"Santa Claus Is Leaving Our Planet" Allusion Key

Last week I posted my Christmas story for this year, "Santa Claus Is Leaving Our Planet." Introducing that story, I challenged the reader to first find the correct TV show referred to, and then to find all seven of the allusions to that TV show in the story. If you haven't read that story and attempted to find those references, I recommend doing so before reading further here. If you've read the story and are here to see if you found them all or you don't care, you just want the answers, then read on. If you'd like, post in the comments how many out of eight you got right.

Follow the dots a little ways down to start!

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1) “. . . Santa's sleigh is like a time machine. Santa could be the Doctor for all we know.”

~This is the overt reference to the TV show, Doctor Who, to which I added seven other allusions. The other TV references mentioned or alluded to are Star Trek: the Original Series (in the discussion about how their dad read/sang the song like William Shatner and Andy calls him Captain Kirk) and Mission Impossible (Samantha says, “I have a mission for you, should you decide to accept it.”) Any other references were purely unintentional.

2) He paused, waiting for a reply that didn't come. He was not amused.

~In the 2006 Dr. Who episode, “Tooth and Claw,” Rose tries to get Queen Victoria to say “I am not amused,” a saying attributed to her but without much historical evidence. Rose finally get her to say the phrase at the end of the episode.

3) The corners of his mouth turned up. “Does that mean I get to tape you into a box?”
“Something like that, about the size of a phone booth, I’d suspect. Plus you'll get to ride in Santa's sleigh.”

~The Doctor travels around in a time machine/space ship called a TARDIS, an acronym for “Time And Relative Dimension In Space.” TARDISes can appear outwardly like any common item, but the Doctor’s became stuck as a British police call box—a type of phone booth exclusively used for contacting the police. However, one never sees any other TARDIS (that I recall) look like anything other than a police box until the modern reboot, and is likely that the “stuck” explanation was a later addition from the modern Dr. Who episodes.

4) Santa: “Time is a squishy, slimy reality. Has to be for me, you know.”

~In the 2007 episode titled, “Blink,” the Doctor uses the phrase “wibbily wobbly timey wimey” in explaining how time “operates.” My version here, though not nearly as memorable, should be enough to trigger that connection in any Doctor Who fan.

5) Santa held up a finger. “. . . Not everyone is as smart as me.”

~The Doctor usually sees himself as the smartest and most “clever” person in the room. And usually he’s right. But in recent years that arrogance has been mitigated to a degree, usually by the influence of his companions.

6) Santa nodded. “Now get a seat and hold on. This time-warp stuff gets a little tricky.”

~The Doctor would like to think he’s in full control, but sometimes his time travels don’t go as planned as the TARDIS has a mind of its own. Most notable is the first episode when Matt Smith becomes the Doctor, “The Eleventh Hour” in April of 2010. He miscalculates in returning to young Amy the promised few minutes after he left. Instead he arrives several years later when she’s a young adult. Whoops!

7) Santa pulled a lever, flipped a switch, spun a couple of dials, and then banged on the dash. Lights flashed randomly across the console. A huge tube, swirling with every color of the rainbow, materialized before them.

~Anyone who’s seen the controls of the TARDIS and how the Doctor goes around flipping this switch, pulling that lever, spinning various dials in seemingly random fashion, and sometimes banging on the controls to get them to work, will get this allusion of Santa operating his sleigh for time-warp in a similar fashion.

8) Santa: “Besides, I believe they’ll understand you better than you might think.”

~In Doctor Who, the TARDIS generates an automatic translation effect so as to allow the show’s writers to use English for all alien species and still be relatively realistic. So if Samantha was with the Doctor, she’d have no problems communicating with the aliens in a common language. Santa’s comment to Samantha allude to that aspect of Doctor Who.

The final question to answer: Is Santa Claus from Gallifrey?

Orion's Integration

Note: the following short story is dedicated to Steve King, the husband of my writer friend, Lee King. Steve died of cancer recently after a long battle. May he find peace through his journey into the known unknown.

