Merry Christmas!

I read recently that using punctuation in your texts makes you seem passive-aggressive and judgmental to the average "texter." On the other hand, these same people found nothing wrong with using exclamation points for everything. I  am thankful we have now evolved to emojis, as this will save us all the tediousness of periods, semicolons, and the dreaded "Oxford" comma. (Which I just used.)

Merry Christmas! (You probably mean it.)

Merry Christmas!!! (You definitely mean it.)

Merry Christmas !!!!!!!!! (Not even the Baby Jesus means it more than you.)

!@#$%^&* (What did you get me for Christmas? In "emoji.")


Last night I had the Worship Lab* doing the "Hokey-Pokey." Apparently, as with the words "Hocus Pocus," the song is a parody of all the priestly motions designed to transubstantiate the bread and the wine into the Body and blood of Jesus Christ. As part of our "Dance, Dance Shepherd Dance-off" we had 125 people of all ages circled around the nave doing the Hokey-Pokey. (It's a long story, but the punchline is that shepherds were the great dancers of the First Century and earlier, because they had nothing but time to make music and develop the "moon-walk." At least, that's my guess. And it's not based any any historical information.)

I've already had two emails this morning saying that every time they hear the word shepherd they think of the Hokey-Pokey, and then they think of shepherds being the first to name the baby as the savior. (Which is the point of the shepherds in the birth of Christ story.) Not bad for a wedding dance.

Anyhow, Merry Christmas, and peace on earth.

* Worship Lab is a half-hour worship event designed to teach basics of the Christian faith to children.


May your tables be full, and your conversations be true.