to the concept of “out-lasting” behavior.  Being a good B. F. Skinner disciple, I knew that giving students the “pay off” (in other words, giving in to their tantrum) in the midst of their behavioral episodes was counter productive, and would actually strengthen whatever negative behavior they were engaging in. I really didn’t want to make the job harder than it already was in the long term. I also had a long-term vision for behavioral change.  These students had been practicing these behaviors for their entire lives.  I wasn’t going to get them to change in a week, or a month, or maybe even a year.  I looked for incremental change over time…and I was patient.

I was a teacher. Then I was designated, “Lead Teacher.” However, we really worked as a team and I don’t care about titles.  The Program Direct who hired me left and another Program Director was hired.  She left a year later and I decided to apply.  One of the requisites was for me to obtain my Administrator’s Certification in Tennessee.  To do that I had to purse my Master’s Degree.

A co-worker had received his degree from Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville.  The classes were all on Saturday.  So I enrolled. Every 6 Saturdays, 8:00 to 2:45 I earned three credit hours.  There was a lot of writing, a lot of projects, and I became very familiar with MSWord, Excel, and Publisher.

Jaron was an infant, I was driving two hours a day, and I was feeling spread thin.  So we decided to move to Columbia. “The Mule Capital of the World.”

chris

To learn more about Trevecca Nazarene University

www.trevecca.edu

To learn more about Columbia, TN

http://www.columbiatn.com/

The Eric Saga: Nature vs. Nurture

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There has always been a debate in child psychology as to what is more influential in the development of a child; Nature or Nurture.  Is how you are raised most influential or is what is already in you most influential?

Of course my answer is, “Yes.”  But let me speak a bit to the early “Nature” of Eric.

Many the tendencies he had as an infant have played out in throughout his life and are active to this day.

1. Eric has never liked to sleep.  I have rocked Eric thousands of miles in our rocking chairs.  He did not like to be put down.  He fought sleep every step of the way.  He would make himself throw-up in his crib if he was awake.  He had to be completely asleep in my arms and I had to tiptoe to the crib.  If I stepped on a squeaky toy on the way, those eyes would pop open and the crying would ensue.  Amy worked some evenings at Target when Eric was young, so it was up to me to establish the “go to bed” routine.  All I had to do was say the first line of “Goodnight Moon” and Eric would start to whimper. (In the great green room…WHAAAAAAAAAAA!)
2. Eric has never liked to eat.  He liked to nurse, but he didn’t like to eat.  It would take forever to get him to eat.  Between a set of Dr’s visits he didn’t gain any weight and we were severely chastised by the pediatrician.  He seems to like to eat some things now but he will always default to cereal as his staple.
3. Eric is nosy.  Eric has super accurate ninja-like hearing and would pick up on everything we were saying as adults.  He has always wanted to know what was going on.  When he woke up from his nap in the big boy bed he would come sprinting into the living room with a look of panic on his face, “Did I miss something? What did I miss?  Is there something going on? What’s happening?”
4. Eric loves movies.  Eric is a movie fanatic.  It is his favorite leisure time activity.  He will watch 5 movies a day if time allows.  He doesn’t like TV shows necessarily, especially reality TV.  He likes stories, and characters even when those stories and characters are kind of stupid. (Like watching “Sesame Street Silly Sing-A-Long” or the Lifetime movie: The Craigslist Killer last night.)
5. Eric loves music. I believe Eric must have music running through his head constantly.  He has always spent his time singing, often at the top of his lungs.  As a 3 year old he would listen to the “March for Jesus” cassette tape over and over.  He would stand motionless in front of the giant plastic Fischer-Price Cassette Player and listen to each of those songs over and over.
6. Eric loves being around people.  Eric has never seemed to want much “alone time.”  He always wanted to be with the adults or big groups of kids.  He wanted people to be over to our house all the time, and especially in Newton, that’s the way it was.  I think his college experience has been good for him in that he is with a huge group of people constantly.
7. Eric has always been friendly and magnanimous. People have always tended to like him.  He has a disarming smile and great communication skills.  At the AMC movie theater he works at, he parlayed that pro-social skill into being the top “Stubs Rewards Card” salesman of his theater.  He had a great sales pitch, “Hey, do you want to by an AMC Stubs Reward Card?”  People would reply, “Ok.”  That was it.