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[caption id="attachment_1114" align="alignright" width="256" caption="Wormhole Travel: A digital image by Les Bossinas for NASA"][/caption]

"Hard to believe we're finally here." Jill brushed her shoulder-length, brown hair behind her ears.

Daniel nodded as he adjusted a setting on the scanners. "At least we can say the money for this trip paid off."

A vast array of light and color spun in the blackness of space outside the portal of the spherical spacecraft dubbed Giclas. So named after the nearest system to their destination: GJ 3379 or Giclas 99-49, the closest star to Earth in the Orion constellation.

However, they didn't travel a little over eighteen years at near-light speed to check out the red dwarf. A probe could have accomplished that much cheaper. No, Earth Space Center had invested billions to verify the existence of the first stable wormhole just beyond the star.

From what Daniel could see, the odds they had found one looked good.

Jill focused on her instruments. "I recommend we slow to one quarter light speed. We're close enough to obtain preliminary sensor readings. We need to find out where the event horizon is."

"Do it."

Jill pressed a few buttons before running her right fingers down the throttle controls until it read one quarter. The thrusters kick in, pushing Daniel forward. Several minutes of deceleration would be required to reach the new speed.

Jill stared again at the worm hole. "Honey, you want to know something crazy?"

Daniel shifted his gaze to his wife. Dressed in her underwear—being they were the only two humans in eighteen light years distance, uniforms seemed pointless—she turned her blue eyes toward him.

"As if where we are isn't crazy enough. What?"

"Despite all the training, now that we're here, I'm scared to go in."

Daniel nodded toward the wormhole. "You'd be crazy not to be scared."

"Remember the phrase from that old TV show: To go where no man has gone before?"

"How could I forget."

"Did you ever think how that applied to everyone?"

"No. Do tell."

She spun her chair to face him. "Simple. Change the 'no man has' to 'I've never'."

Daniel smiled. "Ah. Where I've never gone before."

"When we were married, I was excited, but scared. I had high hopes, but I didn't know what pains we'd face together either. We were explorers of our unknown."

Daniel pointed to the swirling cosmic drain. "Though no one has been here before, or ever gone through a wormhole, for me and you it would be the first time no matter how many might have been here before."

"Yes. Everyone is an explorer of life. Everyone is scared when facing the unknown."

Daniel mulled over her words. "Question is will we live though this experience to tell anyone? Are we also explorers of death?"

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The probe's signal flickered out. It had entered the wormhole and given them an introductory picture of what to expect. Gravitational forces were within tolerance levels, at least for the first few kilometers in.

They sat on the edge of the event horizon—on the edge of discovery or death.

Jill punched buttons, now fully dressed in uniform. This historic moment would be recorded. In the event anyone ever saw the vid, best to be professional.

"Sending the data to Earth Space Command. In a few years, they'll at least know we made it this far." A whoosh vibrated the ship as a communication array shot toward Earth's system at near-light speed.

Daniel leaned back in his chair and swiveled to face Jill. "This is it. There's nothing left but to go in."

Daniel stood, and Jill followed. They wrapped each other in a hug. Skin on skin, lips on lips, heart on soul. This could easily be their last moments together. Her body squeezed against his reminded him of all the memories they'd shared. To think this might be the end seemed unfair, but he knew eighteen years ago that this day would come.

Her lips parted from his. "I love you."

"Forever." Daniel gently planted another long kiss as he pulled her tight against his own body.

They released each other with a sigh and seated themselves at the controls. Daniel activated the video and sensor recording. He faced the camera.

"This is Commander Daniel Miller and Lieutenant Jill Miller of the spacecraft Giclas. The first stage of our mission has finished successfully. We have arrived at the wormhole and can verify it is here. We've done preliminary studies of the phenomena and sent that data back to Earth. This recording, should we make it back to Earth, will be a record of this historic moment. We've checked all systems, finished all needed task."

Daniel turned to Jill. "Lieutenant, take us in."

