I've been blogging since 2007, and over the years I've written many Advent and Christmas reflections. Four of these have been particularly popular, and I want to share them with new readers, and again with longtime readers who would like to revisit some memories and old favorites:
Here are the most popular Advent and Christmas reflections that I've written:
Everything I Learned about Christmas I Learned from TV
Perhaps my most viral Christmas post, a playful meditation using the Christmas TV classics How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas to sneak up on "the true meaning of Christmas."
"Watching Their Flocks By Night": An Advent Meditation
Another hugely popular post using research about cultures of honor and violence in herding cultures to recover the scandal of having shepherds standing around the manger.
Christmas Carols as Resistance Literature
Christmas carols as subversive? In this post I talk about two Christmas carols--O Holy Night and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear--to highlight the political commentary in the lyrics. Beyond being shared a lot on social media, this post has been used by churches for sermons and Bible classes during the Advent season.
Piss Christ in Prison: An Unlikely Advent Meditation
As you can tell from the title, an edgy post from my prison Bible study. Leaning on my book Unclean, I use Andres Serrano's controversial artwork Piss Christ to recover the shock of the Incarnation in its message of scandalous, unbelievable grace.
Everything I Learned about Christmas I Learned from TV
Perhaps my most viral Christmas post, a playful meditation using the Christmas TV classics How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas to sneak up on "the true meaning of Christmas."
"Watching Their Flocks By Night": An Advent Meditation
Another hugely popular post using research about cultures of honor and violence in herding cultures to recover the scandal of having shepherds standing around the manger.
Christmas Carols as Resistance Literature
Christmas carols as subversive? In this post I talk about two Christmas carols--O Holy Night and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear--to highlight the political commentary in the lyrics. Beyond being shared a lot on social media, this post has been used by churches for sermons and Bible classes during the Advent season.
Piss Christ in Prison: An Unlikely Advent Meditation
As you can tell from the title, an edgy post from my prison Bible study. Leaning on my book Unclean, I use Andres Serrano's controversial artwork Piss Christ to recover the shock of the Incarnation in its message of scandalous, unbelievable grace.
