S8E11 – Christmas Special (2024)

Merry Christmas from your favourite Christmas elves! On today’s episode, David, Matt, and Andrew talk about life updates, recount holiday memories, and play fun seasonal games.

S8E11: Christmas Special (2024) (Download)

Show Notes

Introduction

Quote of the Week

• The quote of the week is from Lewis’ book, “Miracles”.

The birth of Christ is the central event in the history of earth — the very thing the whole story has been about.

C. S. Lewis, Miracles, Chapter Fourteen

Chit-Chat and Life Updates

• After realising that this episode would be recorded on the feast day of St. Nicholas, David sent out new show notes for the crew to do a long-overdue Christmas special, something they haven’t done on the main audio feed since Season 4.
• Andrew came dressed for the occasion with his festive sweater and his Santa hat (unfortunately this is an audio-only episode). Floridians are getting into the festivities, including Christmas carols and tree lighting for “Winter Garden”. He and his wife are putting together an Advent quiet day as well, along with an “Advent in Narnia” webinar for the C. S. Lewis Foundation. Finally, earlier this December, Andrew and his his wife, had tickets to go see Behold the Lamb of God, by Andrew Peterson of The Rabbit Room.
• David’s children were ecstatic to see the shoes outside their bedrooms filled with tasty goodies. Being a dad, David let them eat their sweets for breakfast. He also gave a talk to five students at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in La Crosse, who are doing a special class on Jack. So far, the class has read “The Great Divorce”, “The Screwtape Letters”, and are currently reading “Perelandra”. Andrew was thrilled to learn that some extra credit students had read “Till We Have Faces”.
• David received an email from Mark Cook, who is starting a new C. S. Lewis reading group in Olympia, Washington. If you’re in the area, send us an email at pintswithjack.com, and we’ll get you connected.
• Malcolm Guite just released a new sonnet on the St. Nicholas Center, which Andrew felt fit to share:

St. Nicholas, protector of the poor,
Gift-giver, wonderworker, patron saint,
Renew our generosity, and pour
Afresh on us your spirit without stint,
That we, like you, might notice, might respond
And rescue those whom we’ve ignored, whose plight
Cries out for our redress: near neighbours bound
By poverty and debt, the out of sight
And out of mind, the children of the poor,
All the exploited, those whose lives are wrecked
By others’ greed, indifference, and neglect,
Those overboard and floundering for the shore.
Help us make others merry with our wealth
And joy, like you, in doing good by stealth.

Malcolm Guite, St. Nicholas

Toast

• This morning, the gang is having Best Day Brewing Hazy IPA NA beer.
• They’re also toasting new Patreon supporter Robert Smith, who just upgraded to being a top-tier supporter!

A Word on St. Nicholas

• St. Nicholas was an early church bishop in Myra (modern day Turkey). He is famous for a multitude of things, including tossing money through the windows of the homes of those in poverty. The most famous account of his generosity is when he paid the dowries of three young women so they could marry rather than be sold into slavery.
• David learned from “The Christian Almanac” that Martin Luther stood firm on keeping St. Nicholas relevant around Christmastime within Protestantism.
• Andrew recounted dressing up as the jolly bishop for Christmas last year. Prior to that, he was a gnome.

Discussion

01. “#C.S.LewisReadingDay”

Q: Before we talk about Christmas-related stuff, at the time of recording it’s been a week since #CSLewisReadingDay. What are your thoughts this year?

• We learned that Matt needs better internet service, since he had a spotty connection at his family’s place when they were streaming.
• One stream hosted Joel Heck, who wrote “No Ordinary People”, a book on the friendships of C. S. Lewis.
• We had a different format this year, with the first half of the streams beginning with a centralised topic, and the rest being popcorn-style interviews.
• This was the first British time livestream.
• They talked about meeting with listeners, with Andrew giving signed copies of “Mere Christians”.
• This year had a diverse crowd, from the OGs at Talking Beasts and The Inklings Variety Hour, to newcomers, including Bruce Johnson from “The C. S. Lewis Correspondence Project”, Brian Shepherd from “That Hideous C. S. Lewis Substack”, Fr. Brian McGreevy, Julia Golding from the Oxford Centre for Fantasy, and Ruth Jackson from The C. S. Lewis Podcast, who promised to find Andrew proper chips next time he visited Oxford.
• David mentioned a rental in the woods near Lewis’ home in Oxford decked to the hilt with Narnia related decor.