"Yes, sir." She raised the throttle and the ship lurched forward as engines responded with a whine.

Daniel watched the event horizon inch closer on the sensor display. He felt like he did the first time he had jumped off the high-diving board at the public pool as a kid. He would reach the point of no return and fall in.

"Here we go," Daniel called out as they pierced the edge of the horizon.

The ship quivered for a second, then the wormhole sucked it in. Dazzling light, colored like a rainbow, swirled about them. Though Daniel didn't sense any movement, sensors showed the end of the entry had disappeared, along with the stars of their galaxy. Pulsing lights and colors radiated around them.

Daniel glanced at Jill. Her eyes beamed back at him. He grinned. "We're not dead yet. What speed does the ship register?"

She examined her display. "Same speed we entered the wormhole."

"Doesn't feel like we're moving."

She frowned. "What if we aren't? We have no idea how long this will take. What if the trip takes months or years? Or if we aren't moving, we'll sit here forever?"

Daniel scratched his head. No telling how long to reach the other end. "Accelerate to zero point seven five light speed."

"Yes, sir." She reached for the controls.

In a flash the light of the wormhole vanished to be replaced with stars. Sort of, anyway. Not nearly as dense, and they appeared blotchier. Off in the distance two planets sat in space. One of them radiated light like a star, yet didn't appear to be on fire. More like the whole planet shined with its own glory.

The other planet, however, lay dark and lonely. Even the light from the first planet appeared to be absorbed by it. Like a benign black hole floating in space.

"Wow!" Jill stared at her display. "You'll never guess what sensors are picking up."

"How far?"

"Not sure. Spectral analysis is telling me those lights we're seeing aren't stars. They're galaxies."

"Galaxies!" Daniel rubbed his eyes. "That's why they're so spread out. We're not in a galaxy. But where? And why are two planets floating this far out without sun or galaxy?"

"Oh my." Jill hit more buttons. "I can't believe this."

"What?"

"Sensors are reading numerous wormholes surrounding these two planets."

Daniel swung around. "Seriously?" He breathed in deep. "Like all the galaxies of creation are tethered to this location with wormholes. Where are we?"

"You haven't realized it yet?" a man's voice rang from behind them.

They both swung their chairs around. Daniel shielded his eyes. Whoever he was, the light emanating from him blinded Daniel. His heart pumped hard and his body trembled.

"Who are you?" Daniel managed to get out.

"Do not be afraid." The man touched Daniel on the shoulder. Daniel stopped shaking and the blinding light dimmed. Daniel lowered his arms. A bearded humanoid man stood before them, dressed in clothing much like their own.

Daniel breathed deep. "Who are you and where are we?"

The man smiled and stretched out his hands.

Daniel examined them, then fixed his eyes on the man. "So?"

"Don't these scars tell you anything?"

Jill gasped and covered her mouth. "Jesus?"

The man grinned.

Daniel shook his head. "No, no, no. This alien is reading our thoughts somehow, and appearing as someone familiar." Daniel pointed to the two planets. "Next thing you know, he'll tell us those are Paradise and Hades."

"Excellent, Daniel. You're showing progress."

"Seriously?" Daniel rubbed his forehead. He glanced at Jill who appeared to be mesmerized by him. "So if those are Paradise and Hades, that means we're dead. Did the wormhole really kill us? This is the afterlife?"

The man's face fell. "You've been close to death for a long time. But you are not supposed to be here yet. You'll need to return."

Jill nodded. "That was the plan. Take initial readings and return through the wormhole if at all possible."

Daniel pointed into space. "Yes, and future expeditions would return to explore further based on our findings."

The man grinned. "Of course. The tower of Babel all over again. Look, return as soon as possible. Wait too long and you may be stuck here. Right now I can't guarantee you'll end up on Paradise."

The man vanished. The control room grew darker in his absence.

Daniel shook his head. "We had better go back. Do you have all the sensor data you can get?

Jill jerked her head toward him. "What?"

"Sensor data? Is there any more to get?"