And now, for an embarrassing story:

We lived in Columbia, TN so Eric must have been 6 or 7 years old.  One night I was checking on the boys in their bedroom and I hear some soft weeping from the top bunk.  I go to Eric and I see that he is crying into his pillow.  This was our conversation:

            ME: What’s the matter Buddy?

            ERIC: BooHooSniffleGaspCatchbreatBooHoo

            ME: C’mon Buddy, Tell me why you’re crying.

            ERIC: ………………………………………….

            ERIC:   ThePinkRangersacrificedherselfsothatalltheotherRangerswouldn’t

fallintothevortexsoshewentintothevortexherselfandnowshe’sgone!

ME: Power Rangers?

ERIC: Ya…..

ME: Good night Buddy.

chris

The Birth of Eric…

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The Birth of Eric…

Amy and I were married on May 24^th, 1986.  Eric was NOT born February 24^th, 1987.  He was born December 12^th, 1991 (5 and ½ years later.)

We worked into the idea of being parents.  I read books about it.  Amy did “field research” by spending time with other women who had babies or were pregnant.

I suppose our first test of fake-parenthood was our cats, Caspian & Corin.  They were Toms (well, ex-Toms, if you know what I mean) and they were spoiled.  We took them on trips and kind of treated them like kids.  One time we took them with us to Missouri to Amy’s grandmother’s house.  Amy said to Irene, “Say hello to your great grand kitties.” To which Irene sardonically replied, “I don’t want to see those. You bring me some real grandbabies!”

After a year of “trying” Amy was pregnant.  She diligently read the hot new book, What to Expect When You Are Expecting.  She researched different types of births (Epidural vs. Natural, Bradley vs. Lamaze) and she decided on the natural Bradley birth method.  That sent us down a path that altered our family philosophy.

Amy wanted to birth naturally because of the quicker recovery time and the lack of medication in her system. Which led her to nurse her babies exclusively (none of our boys ever had formula and never had a bottle.)  Which then led to cloth diapers, and homemade baby food, and a whole host of “Little House on the Prairie” tendencies (including Home Schooling.)

I worked in Columbia, TN (40 miles from our house) and Amy worked at the Target on White Bridge Road in Nashville.  Amy had found an OBGYN through Baptist Hospital near the down town.  We took the prenatal classes (where we determined that we would have to live in a padded sphere with nothing in it to avoid the potential horrors we had seen in all of the safety videos) and we had a coach work with us on our Bradley Method.

Eric was due December 31^st, 1991.  We were prepared for him to come even later and for a long, arduous labor.  We had scoped out our route to the hospital.  I had located where to park and how to check-in. Hopefully I would still be on Christmas break when he came.  We had it all mapped out, because we are planners.

Here were the events of Thursday, December 12^th, 1991

> Thursday, December 12^th: Amy’s last day working at Target before her maternity leave.

> Thursday, December 12^th: I was staying late after school to rehearse for the King’s Daughters’ Christmas program (I was playing the piano.) My last day of work before Christmas break was Friday, December 20^th.

> 4:10 PM: Amy arrives home from Target

> 4:10 PM: I go to Taco Bell before the 5:00 Christmas Program Rehearsal

> 4:20 PM: Amy goes into our bedroom and notices that the faux end table has been knocked over (probably by the stupid cat.)

> 4:20 PM: I am eating a bean burrito.

> 4:21 PM: Amy squats down to pick up the table when her water breaks.

> 4:21 PM: I am still eating a bean burrito.

