Rather than going through a chapter of “Mere Christianity” in this episode, today Matt and I are just going to be chatting about Christmas. You’ll get to hear about our favourite songs, the best presents we’ve received and our treasured Christmas memories. So sit back, pour yourself some eggnog and enjoy!
S1E14.5: “Merry Christmas!” (Download)
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— Show Notes —
• I referred to Matt as “Pinky”. This was a reference to the Warner Bros Animation, “Pinky and the Brain”, about two lab mice. “Brain” is intent of taking over the world and “Pinky” is his idiot sidekick.
I have called Matt “Pinky” on several occasions before off-air, so when I called him this on the show, he was ready with his reasons why this is, in fact, a complement:
1. Pinky is of “superior height” to Brain
2. Pinky is the moral compass of the duo
3. In the episode where Brain actually achieved world domination, he gives it away… because he didn’t want to achieve it without Pinky
• We mentioned Pope Fabian, who was a layman prior to becoming Pope. A dove landed on him at the Papal election and everyone saw it as a sign from God.
• Quote-of-the-week:
“The Son of God became man so that men could become sons of God” (Mere Christianity)
I described this as “Athanasian”, referring to the Deacon Athanasius who attended the Council of Nicaea and who said that “God became man so that man could become god”.
• The Beer-of-the-week was the Samuel Adams “Winter Lager”.
• We then asked each other some questions about Christmas…
Q. What are some of your family Christmas traditions growing up?
○ Matt explained that his family would go “Santa Hunting”…
Q. On what date do you think it’s acceptable to start playing Christmas music?
○ Matt asserts that you can start doing it from December 1st. This is also the date when he starts drinking peppermint hot chocolate.
○ Personally, I believe that you can start listening to Advent music on December 1st. You may start playing Christmas music on December 24/25th.
Q. Where would you fit on the Grinch Scale, between 1 and 10?
○ Matt says he’s a “1” i.e. not a Grinch at all.
I quoted a line from the movie Step Brothers (“That leaves so much more room for activities!”), which I hope nobody has seen 🙂
Q. Angel or fairy or star. What is on top of your Christmas tree?
○ Matt puts nothing on top of his tree!
Q. Real tree or fake tree?
○ Matt is a fake tree person, but aspires to be a real tree person.
○ During my childhood we had a real tree, switched to a fake tree during my later teenage years and here in the United States we have a real tree.
Q. What is your favourite Christmas song?
○ Matt says his is The Christmas Shoes, which is a song from the movie with the same name.
○ My favourite Christmas songs are Once In Royal David’s City. I also really like the Casting Crowns rendition of I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day, which has a moving backstory.
Q. What has been your best Christmas present ever?
○ I had two.
1. Castle Grayskull from the TV show He-Man. If you would like to read my April Fools Day article about how He-Man secretly teaches Transubstantiation, please click here. Also, if you were a member of the He-Man Super Fan Club in the 80’s and remember your secret “Eternian Name” please tweet me!
2. A plastic push-along lion…whom we named “Aslan”. If I can find a picture of him, I’ll post it on our new Instagram account in the New Year.
○ Matt’s favourite Christmas presents were a LEGO Statue of Liberty and a LEGO X-Wing and Tie Fighter. In an attempt to look less like a colossal nerd, he said he also received some roller blades…
Q. How has your enjoyment and understanding of Christmas changed over the years?
○ As a kid, Matt only cared about the presents. As an adult, he still enjoys presents, but his whole experience has been changed by coming to faith.
○ Historically, I’ve not been a fan of Christmas, and I blame most of this on Allie McBeal. I talk about how I became progressively less Grinch-like, which you can read about in more detail here.