"Oh." She swung her chair back around and examined her display. "No. We'd have to land on a planet to get more. I'm done."

"Good. Turn this ship around. Let's see if we can get back to our galaxy."

"Yes, sir."

Her formality reminded him of the video. He pressed the button to stop recording. "We should have him on the video. Which is good, because they'd never believe this otherwise."

Within a few minutes, Jill had accelerated the ship toward the wormhole. She stood and held out her hands. "Congratulation, Honey, we did it."

He met her halfway and fell into her embrace. "Yes we did. And we're not dead."

"Not yet, anyway." She glanced over her shoulder. "We're almost back to the wormhole. Then another eighteen years to Earth."

Daniel smiled. "The last eighteen were some of my happiest days, because I was with you. I imagine the next eighteen will be just as great."

"That's so sweet of you to say. There was a time I didn't think you wanted me around."

"I was a fool. Too caught up in my work to realized I had missed out on what was important." Daniel's lips met hers as they sank into the event horizon of the wormhole.

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Darkness. No stars, no planets, no ship. Daniel lay on something. A beep pierced the void, then another. A regular pattern emerged, reminding him of a heart monitor.

Light glowed in the distance, growing stronger. Cloth rubbed against his fingertips. Pains in his back and butt throbbed into existence. He lay in a bed somewhere. His eyes. He should open them.

He moved muscles that at first resisted, but gave in and responded with a jerk. He quickly shut them as light flooded in, blinding him. He remembered the alien claiming to be Jesus. Memories surfaced. Something must have gone horribly wrong in the wormhole. Was Jill okay?"

The beeping sped up. A shuffling sound met his ear. Footsteps. Jill must be okay. He cracked his eyes open, giving them time to adjust. A blurry face hovered over him.

"Oh my God."

That didn't sound good. He tried to call to her, but his parched throat couldn't create a sound. He opened his eyes wider, and Jill's face came into focus. She was smiling, but tears ran down her cheeks.

She fell onto his chest, sobbing. "Oh thank you, God. Thank you!"

A door opened and footsteps hurried into the room. Where did this person come from? Nurses scurried around him, busy taking his pulse, blood pressure, adjusting things.

Another woman entered. "Give him some water. About five CCs to start with." She moved over Daniel. "Mr. Miller, can you understand what I'm saying? Nod yes if you can."

Daniel forced aching muscles to nod his head yes. A straw entered his mouth.

"Take some water, Mr. Miller. Not too fast."

Over the next few minutes, nurses took readings and asked him questions. The water helped him to start talking again. Finally they started leaving the room. The doctor parted with the promise of scheduling an MRI.

Jill pulled a chair up beside him and held his hand. He squeezed it.

She laughed. "You don't know how long I've waited to feel you respond."

Daniel smiled. "Eighteen years?"

Her smile fell. "How did you know?"

"Obviously we're back on Earth. The last thing I remember is reentering the wormhole. I'm guessing something put me into a coma for the eighteen year trip home."

"Wormhole?"

"Yeah, you know. In the Orion constellation?"

She blinked her eyes.

"Remember, we met Jesus on the other side of the wormhole?"

She sighed. "Honey, we never left. You were involved in a car accident. You've been in a coma for the past eighteen years."

Daniel would have been more animated if his body wasn't so weak. "But it was real. All the time we spent in the spaceship together, alone. We became so close."

Jill smiled. Her blue eyes sparkled. "How sweet. I'm glad I was with you all that time. I had about given up hope you'd ever be with me again."

"Well, I'm here now. Ready to explore life with you."

Jill cradled his face in her hands. "I'm just glad you've come back to life."

"Well, I've explored death enough to know that life is all we have, here and in the next life. Forces you to put things in perspective. I've got two people to focus on. You and the man on the other side of that wormhole."

"A man?"

He squeezed her hand. "You called him Jesus. Long story."

She grinned and reached down to hug him. He found the strength to wrap his arms around her shoulders. Exploring new things was scary, but he had experience in that department. Who says the trip didn't happen. It was real, coma or no coma.

