In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn….

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2)

Merry Christmas!

Update: Christmas at Hogwarts!

It took one fantasy flick to knock another out of the top spot.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" raked in $67.1 million in its debut weekend. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" grossed over $100 million during its weekend release and remained #1 until this weekend. The film has since earned about $244 million in North America since hitting theaters on November 18.

Interesting, if you care about that sort of thing.

Take a look around, find something you like/hate, and tell me about it.

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Our favorite "Hogwarts professor," John Granger, has posted an article by H.M. Ketcham titled, 'Good Snape' is not a 'Square Circle'. Ketcham writes:

My hope is to add just enough conjecture, not too wildly unsupported by the text, to the scraps and glimpses we have of Snape’s life to suggest some reasons why Professor Dumbledore persisted, and rightly so, in valuing and trusting him.

I'm firmly in the Snape-is-good camp and look forward to reading Ketcham's article, which I will comment on sometime this weekend. I will also post a belated review of the Goblet of Fire. In the meantime, read Ketcham's article and a new-to-me blog, Quoth the Maven.