> 4:22 PM: Amy calls her Dr. who tells her to come into the office.

> 4:24 PM: Amy calls my school to tell me she’s headed to the Dr.

> 4:24 PM: I’m still at Taco Bell.

> 4:25-4:50 PM: Amy drives herself (through downtown Nashville late afternoon traffic while in labor) to her Dr.’s office.

> 4:50 PM: Dr.’s office calls the school again (I am not there)

> 4:55 PM: I get back to school as the secretaries descend upon me telling me to call Amy’s Dr.

> 4:57 PM: Dr.’s office tells me to come immediately, “You’ll have a baby tonight,” she pipes in her perky Southern accent.  I reply, “Whuuuuuuut?”

> 5:00 PM: I run into the KDS Christmas rehearsal to see about 60 smiling faces of the residents.  “Gotta go! Amy’s having a baby!” I holler. Then I run to my car.

> 5:30 PM: I am at the stop light on the off-ramp towards Baptist hospital.  A homeless guy approaches me with a sign asking for money.  I roll down the window and say, “Sorry buddy. Maybe next time, but my wife is having a baby!”  Then I cackle as I peel-out around the corner.

> 5:45 PM: Finally park and make it to the Dr’s office. (of course I have to wait.)

> 5:50 PM: Amy comes out of the exam rook pale and sweating (she has just had a contraction.  I pull out my handy dandy watch and begin timing (because that’s what I’m supposed to do.)

> 5:55-6:30 PM:  We attempt to make our way from the Dr.’s office to the birthing room but we tend to wander around (having contractions no less) because Baptist Hospital is like a huge freaking maze. (I am reminded of the scene in Spinal Tap when the band can’t find the stage.)

> 6:35 PM:  We are settled into the birthing room and Amy is having regular close contractions.  15-year-old girls dressed as nurses frantically push clip boards under Amy’s nose because we haven’t filled some stuff out. They soon realize it’s real labor and they say, “I’ll come back later.”

> 6:40 PM: I am trying to soothe Amy and get her through the contractions, (Actually I’m making her a little nauseous because I had played basketball in PE that day so I smelled like old man-stench mixed with Taco Bell onions. “Relaaaaaaaaaax Amy. Breeeeeeeeeeeeath.”)

> 7:00 PM: Amy says, “I think I need to push.”  And she does.  She pushed through three contractions.

> 7:40 PM: Eric William Geil is born.  6 lbs, 4 oz.

He was so small.  He fit in my two hands.  I stayed with him to get cleaned off and weighed.  The nurses stayed with Amy.  He was swaddled and given back to Amy wearing a little blue stocking cap.  He laid on Amy’s chest and I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. (I’m crying a little bit right now as I type this…but that is why I’m doing it right? To stir my heart?)  We were officially a family.  I caught a glimpse of my self-centeredness draining away as I looked at the two of them.

I had a great phone call to my Mom from the hospital room.  I called and said, “Hey Mom, guess what I’m doing right now?”  “I don’t know,” she replied.  “Holding your Grandson,” I snickered. “Whuuuuuuut?”

Fun day, and I’m glad Eric wasn’t born on Friday the 13^th.

chris

Bonus Blog: Eric’s Name

I had a brother, Eric William Geil, who died 4 days after he was born.

He died of Hemolytic disease.  My mother has a negative blood type, but I have a positive blood type.  When I was born, some of my blood got into my mother’s system.  My mother’s body then developed antibodies against positive blood.  When Eric William Geil the 1^st was conceived, those antibodies worked against him as he developed.  He did not survive long after birth.

Amy has a negative blood type as well. Now there is a series of shots that block the mother’s body from developing those antibodies, however, Amy didn’t have to have those shots because my son, Eric, also has negative blood.