He could tell Earth Space Command exactly where to find that wormhole, but he wouldn't. People weren't ready to explore death. Nor would they expect to find life. Most didn't believe the man on the other side of death's wormhole.

10 Day Novel Challenge: Day 0

Thought I'd go ahead and get into the logging groove. I had a short story I'd been working on I wanted to finish before starting the novel.

Before I dig into my daily routine, allow me to warn those familiar with Dean's hours, that I'm not intentionally mimicking him. It just so happens we both keep similar hours. I suspected as much because I caught him up late a few times, but it wasn't until he started logging his day that I realized I'm not so strange after all...at least to him. But wanted to make it clear I'm not trying to copy-cat Dean. I've had this schedule for many years. Just when I worked a full time job, I didn't get much sleep. Now I have more like a part-time job helping my wife clean houses. Fun! But it does give me more time for writing, so I can't complain. As fate would have it, this next week while I'm doing this novel challenge is going to be busier than usual.  Won't help me put in the 6 hours a day I'll need to get close, but we'll give it my best shot.

Today got out of bed around 12:30. Did my morning gig of eating and catching up on emails and blogs. I have to be careful on blogs. It is too easy for me to spend hours going down comment trails. But I also had a few comments to respond to on Facebook about my announcement, and emails.  Combine that with some personal stuff, and it wasn't until 5:40 I sat down to write.

I'd started a short story for my blog earlier this week that I needed to finish. For the first time I tried Dean's trick. But I don't have a stash of half-titles like he does. So I went to Fox News website and looked at titles there. I landed on one title that was about some balloons, and another about an evacuation. I smashed them together into the title "Balloon Evacuation." I'd written about 1262 words on it before today.  I do tend to write my short stories more "seat of the pants," so had developed a good idea where it was going, but still free wheeling it.

I didn't get very far before wife comes home from work, at about 5:55. In those 15 minutes, I logged another 264 words. Still far from done. So I stop to fix dinner, watch some DS9 while eating, then follow that up with some "Honest Trailers" on YouTube. Spent time with wife in there as well. She goes to bed around 11:45 pm. I go make my hot tea, do the dishes, get my cashews and prunes and head back to my computer to write around 12:30 am.

I take off writing the most exciting part of this story. A few stretch breaks but I write pretty solidly from 12:30 to 5:00 and get in an additional 2464 words before the story's done. Decide I'll save the editing and posting for later. Sleep is calling.

Today I wrote 2731 words of fiction (no, I'm not counting my emails and FB posts). Took me a total of about 4.75 hours. That comes out to an average words per hour of 575. Not too great, thanks to my bad left hand. At that rate, I'll need more than 6 hours a day to clock in around 6K a day. Maybe I can pick it up, but not looking real promising.

So I'm writing this blog, another 575 words in 30 minutes...better. Tomorrow starts the novel. Look for day 1 by Saturday.

Yippee for Christmas! by R. L. Copple

As I've been doing for the last few years, I'm presenting to friends, family, and fans a Christmas short story as my Christmas gift to you. Thanks to everyone who has read, supported, and been a friend over the past year, and I pray into the new year as well. Now, enjoy my new Christmas short story: Yippee for Christmas!

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Once upon a time, in a land far, far away that amazingly looked a lot like Texas, there lived a king named Loren. King Loren ruled a kingdom full of joyous, peaceful, and loving people. For they had much to be thankful for. From the mountain ranges in the west, to the plains in the north, to the ocean beaches on the southern coast, and the forest in the east, rarely was heard a dissenting voice. Crime gained no foothold here, as no one lived in discontent. It was Heaven on Earth.

What you say? Impossible? One would think so, save for one basic fact. The biggest celebration in this kingdom happened every December 25th on Christmas day. Each year, the king threw the grandest party in his castle, not sparing neither Christmas turkey, Christmas ham, Christmas tamales, or Christmas picante sauce. No child left without a present from the king. The whole kingdom celebrated Christmas.

