Herod - Just in time for Christmas

Since tonight is Christmas Eve, I thought I might pass along this (sort of) Christmas-related National Geographic article about the King Herod from the Christian gospels.

The article centers around recent archeologist's excavations that have shed some new light on Herod as a person, his political career and his affect on life in Judea at the beginning of the Common Era:

An astute and generous ruler, a brilliant general, and one of the most imaginative and energetic builders of the ancient world, Herod guided his kingdom to new prosperity and power. Yet today he is best known as the sly and murderous monarch of Matthew's Gospel, who slaughtered every male infant in Bethlehem in an unsuccessful attempt to kill the newborn Jesus, the prophesied King of the Jews.

Apparently, even soon after his death and before the rise of Christianity, he was hated by a significant part of populace of Judea:

The condition of the sarcophagi fragments confirm that Herod remained vilified even in death: Hammer marks reveal that the sarcophagi were intentionally destroyed. The one made of pink limestone received particularly savage treatment, and was broken into hundreds of pieces. This damage apparently occurred about 70 years after Herod's death, when Jewish fighters occupied Herodium during two brief, ill-fated rebellions, called the First and Second Jewish Revolts, against the besieging Romans. "They viewed Herod as a Roman collaborator, a traitor to the faith and political independence of the Jews,"...."They weren't just looting. This was revenge."

Though, with final requests like the following, that's not all that surprising:

During his last illness he devised a scheme to plunge the entire kingdom into mourning when he died, ordering his army to imprison a crowd of leading Judaean citizens in the hippodrome in Jericho, and to massacre them when his death was announced.

Clearly, not someone you would want to sit down and have a beer with.

An angel brings hope

Congress has a whole lot of religious folks but do they have angels?

Last night I got a scary phone call from my mom, on her way to the hospital, because somehow my cousin had fallen on a clothing pole at work and it had gone into his eye.

By luck, a miracle, or an angel, the pole missed anything major. There was no damage to his eye, brain, skull, nerves, or blood vessels. He ripped up his eye lid and required stitches but, overall, an incredibly lucky guy.

It seems this girl in the Charlotte area may have had some angelic intervention:

Photo captures image of an 'angel' in Charlotte hospital
In dark time, mom of Mint Hill teen sees light of
hope

By Jane Duckwall - Special Correspondent to the Charlotte Observer
. . .
What originally seemed like a bad cold nearly killed her. “She was on life-support from the moment she got there,” her mother said.

That was Sept. 21. Over the next six weeks in the hospital, Chelsea faced one threat after another: pneumonia in her left lung, then her right lung, then sepsis, blood clots, staph infections, E. coli, a collapsed lung and feeding problems.

In late October, doctors met with the family to discuss “a plan of action,” Colleen said. One of the decisions she had to make was whether she would take Chelsea off the ventilator. Earlier, doctors had removed Chelsea from the ventilator several times, but had replaced it when the struggle to breathe became too difficult for the teen.

But a family meeting Oct. 31 was a turning point. “At that point, the family… agreed that when she did come off the ventilator again, (they) weren't putting it back in,” Colleen said. “Whatever happened, would happen.”

On Saturday, Nov. 1, “they took her off the ventilator and she did good,” her mother said. “She was breathing on her own.”

The next day, “her stats went down,” and doctors put her in an oxygen mask.

But over the next few days, Colleen noticed her daughter “wasn't getting better. Things were kind of lingering.”

And Chelsea, who had been having anxiety attacks and crying throughout her hospital stay, was having more of them. “I said, ‘She's been through enough,'” Colleen remembers. “I said, ‘Can we just take her mask off? She's been through enough.'

“I wanted to do what the Lord wanted me to do. And I really felt like I've had her for 14 years, and if it's time for her to go to heaven, then I know she'll be healed.”

The mask didn't come off immediately, though. They waited until family members had a chance to come to see Chelsea – perhaps for the last time.

On the afternoon of Nov. 5, as family and friends prayed about the decision, a nurse practitioner called Colleen's attention to a monitor showing the door to the pediatric intensive care unit.

“On the monitor, there was this bright light,” Colleen recalls. “And I looked at it and I said, ‘Oh my goodness! It looks like an angel!” Colleen pointed her digital camera at the monitor to take a photo of the image, but the “first picture wouldn't take.” She tried again and succeeded. The image gave her a peace that stayed with her when hospital staff removed Chelsea's oxygen mask.

And then, “when they took the mask off of her, her stats went as high as they've ever been. “Her color was good, and the doctors and nurses were amazed,” Colleen said. “The nurse practitioner who saw the image in the monitor said, ‘I've worked here 15 years, and I've never seen anything like it.'”

Chelsea was removed from intensive care on Nov. 14 and went home three days later.Her mother believes it was a miracle – attended by a very real angel bathed in light at the door to the pediatric intensive care unit.
. . .
On Christmas Day, Chelsea will turn 15 – another miracle considering all of the medical trials she's faced, according to her mother.

