Every Christmas season I sit down to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol among other lesser holiday movies. There’s one scene especially burned in my brain: A small, homeless, Christmas-caroling bunny stops by Ebenezer Scrooge’s office in hopes of scoring a charitable donation from Scrooge. (He obviously doesn’t know who he’s dealing with). Scrooge throws him into a snowbank and tosses a wreath at him when he’s down. It’s a moving scene. But the Christmas carol that bunny chooses to sing at Scrooge’s doorstep is forever ingrained in my memory. “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen / When the snow lay ’round about, deep and crisp and even / Brightly shone the moon that night…” That’s the point the bunny gets manhandled. Long story medium-long, I remember those words, but I have no idea what the rest of the song is about, who in the world this King Wenceslas is, or what he did that made him good. So I did a little digging. Continue reading “The Murder of Good King Wenceslas”
Author: Mark Frizzell
I Pledge Allegiance to the Christian Flag
It’s there, awkwardly displayed/abandoned in the corner of the sanctuary—the Christian Flag. It’s a subject of debate among some, pride among others, and confusion among most. Why do we have it? When was it created? What does it represent? Continue reading “I Pledge Allegiance to the Christian Flag”
Remembering Jim Henson (1936—1990)
Today would be Jim Henson’s 82nd birthday. The beloved puppeteer changed the face of entertainment with his worldwide phenomenons like the Muppets and Sesame Street. He abounded in creativity and innovation, and was genuinely a kind and compassionate man. He once said,
“I’ve never felt any sense of competition with anybody, and we’re all friends; we’re all good friends.”
Hollywood needs more men like Jim Henson.
He was a force for change and he spent his time time between the dash trying to make this world a better place. Although he was not a professing Christian (he grew up in the Christian Science religion but walked away from faith in his 20s), he exhibited many of the characteristics that the Bible upholds: love, encouragement, kindness, gentleness, and peace. Even his most beloved characters—Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, and Yoda—are portraits of innocence and purity from a bygone era. Continue reading “Remembering Jim Henson (1936—1990)”
Yom Kippur
Tonight at sundown begins the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. For twenty-four hours Jews will fast and pray as the high holiday season (that began with Rosh Hashanah) comes to an end. Synagogue numbers will soar as many Jews attend for the first and only time of the year (think Christmas and Easter for many Christians). Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Continue reading “Yom Kippur”
Celebrate Good Times, C’mon!
Today, September 16th, is a day for weird holidays! Today is American Legion Day, Collect Rocks Day, Step Family Day, Mayflower Day, Mexican Independence Day, National Play Doh Day, National Women’s Friendship Day, Wife Appreciation Day, and Working Parents Day. Granted, most of those are probably fake (not looking at you, Mexico). But that’s not the point. The point is that each of us has, on average, 27,393 days to live on this earth, and we should be making the most of the time that we have. Live every day like it’s National Women’s Friendship Day! One of the wisest voices of the modern era—Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda—once said, “Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery; but today is a gift—that’s why they call it the present.” Or more importantly, the Apostle Peter wrote,
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,
because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.(1 Peter 1:8-9 CSB)
Death Threats and Cop Comedies
While watching an episode of the Fox (now NBC) cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I thought the writers had inadvertently stumbled onto an important fact of faith. In the episode (S1, Ep11), Captain Holt receives a series of death threats, which he does not take seriously. His team does, however, and they are forced to take drastic actions to keep him safe—taking him to a safe house, handcuffing themselves to him, overcoming personal fears, stepping into the path of bullets, etc. They worked as a team to keep their captain safe from the very real threat of danger. And (spoiler alert) they do keep him safe. They catch the bad guy and wrap it up in a mere 21 minutes. That’s Hollywood for you. Continue reading “Death Threats and Cop Comedies”
The Dash — Between
On this date in history—September 14th—a bunch of people died. I know a bunch of people die every day, but this date is different. Some famous, influential, world-changing people died. (Moving backwards) In 1901, our 25th President William McKinley (1843—1901) died after succumbing to an infection from a gunshot wound. In 1932, musician and hymn writer Charles H. Gabriel (1856—1932) died. He had penned many famous hymns including Send the Light and I Stand Amazed in the Presence. In 1321, literary legend Dante Alighieri (1265—1321) died in Ravenna, Italy, possible of malaria. He wrote the greatest epic of medieval Christianity, The Divine Comedy. In 407 and 258, respectively, Church Fathers John Chrysostom (c. 349—407) and Cyprian of Carthage (c. 210—258) died after contributing a vast collection of Church writing on wisdom and polity.
As I read these names and dates and accomplishments this morning, one thing stood out to me so clearly and unexpectedly: the dash between the dates. I had seen and read this formula a million times before—Birth year / Dash / Death Year—but it didn’t really register to me until this morning the deep weight of that dash. It represents everything for a person—their life, their contribution to this world, their legacy, their imprint on the culture. It’s all there in the dash between. Continue reading “The Dash — Between”
The Dash — Between 