What? Oh, you're wondering why this created their private utopia? Not because of the food, but because of what they celebrated: joy, peace, and love. The celebration reminded them all year long to practice these virtues, and so they did with the utmost fervor. They celebrated and practiced these virtues so well that all crime vanished, no one starved or lacked a roof over their heads, and no one complained over what they had, didn't have, or what their neighbor had that they didn't. The focus on joy, peace, and love overshadowed everything else.

One Christmas eve, King Loren's death ended his reign. The funeral line processed in a solemn march through the city as adults and children lined the streets. The normal joy of the season fell silent against the night of the king's life. Everyone reminisced about the good king's deeds and heroic decisions, and the most honorable kingdom in the world under his rule. No one shared a negative word against him, so great was their love for him.

King Loren's rule fell to his oldest son, Xander. Before the festivities of Christmas began, the lords of the land installed King Loren's son to the throne.

As King Xander examined the solemn crowd in the usually festive hall, he said to them, "My loyal subjects. Ever did my father find joy, peace, and love in the Christmas celebration. We can do no less in honor of his memory. He would not be pleased to find us sad on this day, lest we forget all he has taught us. So let us lift a glass to his memory and celebrate this festival as if he is watching, for he very well may be."

Heads nodded and smiles filled the sea of faces sitting around tables laden with all sorts of Christmas foods. Hands reached for glasses to join in the toast, all except one. One hand raised above the growing hum of voices and said, "My lord, I have a complaint!"

Gasps raced across the hall; talking halted. The king, along with every other eye in the crowd, stared at the man with the upraised hand. King Xander scratched his beard in disbelief. "Kind sir, are you from our fair kingdom? For complaints are rare with our people who celebrate and practice joy, peace, and love throughout the year. What possible complaint will you bring before us on this august day?"

The man lowered his hand and stood. "My lord, I am new to these parts. I had heard of the joy, peace, and love of this land, and wished to join such worthy festivities. Now that I am here, I feel excluded, for I am not of your religion. Would not it be more inclusive of all faiths who also celebrate joy, peace, and love, if we gave this holiday a new name? I beseech you to consider this request so that I too, and those who follow other faiths, are free to celebrate with you." The man sat down.

All eyes turned to the king in anticipation of his words. King Xander stroked his beard for a moment and then said, "Long has it been the tradition in our land, set by my father, to call this day Christmas. Yet your argument is sound. I will put my wise men to the task and by next Christmas—or whatever it will be called—we will have a new name. So be it."

The lords replied back, "May the king's will be done." The man smiled, and the celebration continued through the day as it had for many years.

Shortly before the next Christmas...I mean, whatever it would be called, King Xander made an announcement in his court. "My dear subjects. Last year, I declared we would find a more inclusive name for our celebration of joy, peace, and love. After much consultation with my wisest counselors, we have settled on that name.

"Beginning this year, it will no longer be referred to as Christmas, but Yippee! You will no longer have a Christmas tree, but instead, a Yippee cactus. Santa will no longer deliver Christmas presents; he will leave children Yippee presents. No longer will you hear Christmas in your songs. Rather you'll hear songs like, 'Yippee, Yippee time is here. Time for laughter, time for cheer...' Instead of hearing the story ''Twas the Night Before Christmas,' you will hear, ''Twas the Night Before Yippee.' All references to Christmas will be changed throughout the kingdom in favor of the new name to commemorate joy, peace, and love: Yippee!"

The hall erupted in a glorious, "Yippee!" followed by clapping and shouts. They had never felt more inclusive.

Christmases...I mean, Yippees came and went for seven years. Each year the celebration grew grander to outdo the last. But other changes emerged over the seven years. Crime rose from nearly non-existent to 30%. Complaints became the norm instead of the exception. Despite doing more in the Yippee parties than his father, King Xander received notices of discontent about them and a good many other government services as well. Joy, peace, and love declined even while their virtues were lauded.

