If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
With limited amount of time on hand, I used the seasonal cranberries for both flavors and color.
This Christmas season, the story of a miracle birth in a quiet manger seems impossibly distant from the little town of Bethlehem that we know today. Two millennia after the birth of Christ, this ancient, holy city is quite literally being strangled in the shadow of the barrier wall.
I write about real-life because that is where I live with three active boys at home -- one curious 9-year-old Gus and 15-year-old twins, Wesley and Mickael Josef. And now my college-age son Ryan and his fiancée Larissa are home for Christmas as well with my daughter Rachel and her husband!
Upon realizing it wasn't a joke... I had to post my response in Terrible Moments in White People History, Christmas Edition... for the sake of all mankind. Here is my video:
Christmas is the yearly celebration of the birth of Jesus, but it is truly a gift that we must experience each day. Christmas is a present, not a past.
We recommit ourselves to the Christian faith at Christmas time and then are called to live out that faith into the world.
Rush routinely rejects the teachings of the Christian savior even as he gives lip service to the religion that Christ founded.
Our daughters are awash in princesses and pink. Is this pinkification and princess obsession harming our girls? Is being a princess a career? I put these questions to Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture.
I look forward to a prosperous 2013, and while I haven't been following politics lately, I believe that both parties are capable of bringing us back to times we've only read about -- like the ice age.
Every year, from the time I was knee-high to the kitchen counter, we could count on seafood bound to give a kid nightmares: octopuses with long tentacles thawing in the sink and whole squid that had to be cleaned and the eyeballs cut out before cooking.
Christmas is a time when we can rediscover and reconnect with the innocence that is inside each one of us and allow ourselves to become more open. When we do so, we start to see the innocence in everyone around us and we become more kind and compassionate.
Every family has their own unique holiday traditions, but no matter exactly how you celebrate, there is a good chance something sweet is involved.
Everything doesn't happen for a reason, if by this we mean evil is a part of God's plan. But God does ensure that evil will not prevail and that light will always, ultimately, overcome the darkness.
My kids sing about Christmas all year round, but when the actual season approaches, truth be told, it wears me out. The tragic events in Newtown last week only made it more difficult to muster up cheer and good will.
If you have a miniature manger in your home today, or if you've heard a piece of music in the mall with "Bethlehem" in it, I -- as a Palestinian Christian in whose life Bethlehem has played a big role -- have a favor to ask you.
Are you ready to snuggle in front of the fire with your family for a holiday film marathon? Get the popcorn and holiday treats ready. The holiday vacation is about to begin in earnest.
