But it’s also when the president unveils his latest and greatest ideas to Congress and the nation, pitching what he hopes will become policy.  Last night, President Obama presented many follow-ups to his current domestic plans.  But he also presented a brand-new education initiative that should bother freedom-loving parents and students and anyone who fears an even greater reach into their lives by the federal government: a federal mandate to force states to require students to stay in school until they are 18.

We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.

There are a host of problems with this idea, not the least of which is the fact that just requiring students to “stay in school” will not help them learn anything.  There is nothing magical about the age of 18 that suddenly makes a student educated.  A child can be as fully educated at 16 as they can be at 18.  Some kids are amazing learners–some kids aren’t.  Some kids have a passion for learning–some kids don’t.  No amount of federally-mandated attendance is going to “educate” a child.  It would be easier just to wave a wand and declare every 18 year old “educated.”

Writing for the website “Outside the Beltway,” author James Joyner shares his thoughts on the whole thing in his post mortem on Obama’s speech:

Or, as I summarized it, “A law requiring belligerent, stupid 17-year-olds to stay in school and ruin it for everybody.” My guess is that the policy, if enacted, would have little impact on educating the segment of the population that would otherwise drop out. And I fear it will both lead to real distraction from the students motivated to be there and lead to yet more lowering of standards to ensure people “graduate.”

Stripping parents of their rights, forcing states to follow another federal mandate (stripping them of their rights again), and trying to force unwilling teens to stay in school because of the greatness of “education” is perfectly in tune with the statist’s desire to lengthen the school day and the school year and to make state-run preschool the norm for all children.  If that doesn’t work, they’ll just keep the kids in school even longer.

As a former private school teacher, I’ve seen plenty of 18 year olds who didn’t care one iota for learning and were just biding their time until they graduated.  As long as they got high enough marks to get out of school at the end of the year, they were happy.  Thirteen or more years of school attendance doesn’t guarantee that a child is educated when all is said and done.

Kids can’t be forced to learn, and the state can’t force them to.

The bigger question is–why is this so important to the president? Perhaps, as even the New York Times noted in their follow up article on his address, Obama cares less about the state of the union and more about the state of his campaign for re-election.  A crucial Obama political ally has something to gain from it. Writing for the blog “The Future of Capitalism,”  Ira Stoll notes:

Wikipedia, in an entry on “raising of school leaving age (often shortened to ROSLA)” reports that 15 states and the District of Columbia have already raised their dropout age to 18. And it has the kicker that helps explain what may be a factor motivating Mr. Obama on this one: “The National Education Association, the main teachers’ union in the United States, advocates requiring students to earn a high school diploma or stay in school until age 21.”

I read that sentence in Wikipedia and thought to myself, “oh, that explains it.” A Bloomberg article has details, including the news that the teachers themselves estimate that the compulsory education until 21 plan would cost an additional $1 billion a year, much of which would naturally be spent on unionized teachers paying dues to unions that reliably support Democratic candidates.

Keeping the kids in school at least until age 18 is just the beginning.  And it all makes sense.  It has nothing to do with wanting kids to get a better education, but everything to do with ensuring his pleases his union base.

The garage door opened and she watched as her husband walked through the living room carrying a ladder.  She stopped him, calling out, “Honey—uhm—what are you doing?”

He paused.  “Taking down the holiday cheer.”

“Oh good,” she smiled.  “It’s January 11, after all.”

He didn’t smile.  “We’ve been getting some complaints from the Homeowners’ Association about the twinkle lights still twinkling.  The rules says we can leave them up until the end of the month.  But someone’s being a big complainer.”

“Really?” she asked.

He nodded, clearly irritated.  “Yep.  And I guess one of the neighbors complained because our “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season” neon sign was still shining brightly in his daughter’s bedroom.”

“But it’s only once a year,” she said.  “You’re taking it down.”

He set the ladder down, warming up.  “I know!  That’s what I said.  ‘Jerry,’ I said, ‘if I can’t show off my Jesus at Christmas and well into New Year, then I might as well give up being an American.’

“I’m not sure if that’s exactly—” she began, but he cut her off.

“And he said, ‘What’s so American about an obnoxious sign?’” continued her husband.

Gently, she said, “That’s kind of my question.”  Her voice trailed off.

