As my beloved Peanuts characters would say, “Good grief!” The Christmas season is upon us, and due to the way things fall on the calendar this year, Advent is very compressed. Feels like there’s even more to get done in a smaller amount of time!
There’s nothing like Linus to keep us focused on the true meaning of Christmas. If you’re a fan of A Charlie Brown Christmas, you know the scene to which I’m referring: Charlie Brown shouts out in desperation, “Isn’t there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?”
To which Linus, that little voice of wisdom, responds by reciting the account of the birth of Christ from the second chapter of Luke.
If you’re a fan of this classic Christmas special, there’s a good chance you like the soundtrack, too. It’s certainly not typical of the music you’d hear on other animated programs – particularly in 1965, the year A Charlie Brown Christmas first appeared.
I wanted to mention the fellow who’s made so many people feel good the minute they hear the Linus and Lucy song. I became aware of Vince Guaraldi as a little kid….though it took a few years before I found out his name. Even at a young age, I was a big fan of a jazz tune that was popular at the time: Cast Your Fate to the Wind. Read more…
It’s hard to believe it’s November already, particularly since it was a beautiful, warm day today in New England. While I know what’s coming, at least for now it’s a treat to have had the windows wide open all day!
Thanksgiving seems to lose more ground every year as the Christmas shopping season starts earlier and earlier. (It was weeks ago already that I had my first sighting of a Christmas commercial on television…) Consequently, I thought we should give Thanksgiving a little of the recognition it deserves.
As you’re planning your feast – or better yet, planning to travel to someone else’s house as they do the cooking – have you ever wondered what was on the menu on the Pilgrims’ table at the meal that we think of as the “first Thanksgiving?”
That feast in 1621, attended by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, was actually a traditional English harvest celebration. It wasn’t celebrated the following year, and of course it would be many years before the Thanksgiving holiday was instituted in America. Read more…
This time of year means only one thing for me…foliage! As a nature photographer based in Northern New England, I greatly anticipate the onset of autumn each year. The annual “show” in New Hampshire (and the White Mountains in particular) is one of the greatest you’ll see anywhere.
Many of the products at The Christian Gift are designed around photographs made in the White Mountains. Color and texture in nature is a common theme of my work, and there’s no better time and place to capture it than autumn in New Hampshire.
I was up in the mountains this past weekend on a shoot, and though I’ve seen the foliage display many, many times, again I marveled at God’s amazing handiwork. (If you’ve never experienced autumn in New England, I highly recommend it. It is something you will never forget.)
Since the turning leaves are a prime tourist attraction, the quality and timing of the color is always a subject of great discussion and interest. Will it be early – or late? Will it be vibrant – or a bit more subdued? Will it last, or will it all be gone with one big storm? Read more…
As Labor Day weekend begins, I thought it might be fun to take a look at occupations in the Bible. Let’s see how well we know what various people did for a living! (Answers appear below.)
- King David started his working life in what occupation?
(1 Samuel 16:11-13)
- What was the first occupation mentioned in the Bible?
(Genesis 2:15)
- What did Cain, son of Adam and Eve, do for a living?
(Genesis 4:2)
- How about his brother, Abel?
(Genesis 4:2)
- Job was a wealthy man with land, livestock and a large family. What was his profession?
(Job 29:7-25)
- What did Peter and Andrew do for a living before they were called to be disciples?
(Matthew 4:18)
- How about Matthew?
(Matthew 9:9)
- What profession was Luke generally believed to have been part of?
(Colossians 4:14)
- While Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt, he interpreted the dreams of two men. The first was a cupbearer (butler); what was the job of the second?
(Genesis Chapter 40)
- What did Paul do before he became a follower of Christ?
(Acts 22:4) Read more…