St. Nicholas

386

I know it's a week past December 6, (Saint Nicholas Day,) but I thought I'd mark the beginning of the Christmas season by telling the story of Santa Claus's namesake. We were those kind of parents that told our kids "Santa Claus" was a pretend game.  We did tell them, however about St. Nick (not in the great detail as outlined below, but that he was a giver of gifts.)

I should remark that, historically speaking, there's not much we really know about Nicholas. Though he's one of the most popular saints in the Greek and Latin churches, his existence isn't attested by any historical document. All we can say is that he was probably the bishop of Myra (near modern Finike, Turkey) sometime in the 300s.

That said, there are of course many legends about Nicholas, and since these have influenced people throughout history, and they likely illustrate something about the historical man, they are fair game for a publication, like ours, devoted to Christian history.

Supposedly, Nicholas was born to a wealthy family in Patara, Lycia. His parents died, and he inherited a considerable sum of money, but he kept none of it. In the most famous story about his life, he threw bags of gold through the windows of three girls about to be forced into lives of prostitution. At least that's the most common version of the story; there are others, including an excessively grim one where the three girls are beheaded by an innkeeper and pickled in a tub of brine until Nicholas resurrects them.

After a couple of miracles (he's sometimes called Nicholas the Wonder-Worker) performed while he was still a boy, Nicholas was chosen by the people of Myra to be their new bishop. But it wasn't long before Diocletian and Maximian began their persecutions of Christians, and the new bishop was imprisoned.

When Constantine became emperor, Nicholas was released with countless others and returned to his preaching only to find a new threat: Arianism. According to one biographer (writing five centuries after Nicholas's death), "Thanks to the teaching of St. Nicholas, the metropolis of Myra alone was untouched by the filth of the Arian heresy, which it firmly rejected as a death-dealing poison." Other biographers claim Nicholas attacked the heresy of Arius (who denied the full divinity of Christ) in a much more personal way—he traveled to the Council of Nicea and slapped Arius in the face! As the story goes (and this should be taken as fantasy because there are pretty good records of the council, and Nicholas isn't mentioned), the other bishops at Nicea were shocked at such rude behavior and relieved him as bishop. But then Jesus and Mary appeared next to him, and they quickly recanted.

That's the questionable legend of Nicholas. But not the end of the story. Even by the reign of Justinian (d. 565), Nicholas was famous, and the emperor dedicated a church in Constantinople to him. By the 900s, a Greek wrote, "The West as well as the East acclaims and glorifies him. Wherever there are people, his name is revered and churches are built in his honor. All Christians reverence his memory and call upon his protection." The West became even more interested when his "relics" were taken from Myra to Bari, Italy, on May 9, 1087. He's said to have been represented by medieval artists more frequently than any saint but Mary, and nearly 400 churches were dedicated in his honor in England alone during the late Middle Ages.

With such a popularity, his legends inevitably became intertwined with others. In Germanic countries, it sometimes became hard to tell where the legend of Nicholas began and that of Woden (or Odin) ended. Somewhere along the line, probably tied to the gold-giving story, people began giving presents in his name on his feast day. When the Reformation came along, his following disappeared in all the Protestant countries except Holland, where his legend continued as Sinterklass. Martin Luther, for example, replaced this bearer of gifts with the Christ Child, or, in German, Christkindl. Over the years, that became repronounced Kriss Kringle, and ironically is now considered another name for Santa Claus.

In the Netherlands, legend has it that Sinterklaas (Dutch name for St. Nicholas) arrives in the Netherlands by way of steamboat from Spain 2 weeks before his traditional birthday, December 6th, along with his helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), who will help disperse the gifts and candy to all the good children. Sinterklaas, along with the zwarte piets, will go abroad at night and stride about the countryside wearing his red mantle, his mitre, and his golden crosier and sporting a long, white beard. Referring to his book that lists all the good and bad children, Sinterklaas will deliver presents to all the good children, but watch out if you've been bad! The bad children may be taken back to Spain with him. The Low Countries (Belgium and Luxemburg) have basically the same traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, but not to the extent of the Netherlands. Children in Luxemburg call him Kleeschen, and his helper is Hoseker (Black Peter). Belgian children know him as Sint Niklaas


