While I was setting up the little Christmas tree in Ivy’s room (which was our first Christmas tree, all 4 1/2 ft!), she found her Easter basket. Like many things, put up and forgotten, it created a lot of excitement. She was all over the house, opening eggs and tossing plastic green grass! Of course when Meg got home she wondered why there was Easter all over the house during Christmas…

  Meg and I just saw The Dark Knight. I know everyone else saw it this summer, but we rarely make it to the theater (and when we do it is for truly deep movies like Twilight…). The movie was good – not great.* And one of my big struggles with the movie is that I think the Joker was right about humanity (I loved the development of two-face). When those two boats were given the choice to destroy the other I know what would have happened in real life. Now I do not know what the prisoners would have done – I really am not close to anyone sentenced to life. But I do know lots of businessmen and lawyers and parents and doctors – when push comes to shove, in the crux, people are selfish. In dark moments, as the movie correctly portrays, “good” people are unable to make a decision. In their indecision someone would have been willing to step forward.  But unlike in the movie, I am positive that person would have been willing to push the button. The darkness of humanity will startle you… [Don’t believe me. Beyond the numbing moments of history, like the holocaust, just this season a man was trampled to DEATH so people could get the Friday after Thanksgiving deals. Trampled. – click here]

  It is good Christmas does not tell the whole story. We have so many Nativity books and they all conclude with the Wise Guys, but I always tell Ivy that it is not the end. Bring out the plastic grass and eggs, there is more to tell. For while there is no hope in humanity, in the story of Christ we find the ONLY HOPE for salvation.

*I committed the cardinal sin of allowing a movie to be overhyped. As my facebook friend, Joe Posnanski **, writes, the movie experience is completely based on expectations. If you think a movie will stink, a one star rating, but then watch it and discover that it is a two star movie – that was a plus one experience. Pretty good. Of course if you think a movie will be a four star movie (like I thought abut the Dark Knight) and only get a three star movie… well that is minus one experience. (Click here to see his blog article. You will have to scroll down about halfway, begins with “Against my better judgment, I watched the movie Hancock…” Or read the whole thing, his stuff is great, laugh out loud…)

**Joe is the best sportswriter in America (twice voted by the AP). He writes for Sports Illustrated, multiple books, and the KC Star. Of course I have never met or spoke to him, but he is willing to be my facebook friend. Which is one of the best things that has happened this week…  (Click on the pic if you would like to be my facebook friend.)