Merry Christmas

I guess it's not really surprising that I've not written very much this year: it has been a busy one, full of travels and a few travails. Next year promises to be no different in this respect.

The new job isn't so new anymore, but it consumes more of my time than the old one did—both in the car and in the office—and so I've had to be more disciplined about my schedule than I was. This wasn't unexpected, but it has made it difficult to find any time to write, which sadly is the last priority in the day.

And despite the events of the year, there has been a surprising dearth of suitable material for the blog, where I try to maintain a policy of not over-sharing. (I suppose keeping a blog at all is over-sharing, but sometimes it can be nice to write out thoughts.)

I am feeling old today, although I know better. Part of it is probably the rather chronic lack of sleep that accompanies the holidays, and the rest of it is the desire to be at Home that resurfaces when we leave the presence of family and friends and want to be with them. This is perhaps more poignant this year because it seems likely it's the last at the New House—what is really the Old House, now, though I've reserved that title for the days we spent in Columbus and for Gram's place in MI. Dad's done with classes and will graduate in May, and the folks are going to sell the house and move to the UK to finish up his education. (You know, because he doesn't have enough degrees already.)

The desire for Home, to have everyone within arm's reach, to be open and honest, to see the beauties of creation, to renew acquaintances with those who have gone on before...sometimes it is too much.


Christmas, kind of surprisingly, went fairly well, although the Doof missed it due to recent moves and other upheavals. E spent a few days in town, both working and relaxing. He'll be climbing in Cali over the next month. We all went to see Star Wars with Mom and Dad. It was a fun movie; as E said, it was like the prequels didn't even exist to that movie (thank goodness). There were some moments we enjoyed, especially the (not-so-)subtle references to the originals.

One thing that I thought was interesting was how much less spiritual these movies were than the originals. One of the things Keller pointed out about the original Star Trek episodes is that they are largely devoid of religious references—we were going to grow out of religion, after all—but The Next Generation had religious themes throughout. It seems like there is a significant departure in The Force Awakens compared to the originals. I suppose in part this is because the vocabulary of the Force (in all of its gnosticky goodness, or should that be badness?) is assumed. All the same, it lacks some of the punch of the originals because it's not really offering any answers, or even really any good questions.

The Free Love Era really failed to deliver on its promise: neither sex nor drugs satiated the intrinsic desire for something extrinsic and other to the self. In some respects, the notion of spirituality captured in the original movies seemed like it was trying to provide some answers (although those answers are kind of terrible). The Force Awakens was a tour de force of special effects and well acted, but it didn't have the same kind of spiritual punch, even with a few exchanges devoted to defining the Force. Perhaps we are beyond the idea that Good and Evil can be so easily opposed to each other.

For what it's worth, I think that's probably not a bad thing: the gospel teaches us that we have to repent not just of sins, but our goodness, too.

Regardless, it was fun, and nice to get out with the family. The last movie I saw in the theater was The Hobbit with B, just before the wedding.


The year has been a busy one. Besides the new job, we have been navigating a few family issues that have kept us quite busy on the weekends; L is upstairs asleep, exhausted from the usual holiday business, but also from weeks on end of traveling back and forth between here there and everywhere. I've spent the afternoon cleaning up a little bit, doing some laundry, and apparently writing a book here—all while she has slept. We have been well cared for, but we are tired.

The theme this year for Christmas was God is love. I haven't been able to send most of the cards yet, but it was a fun study, and one that came together surprisingly quickly, considering. It has provided a little ballast in these days of longing for Home. It is good to remember that death is dead.