In Germany, St. Nicholas is also known as Klaasbuur, Sunnercla, Burklaas, Bullerklaas, and Rauklas, and in eastern Germany, he is also known as Shaggy Goat, Ash Man and Rider and is more reflective of earlier pagan influences (Norse) that were blended in with the figure of St. Nicholas, when Christianity came to Germany. After the reformation, St. Nicholas's attire began to change, maybe as a reflection of the change from the Roman church, and he started to wear a red suit with fur. His dark-skinned helper is most often known as Knecht Ruprecht. Although he still visits many homes on Dec 5th/6th and leaves candy and gifts in the children's shoes, more recently St. Nicholas has begun showing up on Christmas Eve in Germany and is called Father Christmas.

In France, he is now called Pere Noel (Father Christmas) and he travels in the company of Pere Fouettard. Pere Noel leaves presents for good children, while Pere Fouettard disciplines bad children with a spanking. Pere Noel only sometimes leaves presents on St. Nicholas day, more often now on Christmas. St. Nicholas day was celebrated formerly in Russia, but under Communism he was changed to Grandfather Frost and wore blue instead of red. In Sicily, he comes on Dec 13th and is called Santa Lucia


In anticipation of St. Nicholas's nightly visits, children in several European countries put their shoes in front of the fire place. They sing traditional songs and provide a carrot or hay for the horse. At night Black Pete puts gifts and candy in the shoes


In the Netherlands, families celebrate St Nicholas's birthday the night before his feast day (December 6th). At one point during the evening, a loud knock will herald the arrival of Sinterklaas and at the same time candy may be thrown from upstairs; when the door is opened, a bag of gifts will be on the doorstep.
For families with older children and adults, different twists are added to the gift giving and may include gag gifts or the drawing of gift ideas or names, and most times are accompanied by poems with a "personal touch" that poke fun at the recipient in a gentle way (or not, depending on the families ;) ). Wrapping the presents up in odd packages and planting a trail of clues is also part of the general fun, and can sometimes be pretty tricky to get to, depending on the squeamishness of the recipients.

chris

"What If Tim Tebow Were a Muslim?" (Like Jen Engle read my mind)

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188

Great Article from FoxNews.com

What If Tim Tebow Were a Muslim?

By Jen Engel Published December 07, 2011 FoxNews.com

Imagine for a second, the Denver Broncos quarterback is a devout follower of Islam, sincere and principled in his beliefs and thus bowed toward Mecca to celebrate touchdowns. Now imagine if Detroit Lions player Stephen Tulluch and Tony Scheffler mockingly bowed toward Mecca, too, after tackling him for a loss or scoring a touchdown, just like what happened in October.

I know what would happen. All hell would break loose.

Stinging indictments issued by sports columnists. At least a few outraged religious leaders chiming in on his behalf. Depending on what else had happened that day, they might have a chance at becoming Keith Olbermann's Worst Person In The World.

And there would be apologies. Oh, Lord, would there be apologies -- by players, by coaches, possibly by ownership with a tiny chance of a statement by NFL commish Roger Goodell.

You cannot mock Muslim faith, not in this country, not anywhere really.

It is primarily a respect issue, because religion is sacred and should be off limits. Yet when Tulloch and Scheffler dropped to a knew to mock how Tebow prays -- an action known as "Tebowing" that has gone viral among the public, too -- we yawned and told Christians to lighten up. We blamed Tebow for making a show of honoring God rather than himself in moments of joy. We excused them because Tulloch said he was mocking "Tebowing" not God.

Because ridiculing a man who chooses to honor God is so much better, right?

Nor has the ridicule abated as Tebow grows in football prominence. He is 6-1 since being named Denver's starting quarterback, has engineered a string of amazing comebacks, is improving as a passer and many still rip him for pointing to heaven as a thank you to God after a good play.