“I'm learning,” Colleen Banton said, “that every day she's alive is a miracle.”

Read the full article and see the pictures here.

Religion in Congress

A few days ago the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a study on the religious affiliations of the incoming members of Congress.

One of the more interesting, though not unexpected, findings of the study was how much more religious Congress is compared to the rest of the U.S. population:

Members of Congress are much more likely than the public overall to say they are affiliated with a particular religion. Only five members of the new Congress (about 1%) did not specify a religious affiliation, according to information gathered by Congressional Quarterly and the Pew Forum, and no members specifically said they were unaffiliated. By contrast, the Landscape Survey found that individuals who are not affiliated with a particular faith make up about one-sixth (16.1%) of the adult population, making this one of the largest "religious" groups in the U.S.

Also interesting is the disproportionate representation of some religious groups. Most notable among these is a group that is dear to my heart:

Among the nation's smaller religious groups, one group stands out in terms of its numbers in Congress: Jews, who account for just 1.7% of the U.S. adult population, make up 8.4% of Congress, including just over 13% of the Senate.

The United States' slowly emerging religious diversity is also apparent in the study. While the overwhelming majority of Congressmen are Christian or Jewish, the study shows that the 111th Congress will feature two Muslim Congressmen and the first two Buddhist members of Congress.

Articles that aren't so depressing

I just realized that most of the postings I've done so far center around the dismal economic situation in the world. Just to show that I think about things other than the financial crisis, I figured I'd share some non-finance related articles.

On Sunday, the New York Times ran an article discussing the difficulties the holiday season holds for interfaith couples. Here is an excerpt:

In 1970, 13 percent of married American Jews were in mixed marriages; by 2001, 31 percent were, according to the National Jewish Population Survey done by United Jewish Communities. And that rate has risen steadily; between 1996 and 2001 (the last time the survey was conducted), nearly half the Jews who married — 47 percent — married outside their faith. While most mixed families find their own way through the holidays, a small but growing number like the Gawleys, mainly in urban areas, have joined interfaith groups.

In a totally unrelated article, the Wall Street Journal discussed the business of selling the bible:

It's an astonishing fact that year after year, the Bible is the best-selling book in America -- even though 90% of households already have at least one copy. The text doesn't vary, except in translation. The tremendous sales volume, an estimated 25 million copies sold each year, is largely driven by innovations in design, color, style and the ultimate niche marketing.

There's Scripture as accessory, wrapped in hot pink fake leather or glittery psychedelic swirls -- or sporting a ladybug on the cover for no particular reason other than it's cute. There's Scripture as political statement: A new Green Bible, printed in soy ink on recycled paper, highlights passages with an environmental theme.

See, I do think about things other than the fact that the world is entering the worst recession that any of us have ever seen going through a little financial difficulty.

Church Closings

I know I said that I would stop with the finance related posts, but we all knew that I was probably going to do at least one or two more. So here it goes:

In yet another sign of the current financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports that churches across the country are being forced into bankruptcy because of falling donations:

During this holiday season of hard times, not even houses of God have been spared. Some lenders believe more churches than ever have fallen behind on loans or defaulted this year. Some churches, and at least one company that specialized in church lending, have filed for bankruptcy. Church giving is down as much as 15% in some places, pastors and lenders report.

In an interesting aside, the article discusses the considerate reaction of one Presbyterian Bishop to the bankers that foreclosed on his church:

Last February, the church couldn't meet its monthly interest payments. The lender, Talbot Bank, a unit of Shore Bancshares Inc., foreclosed in August, seeking $950,000, including principal and unpaid interest. It was one of five properties Talbot foreclosed on this year, but the only church, says W. David Morse, a vice president at the bank.

At the auction's end, Bishop Johnson shook hands with Mr. Morse. "These people are not Wall Street bandits, for crying out loud," the bishop said of his bankers. St. Andrew's congregants will likely stay in the building for several more weeks while the bank seeks a buyer.

Though, as is to be expected, some of the people involved in the foreclosure process weren't so happy about what they had to do:

The transaction gave James C. Andrew, the auctioneer, some pause. He was married in the building in 1997 when it was a Catholic church and his two children had been baptized there. "I'll probably wind up with coal in my stocking for Christmas," he said.

Just another sign of how bad things are out there.

St. Nick

I was watching Religion & Ethics Newsweekly on PBS this weekend and saw this piece on St. Nicholas, the original Santa Claus.

Here are some excerpts from the program:

St. Nicholas was a real person — not a fairy, not someone who’s flying through the sky with reindeer, but an actual person who lived and worked and died and had a full life. He had a Christian life because he was actually a bishop, a pastor.
. . .
He came from a very wealthy family. His parents died at an early age. His uncle was a priest.
. . .
Nicholas rose to leadership in the early church and was named Bishop of Myra, a city on the southern coast of what is now Turkey. During a time of persecution by Roman Emperor Diocletian, Nicholas was imprisoned for his outspoken faith. He was eventually released and continued his ministry until his death on December 6 in the year 343.
. . .
He was known for his generosity and his good will because he was very rich. He literally, by the end of his life, gave away all of his fortune. Many stories talk about the fact that he was so generous that he became known as the Gift Giver.
. . .
One of the most famous stories involves a poor family who couldn’t afford marriage dowries for their three daughters.