He rubbed his hand together and paced a bit as he talked.  “Hey, people died to give me the right to put out our giant nativity scene.”

“Really?  That’s what all those wars were about?  I must have missed that in history class.”  Her tone was gently sarcastic.

He didn’t hear it.  He quoted, “’We hold these truths to be self-evident.  All men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of Christmas lights.’  Right there in the Constitution.”

She chuckled at  him.  “Honey, maybe you should just calm down.”

But he was too irritated.  Continuing, he stormed, “Why should I be the one to calm down?  Everyone is always telling us we can’t say Merry Christmas we have to say Happy Holidays whatever that means.  I want people to know that Jesus is the Reason for the Season, so I’m gonna play my Christmas music nice and loud for the whole neighborhood to hear.  These people need to know the truth!”

She knew his heart was in the right place and did her best to speak to that.  “Well, maybe you went a little overboard this year.  Is there a nicer way to do it?”

“Nicer?  What’s nicer than a giant blown-up Grinch smiling and saying, ‘WHO loves the WHO’S?  JESUS!’”

“But the neighbors do have a point, honey,” she said quietly.  “And it is January.”

He agreed.  “I know!  Ted Murphy put up his lights and didn’t even bother making sure there was a manger scene.  Whatever happened to ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine?’”

She smiled, patting him on the arm.  “Honey, your light shines so bright that Jerry’s daughter can’t sleep at night.  Isn’t that what you said?”

He was on a roll, though.  “Won’t let Satan blow it out!  I’m gonna let it shine!”

She stopped him.  “They’re Christmas lights, sweetheart.  Maybe next year we should just tone it down a bit.”

“Tone it down?  If we tone it down, how will the neighbors hear about Jesus?  We gotta go bigger this year.  In fact, I’m thinking of adding a giant sleigh for Santa next December.  And Santa’s sleigh will have a giant Jesus fish and a bumper sticker that says, Merry CHRISTmas.  That’ll show people the truth!”

She started laughing.  “This may seem crazy, but what if we actually maybe told our neighbors about Jesus all year long?”

This was something new–and it took him by surprise.  “What?  All year?  But—but—what about the inflatable Baby Jesus I just bought at the After Christmas sale?”

“I just think that maybe we lose sight of the fact that Jesus didn’t come just at Christmas,” she said.

“They don’t make Easter lights, honey,” he said seriously.

She sighed with relief.  “I know.  Thank goodness!  But—and I’m just wondering here—but doesn’t Emmanuel mean ‘God with us?’”

He sat down on the ottoman.  “Yeah, I guess so.”

“And God with us doesn’t mean, God with us only at Christmastime or God might be with us.  Or God will be with us.  It means “God IS with us.”  Right now.  At Christmas.  At New Year. At Easter–and all year long.”

He looked up at her.  “So, what are you saying?  We should put up the Emmanuel sign on July 4th?  Sounds good.  And we can do fireworks!  Great idea!”

She sat down next to him. “Honey, I think maybe we should show Emmanuel—Jesus—all year long.  Not in a decoration, or a big neon sign, but in our lives.  In the way we treat each other as a family—the way we treat our neighbors and friends.”

He half-grinned, getting it.  “So not just “Jesus is the Reason for the Season,” but Jesus is the reason for everything?”

She squeezed his hand tightly.  “I know you love your Christmas lights and decorations, but maybe the light we’re supposed to shine brightest is the one that shows Him best.”

He stood up to go.  “So tone it down this year.  Got it.”  He started out the door.  She turned to head upstairs when his voice called out.

“Uhm, honey, there’s just one problem!”

Pausing on the stairs, she answered, “What’s that?”

“I think I may need to get some help getting the giant angel choir off the roof.”

She laughed.  “Why?”

“Without help we’re gonna have a bunch of fallen angels.”

