Woo-Hoo!!! New Year's Day/Christmas Post-a-palooza!!! So late it's almost EARLY again!!!
First things first--a noteworthy event...
Vols Crush Aggies in Cotton Bowl
*Ahem!* Now, moving on...
Christmas was simply terrific. I was quite concerned going into the whole affair, as it was my first Christmas ever away from my family. (My wife deserves a super-trophy for spending our first Christmas together in Tennessee, rather than here in Houston!!!) I had a blast, though, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with her extended family and the in-laws (whom I adore, coincidentally). I'd seen my folks over Thanksgiving, so the homesickness didn't really bother me as much as it might have, and knowing what all I've likely got in store for 2005 made it a good deal easier to focus on the Greater Significance of the Holiday. I also got a lot of cool stuff!!!
The things that stood out the most for me this year are as follows...
From my absolutely adorable and incredible wife, an NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. I'd been bugging her about this for months, but didn't think we'd be able to get this one. I just finished my last study Bible (of the Nelson NKJV variety) and was eager to get back into the NIV (though I strongly considered the ESV as well on the recommendation of R.C. Sproul), and this one had a ton of in-depth study features that had me drooling over the Bible display at the local Christian store. (The clerk had to squeegee off several copies of The Message!!!)
From the in-laws, an Unabridged CD Recording of The Hobbit, narrated by the thoroughly awesome Rob Inglis. I now have the full Tolkien Ring Cycle!!! Mwah-ha-ha-haaaa!!!!!
The Special Edition Return of the King. 'Nuff Said.
I also got several B&N gift cards, with which (after a week of careful deliberation) I was able to indulge my wickedly sinful book habit (more on that below) with the following...
The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis
The Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius (transl. Victor Watts)
Shakespeare's Sonnets (Arden Edition), ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones
The Incomparable Christ, by John Stott
Celtic Myths and Legends, by T.W. Rolleston
And lastly, but by no means leastly, the in-laws (knowing my affinity for Bill Murray movies) took me to see The Life Aquatic. And he said that it was good...
As far as New Year's Resolutions go, I've set down the following, knowing that this next year will probably be filled with more sweeping changes for my life than any other apart from the year I got married. This despite the fact that New Year's Resolutions always seemed silly to me; something I can't recall ever really having a desire to do. Not, of course that I never felt I needed to change things in my life, but for some reason the association of this with the arrival of a New Year never really resonated with me. For those who feel similarly, I tender the following compromise...in the final cut for this post you'll see my 2005 Reading List!!! (No applause necessary, please.) Am I the only geek in the universe who felt more compelled to come up with a reading list every New Year, rather than a list of resolutions?
The 'Greater' Resolutions...
1. To be more consistent in prayer and devotions. I hate feeling like I only really delve deep into God's Presence when I'm at a crossroads or when I have a great need. If I were able to really look at this honestly, it perhaps isn't true, but guilt is ever the chief arrow in the slings of the enemy. Regardless, it is true that it's an arrow that would have no effect upon me if I were more consistent in giving to God of my time. I am, then, I suppose, without excuse.
2. To become a more fervent intercessor. Simply put, I feel this my duty. "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none." (Ez 22:30, KJV) It is, at any rate, a particular burden that has laid rather heavily upon me for some time, and I'm simply tired of kicking against the goads.
3. To be a better husband. Really an ongoing desire, but one that takes on particular meaning in the coming year, with the shadow of OCS and the Marine Corps looming ever more vividly upon the horizon. Greater sensitivity, stronger spiritual leadership, more quality time with my darling, etc. I never feel that I'm anywhere close to what she deserves in a man. (Any other husbands out there that can relate to this?)
4. To finish more of what I start. In some ways, this very resolution in itself is a cop-out, as it had originally (as you can see) said "finish more". Why didn't I simply say 'To finish what I start'? *Sigh.*
5. To write more. Simply put, I'm a writer, I've got stories to tell, and I haven't been telling them. Or, to make matters worse, I begin and don't finish them. (See above.) Anyone who's ever had a passion for writing knows how this feels.
The 'Lesser' Resolutions...
6. To get jackiesue that picture of me so she can photoshop it in the manner I've requested. Then, I shall verily have the greatest opening photo for my userinfo page...EVAH!!!!
7. To get one of my emails answered in Strongbad Emails. Really, this one needs no further explanation, I think.
8. To finish a sizeable amount of the books on the 2005 Reading List (see below). Not much likelihood in that happening, but a fella can always hope, right? (Actually I never feel bad about falling short on this one, particularly since I always seem to add to said list throughout the course of the year anyway.)
There. I think that should do it. Whether or not I will rise to the challenge is quite another matter altogether. We shall see.
And now, the part of the New Year I actually enjoy the most...The Reading List!!!!!
Really, the hardest part about this list is knowing where to make the cut-off. (Probably why I never stop adding to it.) Hence, I'll try to emphasize the ones I feel a real pressing need to finish sometime this year. In no particular order, then...
The Man Who Was Thursday, G. K. Chesterton
Wings of the Dove, Henry James
The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser
Future Grace, John Piper
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The City of God, St. Augustine
The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius
Go Down, Moses, William Faulkner
The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
Studies in Words, C. S. Lewis
ManAlive!, G. K. Chesterton
Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Gordon Fee
Modern Times, Paul Johnson
Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
The Histories, Herodotus
A World Lit Only By Fire, William Manchester
Loved By God, R. C. Sproul
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
Ulysses, James Joyce
Shakespeare: Invention of the Human, Harold Bloom
A History of the American People, Paul Johnson
Metamorphoses, Ovid
Silas Marner, George Eliot
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
An Intellectual History of Modern Europe, Roland Stromberg
History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
Reading the Classics With C. S. Lewis, ed. Thomas Martin
Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
The Second Coming of the Church, George Barna
There, I believe that's more than sufficient. Any fellow book junkies are more than welcome to make suggestions!!!