His religious fervor is an easy target for the vitriol spewed from those who dislike him, but the reasons are much deeper than that. From his advocacy of abstinence and pro-life to his infamous "You will never see another team play this hard" speech at Florida, it is like he is too good to be true. He is too nice, and thereby we want him to trip up so we can feel better. We want him to be revealed as a hypocrite or insincere, and when that fails to happen, we settle for gleefully celebrating his failures on the football field. Former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer recently opined Tebow needed to quit whipping us with his belief. And why? Because he dares to say thanks?

I keep telling myself I am done with this Tebow debate only to be drawn offside, by a Lions player I had never heard of and a viral web meme that had fans flooding an ESPN story's comments section with viciously funny, yet downright mean and very sacrilegious quips of the "X>Tebow" formula. And now Plummer and another former NFL quarterback and believer, Kurt Warner, have been added to this cacophony of ugly hatred.

What this whole repeating cycle of Tebow -- rip his game, mock his faith, rise to his defense, repeat -- has revealed about religious discourse in America is ugly. We have become so enamored of politically correct dogma that we protect every minority from even the slightest blush of insensitivity while letting the very institutions that the majority holds dear to be ridiculed. And this defense that Tebow invites such scrutiny with his willingness to publicly live as he privately believes calls into question what exactly it is we value.

One of the things CBS NFL analyst Boomer Esiason got right in his vicious, radio-show takedown on Tebow as a quarterback was how personal the criticism is. A good many NFL players and fans seem to be rooting for this guy to be a massive failure.

I could not figure out what was causing this onslaught of venom for a guy almost everybody claims to like, and I finally decided it is more about us. He makes us uncomfortable. He is a reminder that the blue-red, liberal conservative fight over taking God out of everyday life is intellectually dishonest.

Tebow is proof that God goes comfortably into whatever arena of your life you wish to take him. 
I used to work with a great guy, Simon Gonzalez, a very devout Christian, and he prayed before every meal. Others would be killing free press meals and he would stop, bow his head and silently say thanks. He was not making a spectacle of his beliefs. He believed that God deserved thanks for what we before him, and not just when convenient for Simon. And people would squirm -- not because what he was doing was wrong but because it was right. It is the same for Tebow.

There is no organized prayer led by Goodell before every game and no mandate for a post-touchdown prayer. Players such as Tebow -- and he certainly is not alone in his belief and faith in the league -- do so because consciences request is. The Bible requires it.

That others chose to mock -- and Tulloch is in good company with many journalists I call friends and web posters with a wicked sense of humor -- reminds me very much of the final line of The Paradoxical Commandments so often attributed to Mother Teresa. "You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway."

And everybody gets dropped in the grease on this one.

The defenses of Tebow, by Christians, are so ugly it defeats the point. This is where Christianity so often loses people, the ardent preaching of the gospel of "I'm Right, You're Wrong" and the demand for tolerance and the unwillingness to grant it. Because if Tebow were Muslim and did celebrate by bowing to Mecca, that would deserve respect, too. Same for a Jewish player, yet why do I not see that blowing up into an ugly mess as well? The level of discourse about religion in this country is frankly embarrassing, a bastard child of political discourse.
The only one who looks good in all this -- maybe too good for some -- is Tebow.

I find it especially telling that Tebow rarely lectures and does not fight back. He did not create Tebowing, nor is he responsible for it blowing up hipster style. It was kind of cool, I thought, after hearing a kid had said he was "Tebowing" while getting chemo.Tebow is just a guy with the good sense to say thanks. Instead of taking his cue, we mock his faith.

And that says more about us, none of it good.

Jen Engel is a columnist for Fox Sports. You can follow her as "Jen Engel" on Twitter, e-mail her or like her on Facebook.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/07/what-if-tim-tebow-were-muslim/#ixzz1g93SvqaU