Minuit Chrétien, or Christian Midnight, is the name of the song in the original French and it is inextricably set into the chords of my faith. We know it as Oh, Holy Night and it is the harmonic between my life as a missionary, Christmas and the power of God. (more…)

For my first post in a while, this might sound frivolous, but I really think this has made a difference in my Christmas worship. I want to point out some common mis-readings of the Christmas Hymns that are caused mostly by the fact that the hymnal starts each line with a capital letter. (more…)

Most everyone who grew up Mormon has a memorable story that involves a church sponsored dance. As the meter of time beats through our history, one of the things that persists despite persecution, accommodation and eventually correlation is ritual self expression set to music. Though the tunes and instruments have changed, a tension remains in the institutional sponsorship as it grapples with the salutarity and salaciousness of dance. (more…)

Recently, the Bush Administration has come under fire for allowing torture of enemy combatants in secret prisons throughout the world. There are many justifications that the Bush Administration has used: that these terrorists have no protection under the Geneva Conventions (for relevant definition, see here); that the rules of war do not apply to those who choose not to follow them; that torture is justified if the information leads to the saving of American lives. (more…)

Like many children, when I was growing up, my favorite season was Christmas. Not for the presents or the candy (though they were important) but for the family interaction. (more…)