Congratulations to Neil Gaiman...

... whose novel The Graveyard Book (reviewed here recently) just won the Newbery Medal! It's a good one. Even Sam liked what he was allowed to hear of it.

Story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=av4oLe5911o8&refer=home

Morality in the Language of Barks

It appears that dogs can detect injustice and be upset about it:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081208-dogs-envy.html

(Note that the article calls this "envy" but I prefer "injustice".)

Remember Jesus' parable in which the workers who only work at the very end of the workday get the same amount as those who worked all day? Well, it should be no surprise that the ones who worked all day were upset. Even a dog can detect that kind of injustice.

Just in the case of the parable, it's a graceful injustice, given as a good gift to those who don't deserve it. Being upset may be a natural reaction, but it's still not right!

Wonder what the dogs would think of that?

[This post cannot yet be translated by Google into "woofs" and "barks" for Man's Best Friend, but I expect that capability to happen soon ... ]

Substance and Shadow

"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." (Colossians)

If the events, festivals, and stories that happened in "BC times" were completed and fulfilled in Jesus, then Paul accurately describes them as shadows cast from the figure of the cross. What I never thought about before is the role of light in this metaphor. If the shadow is in the past, and the substance was at the centerpoint of history (that is, 30 AD), then where is the light coming from? It would have to be from God's future, the fulfillment of all things, the light from judgment, finding things out and setting things right.

The negative view of judgment is so prevalent that I'd never seen it this way before. But if the second Advent is about finding things out and revealing the way things really are, I think it's appropriate to think of it as a light shining through history, with the prophets and festivals beforehand being the shadows it casts through the cross.

This must be balanced with the fact that the Day "will be darkness and not light", but I think it's a helpful extension to the image Paul gives to those in Colossae.

For me, this is the reminder that a Christian's focus should be on Christ: not on models of creation by the father, or questions of history of geneologies, or details of which festivals and how long and budgets and the like, all things that have their place, but the real substance is the life that was lived, ended, and transformed at the turning-point of history.

To continue this line of thought, should the Gospels be read more often than other books? They are the real description of the centerpoint of history. Does the church become unbalanced when it focuses on another part of the Bible: say, Genesis, or Romans, or Revelation? Or does grace keep things balanced even so?

Thoughts on Having a Baby

Everyone talks about how a baby is a gift. Having one just at or after Christmas just cements the idea that this is like a present, unwrapped, tiny, new and untouched. I've heard it so often that the "gift" word almost skates past my ear. But this time it's a little different. We've been waiting a long time for this gift -- 5 years, in fact. And it's possible (nothing's certain) that this is the last time we'll be opening a gift like this. More than anything, I've learned a lot about medicine from teaching biochemistry for six years (rather than just one when Aidan was born). I used to revere doctors more before I taught them (don't take this the wrong way!). I just had to learn about tests and how the body works and what we're able to do and what we're not able to do. Learning more about the medical profession taught me about how powerless it really is in some situations. I mean, most of what happens inside the womb happens automatically, without our input. We can watch and maybe push one way or the other with treatments, but so many systems and organs are being implemented every day, completely beyond our control. I didn't and my doctor didn't sculpt that nose, or that wrinkly forehead, or that flat little ears. I didn't put that placenta into place or carve the channels in it where mother and son meet, or form that yellow hose connecting it to the child -- all I did was cut it with some scissors. I didn't form those kidneys that filter that waste, or the stomach that takes in the milk, or the rooting reflex that brings the milk in. I didn't do any of these things, and neither did my doctor. These were given to me. The body, even this little body that 9+ months ago only existed as two half-cells, is too complex to even think about. My response to this before birth is to worry. My response after birth is to say, wow, it pretty much works after all.

I was amazed at the large Lego sets that Sam got for Christmas, how they always had exactly the right number of pieces. Sometimes I thought they left one out, but that was my mistake, I eventually found it after more searching. Lego can do a good job, but the giver of babies does it one better, a thousand times better. Not least: no assembly required.

Hmmm ... from the smell coming next to me , it's time to go change the gift ...

Brendan's First Movie

More Brendan Pics

Second Sightings

Ok, so Mary's awesome and she emailed some pictures tonight so everyone can see that there's a really cute baby there and not some blurry blob. World, here he is! More to come ...