The Christmas Stool

There's no Christmas tree or decorations in the Coia house this year,
as we put them in storage when we left Germany. We assumed that we'd
be gone on vacation this Christmas, we didn't want to mess around
with them. We, of course, decided to stay here in Okinawa during
Christmas vacation, and have a very non-Christmas house this year. I
think we have a candy cane dangling from one of our kitchen
cupboards, and that's it.

We improvised and made this Christmas stool. Did you send us a
present in which to place under/on top/beside it?

Abortion Comments: Might makes Personhood

Few words carry more power in the world today than these: I do not want this child at this time.

Listen to John Piper address this issue:

    . . . in a world without God, the will of the strong creates (or nullifies) the personhood of the weak. . . . And the awesome thing is that we endow her will not just with sovereignty over her unborn baby, but with the authority to define it: If she wants it, it is a baby, a person. If she does not want it, it is not a baby, not a person. In other words, in our laws we have now made room for some killing to be justified not on the basis of the rights or crimes of the one killed, but decisively on the basis of the will, the desire, of a stronger person. The decisive criterion of personhood and non-personhood, what is right and wrong, what is legal and what is illegal, is the will of the strong. Might makes right. Might makes personhood. Might makes legal. This is the ultimate statement of anarchy. It is the essence of the original insurrection against God, and against objective truth and right and beauty.

    No culture can survive this kind of anarchical thinking indefinitely. Part of the remedy is to spread the truth: Might does not make right. Desire does not define duty. Wanting does not create worth. All of us know intuitively that if someone desires our destruction, that desire does not justify our murder. We know this. We should say it over and over again. 

Free Christmas Music Downloads

Our Saturday Walk

For breakfast, we went to a new cafe, Cafe Caracalla, near our house.
Kristie saw a sign for pancakes, and that led her in. It's a Venice-
themed cafe.

There's a few herbal teas to choose from, and they come with a little timer to let you know when you can begin drinking. I thought that was a nice touch.

In case trouble goes down, there's a bow for your use.

On the way home, we stopped at a convenience store. A Melty Kiss sounds unsanitary to me.

The travel pack of mayonnaise is "food for ages 0-100." If you need to take mayonnaise with you on every outing, I doubt you are the kind of person that lives to be 100.

Flannery O'Connor

Flannery O'Connor has been one of my favorite authors for years, so much so, that I want to name our yet-to-be-conceived daughter "Flannery." (Don't judge: take a look at those vapid names you've named your children!) After reading and teaching her over the years, I've never heard her speak.

Until this morning.

I found this blog post that has two readings by Flannery, one on Southern Gothic and the other a reading of her "A Good Man is Hard to Find." At the very least, download and listen to "Good Man," the oft-anthologized story that has a callous murderer as the Christ figure: "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

Here's the link to the blog, Morning Oil.

Free Download: Praise the Living God

Grace Evangelical Free Church is offering a free download of their worship record, "Praise the Living God." Go to http://www.songsofgrace.org to enter in your email to receive a free album of worship songs.

Obama's Victory Plate

It's All About the Timing

See a gallery of more of these photos that were snapped at the perfect time.