02. “Christmas Lewis”

Q: We’re not going to be talking very much more about Lewis today, but what are some Christmas-related Lewis works that the listeners might like to read during this season?

• Andrew loves Lewis’ poem, “The Nativity”.

Among the oxen (like an ox I’m slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow
Which, with the ox’s dullness might at length
Give me an ox’s strength.
Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Savior where I looked for hay;
So may my beast like folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.
Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baaing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence!

C. S. Lewis, The Nativity

• Matt suggested “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, and “Harry Potter”, for their cozy, Christmasy feel. And if you doubt that the first of the Narnian Chronicles is a Christmas movie, listen to The Lamp-post Listener, where the hosts and their wives debate about this. At the very least, it is an advent movie, where the Narnians are awaiting the coming of the true King.
• As for David’s picks, he recommended the obscure work “A Christmas Service for Pagans”, and “God in the Dock” contains two Christmas-related essays;”What Christmas Means to Me”, and “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus“. David talked with Ruth Jackson from The C. S. Lewis Podcast in a bonus episode on Jack and the Christmas season.

03. “Favourite Christmas Things”

Q: What are some of your favourite Christmas traditions?

• Matt described how his parents would wrap the entire house in Christmas decor when the season rolled around. Today, he and his wife start each day with a peppermint mocha.
• Andrew recounted earlier Christmases; playing sports together and decorating the tree with personalised ornaments, turning off all the lights for a Rockefeller Center tree lighting. His wife’s family also has a 25-year strong tradition of performing a Christmas concert.
• The Bates family goes light on the decorations, but their neighbours make up for it by going bonkers with the light displays. His son loves looking at the illuminated dinosaurs.

Q: Speaking of favourites, what’s your favourite Christmas movie?

• Growing up, for David, Christmastime was when you got the good TV. Today, he associates Ghostbusters, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Mary Poppins with Christmas. The Child Catcher scared him to death. With his son, he’s been putting in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But his favourite movie is Elf, the early 2000’s film about a human who was raised as an elf, who, upon discovering his human heritage, decides to travel to New York City to meet his father.
• Matt enjoys The Christmas Shoes, a Hallmark movie where a young boy tries to buy a pair of shoes for his dying mother. Tears will be shed. He also likes Trading Places.
• At the Lazo household, it’s a classic Christmas, with White Christmas and Holiday Inn. Everyone in the house knows every line.
• They made fun of the meme-able new Netflix Christmas movie Hot Frosty, a movie about a woman who puts a magical scarf on a snowman, bringing him to life. Romance ensues.
• It should be noted that each host neglected to mention the greatest Christmas movie of all time: Christmas Vacation by National Lampoon. Signed, a disappointed intern.

04. “Christmas Quiz”

Q: Next, we have a Christmas quiz! Play along with us at home. Answers in the Concluding Thoughts section.

1. In the song “Frosty the Snowman”, what made Frosty come to life?
2. Who played George Bailey in the Christmas Classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”?
3. Per a recent holiday fad, what spy hides around the house, reporting back to Santa on who’s naughty or nice.
4. What Christmas beverage is also known as “milk punch”?
5. One of Santa’s reindeer shares a famous symbol with Valentine’s Day. Which reindeer is that?
6. What animated 2004 film is about a train that carries kids to the North Pole on Christmas Eve?
7. What’s the name of the family featured in National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation”?
8. What phrase, made popular in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, expresses annoyance with cheery holiday celebrations?

05. “Non-Christmas Questions”

Q: With our remaining time, let’s talk about some personal stuff. How was 2024 for all of you? What are you looking forward to?

• Matt had “the most beautiful year” of his life, as he got married this summer. He highly recommends marriage, and loves the little moments and spontaneity. He also started a financial planning business venture, conceiving the idea for it two days after meeting his now wife. Things can change very quickly!
• Andrew is working on a job transition, which will come around in mid-June. It will be the end of a six-year ordination and vocational journey. However, he is excited for his book on “Till We Have Faces”, which will be coming out in 2026.

Wrap-Up

Concluding Thoughts

Here are the answers to the Christmas Quiz:

1. A silk hat
2. Jimmy Stewart
3. Elf on a Shelf
4. Eggnog
5. Cupid
6. “The Polar Express”
7. The Griswold’s
8. Bah humbug!

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