At the eighth annual celebration of Yippee, King Xander put on another exciting Yippee party at his castle. After listening to a rousing rendition of "Yippie Bells," and a fun sing-along with the king of "O, Yippee Night," the king sat at the head of a table filled with Yippee turkey, Yippee ham, Yippee tamales, and Yippee picante sauce. By this point, King Xander had also added his own touch to the menu: Yippee figgy pudding.

King Xander stood, raised his glass of Yippee wine, and then said, "My loyal subjects, each year at this time we celebrate the virtues of joy, peace, and love: the founding principles of our land. So I toast with each of you that these virtues will prevail among us and that our country will always celebrate their values and benefits."

A couple of heads nodded. Many said, "Whatever." Hands wandered toward glasses to join in the toast, all except one. One hand raised above the growing grunts, and an eight-year old boy said, "My lord, I have a complaint!"

A few, "What's new?" comments echoed among them as eyes focused on the king's response.

King Xander waved his hand. "You'll need to take it to the complaint department. It is open on Mondays through Fridays from noon to one o'clock."

The boy stood. "I have a question then. Why?"

The king's forehead wrinkled. "Why what?"

"Why do we celebrate joy, peace, and love? Especially when there is so little of it."

King Xander moved his mouth as if to talk for two seconds before emitting an answer. "Why? Because my young lad, you are not able to remember the joy of my father's reign. The celebration of these virtues is what provided such prosperity and harmony in our land for many years. We have fallen from that ideal, I will grant you, but that is no reason to not celebrate their glorious effect upon our kingdom."

The child shook his head. "But why celebrate something that ain't happening?"

King Xander scratched his head, then turned to the wise men seated on the left side of his table. "Answer the boy's question."

The wise men stared at each other to see who would give an answer. Five seconds passed, then the oldest of them stood. Wise Joseph—King Loren's trusted adviser and the one, lone dissenting voice concerning the Yippee celebration change—bowed to the king.

Wise Joseph faced the child. "In the ancient writings, the angels appeared to shepherds in the fields by night. Upon arriving, the angels declared a message of great joy, and upon departing, they shared the words, "On Earth, peace." That is, peace and goodwill among men. But these virtues were not the purpose behind their celebration. Rather the angels pointed to One who would infuse joy, peace, and love among mankind. It is not the virtues we celebrate, but the god-man who came from Heaven to give us joy, peace, and love." Wise Joseph returned to his seat.

Silence prevailed for five seconds. Then the child asked, "Who is this god-man?"

The king stared at the boy, then raised his hand. "My loyal subjects. I fear we have made a grave mistake these past eight years. In our attempt to be inclusive, we have excluded the very person who instills these virtues into each one of us. Knowledge of and living by His words have diminished, and therefore, so has joy, peace, and love. From this moment forward, we will return to calling this celebration Christmas. We will have our Christmas trees, our Christmas foods, our Christmas presents, and yes, even our Christmas figgy pudding to celebrate the Christ through who we are made joyful, peaceful, and loving. We are not inclusive by excluding anyone, most especially the guest of honor, but by inviting all to join in His celebration. So be it."

The lords raised their glasses. "May the king's will be done." Loud clapping and cheers arose from the celebrants.

And so the kingdom celebrated Christmas once again, and a measure of joy, peace, and love returned to the land over the following years. What? You want to know what happened to the ideal kingdom? Once corrupted with the knowledge of evil, the kingdom is rebuilt one person, one heart at a time as they partake in the redemption of the God-man and find true joy, peace, and love abiding within. The ideal kingdom reigns in such persons, and it is this truth that the people of King Xander's country learned to celebrate.

Yippee for Christmas!

Do space ships fall in love?

Residential Aliens has been kind enough to grab and publish the second edition in my Neptune 2 series, Shifting Love.

Take a moment to check it out. But before you do, give some thoughts to how you express your love for others in your life, whether it be family, wife, relatives, co-workers, or even your pet. Society might focus you one way, but it would miss the real point.

And that point is? Well, why not read it for yourself.

Thanks for reading!