The parents were going to have to sell them off into slavery or into prostitution or whatever, and Saint Nicolas came by the house at night and dropped off three bags of gold coins.
. . .
Some legends say he secretly tossed the bags of gold through an open window, and one landed in stockings or shoes that were drying by the fire, thus launching the tradition of the Christmas stocking.
. . .
If you look at the name Santa Claus, you will see its “Santa” means saint, and “Claus” is simply an abbreviation from the “Nicholas.” But the reality is he became a secular image.
. . .
Church leaders emphasize that Saint Nicholas’s generosity was motivated by his Christian faith. The saint was following Jesus’ commands to love others, help those who are suffering, give sacrificially, and to do one’s good deeds in secret. They say Nicholas is a reminder that Christmas is really about the coming of Jesus.

May your stockings be full!

Happy Hanukkah!

Whether you spell it Hanukkah, Chanukah, Chanukkah or whatever, I wish all of my fellow Jews a Happy Holiday!

For those of you who are not familiar with the holiday, it commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following a successful revolt in the second century B.C.E. in Judea by the religious/military organization known as the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire. The Maccabean revolt was started in response to efforts by the Seleucid King, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, to force Jewish assimilation into the greater Greek culture by outlawing Jewish religious practices. As part of this religious persecution, the Temple was converted to a temple to the Greek Gods. This conversion is what necessitated the re-dedication when the Temple was recaptured by the Maccabees.

For a more detailed account of the holiday, Wikipedia actually has a fairly comprehensive discussion.

One interesting quirk of Hanukkah is that while the story appears to be a celebration of the struggle against assimilation, the observance of Hanukkah, since it comes out very close to Christmas, has probably been influenced by Christian culture more than any other Jewish holiday. Just as an example of this Christmas influence, gift-giving, for the most part, isn't really a Hanukkah tradition and was only adopted by American Jews so their kids wouldn't feel left out at Christmas-time.

I realize that almost all religious traditions have been influenced by other cultures, but I still think it's strange that people would choose to transform a holiday celebrating a violent struggle to preserve traditional culture in the face of a dominant societal influence into an imitation of the Christian holiday that occurs at generally the same time. This is especially odd since the story of Hanukkah is far more interesting than the holiday that current American culture is trying to force it to become. Celebrating the religiously fueled violent overthrow of an oppressive regime and the subsequent purging of outside influences on the holiest site in all of Judaism seems far more exciting than celebrating Christmas' wimpy little brother.

On the other hand, with Christmas' wimpy little brother we get gifts. That's more exciting than any story I could ever tell.

God chooses the least

Yesterday Wendy and I started our Christmas shopping. Hopefully this doesn't become a Ledesma family tradition!

To rest our weary feet we stopped by the Angelika and watched Slumdog Millionaire.
The movie literally makes you cry and cheer. It's painful and brilliant. You can read some review excerpts at Rotten Tomatoes. It is the best movie I have seen all year.

As we sat and watched the credits roll at the end of the movie, I wondered about the $12.50 per ticket and two and a half hours out of our shopping day we spent watching the movie. Was it worth it?

Absolutely! And then some.

But, because the theater was so crowded and slow to exit, we had more sitting and thinking time and I thought this, When we die, as I believe, we go to Heaven (hopefully) and we enjoy in the goodness of God and the company of passed souls. While there, good and dead, will I think that my time spent on this movie was worth it?

And the answer was YES! That's how good this movie is.

The main character is a "slumdog," a "meek," a "poor," a "least," and he dares to dream, find a better life, and love. I love underdog stories and, remember, God repeatedly chooses the least.

In today's Gospel the angel Gabriel goes to a young woman named Mary and says, "Do not be afraid!" He explains what her role in history will be and when she presents her doubt he reminds her that "nothing will be impossible with God." And she believes and the rest is history.

In Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal Malik survives the slums by having no fear and believing. It's simple but it's powerful. It's a great story and perfect for the holidays.

You should see it.

Penn meets a "sane" Christian

It's not often you get to see Penn of Penn & Teller at a loss for words, but you can see it here:



As The Anchoress points out, one of the core messages from this video is what Penn says himself, “How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that?”

Thanks to The Anchoress via Deacon Greg for pointing this video out.

Another Christmas Carol

I was debating posting this, but since we started with the Christmas music I figured I might as well.

Please enjoy "The Twelve Days of Bailouts":




Also, the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article about the federal government's plans to bail out Christmas.

I promise, after this there will be fewer finance related posts.