10 Books I Read Last Year
1. The Bible (NLT)
2. Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim
3. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
4. My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke
5. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
6. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
7. God’s Story, Your Story by Max Lucado
8. Be Our Guest by The Disney Institute
9. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
10. Leading With Questions by Michael Marquardt

10 Movies I Watched Last Year
1. Hugo
2. The Muppets
3. Captain America
4. Steamboat Bill, Jr.
5. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
6. Thor
7. The Lord of the Rings
8. Cars 2
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
10. Gnomeo & Juliet

10 Albums I Listened To Last Year
1. At Welding Bridge – Beady Belle
2. Piece by Piece — Katie Melua
3. Heirloom Music — The Wronglers with Jimmie Dale Gilmore
4. Until I Met You — Melissa Morgan
5. Mr. Saturday Night — Julian Velard
6. A Thousand True Stories — Silje Nergaard
7. Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor — Caro Emerald
8. West Side Story – André Previn & His Pals
9. Pretending to See the Future: A Tribute to O.M.D. — Various
10. The Green Album (A Celebration of The Muppets) — Various

10 Things Heard A Lot Around Our House Last Year
1. “We’re saving money for Disneyland.”
2. “Audrey, can you [insert request here]?”
3. “Why do we have to have all these kids?”
4. “Did you hear that?!?!”
5. “Elphie!”
6. “My tummy hurts.”
7. “Where’s the charger?”
8. “You aren’t hungry.”
9. “Can I have some Christmas milk?” (August asking for egg nog.)
10. “What’s for dinner?”

Looking forward to what these lists will look like next year.

Hugo is the best film of 2011.

At its heart, Hugo is the story of an orphaned boy who lives in the railroad station in Paris.  He minds the extensive clockworks in the building after his uncle, who actually does the job, disappears.  The boy, Hugo Cabret, has in his possession one unique item: an automaton that his clockmaker father had once tried to restore.  More than anything, Hugo wants to put it back together and get it working again.

But there is more to this story.  And that’s where Hugo’s wonder takes it from children’s story to Best Picture of the Year.

It’s a heartwarming, old-fashioned story about finding love by giving love.  It’s about finding purpose in life by restoring purpose to another. It’s a breathtaking visual spectacle, full of delightful flights of imagination, large and small: a view of Paris from a railroad clock tower, drawings that come alive, an adorable little clockwork mouse.

Hugo is also clearly a personal film, a film about making films that addresses director Martin Scorsese’s obsession with the history of cinema and echoes psychological themes found throughout his work, but without the gangsters, guns, and swear words.

It is without question a work by a major film artist and craftsman, made partly in tribute to another one. Hugo was adapted from Brian Selznick’s Caldecott Medal-winning children’s book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” by screenwriter John Logan.  The story mirrors what Scorsese has shared about his own life: lonely boy, lover of technology, obsessed with films; a forgotten filmmaker and his lost masterpieces,.  It is also an appreciation and celebration of the early days of cinema.  From the earliest films of the creators of the movie camera, the Lumière brothers, to masters like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Georges Méliès–all of whose films make appearances in this story that is ostensibly about an orphan boy and his automaton.

Scorsese and his usual team of technical and design collaborators (particularly cinematographer Robert Richardson and production designer Dante Ferretti) create a gorgeous storybook vision of Paris, circa 1930, and moves us through it with fluid cinematic ease. Scorsese’s use of 3-D isn’t a stunt or a value-added effect–it’s a storytelling tool, a method of infusing the tale with humor, humanity and often breathtaking depth. From the opening tracking shot, which plunges from the Parisian sky along the railroad platforms and finally to the station clock, behind which 12-year-old Hugo is hidden, the vision at work in this film is unmistakable.

Many fans of the film appreciate its call for film preservation and a celebration of the early visionaries of cinema (which I do appreciate as well as a lover of films in a day when film is rarely art and as disposable as the heels which Georges Méliès’ films were melted down to form).  However, my appreciation of Hugo is not just in the excellence of its performances (does Ben Kingsley ever give a “bad” performance?), the beauty of its craftsmanship (Howard Shore’s score is beautiful and full of life), or the fact that this is truly what Scorsese should win an Oscar for.

It’s for the quote I started this post with.  Hugo speaks to the very heart of what I believe all great stories should speak to: answering the question of identity.  Who are you?  Why are you here?  Because this question is the essential one–the eternal one–the one that is at humanity’s very core.

All of us have a part in the mechanics of creation.  We are created specifically to fit that part. There are no extra pieces, no accidents.  Everyone has a purpose, and when we drift away from that purpose or forget it or have yet to discover it, we find ourselves asking that eternal question: why am I here?

Hugo discovers his purpose. He helps another discover his. And in doing so, he helps the world rediscover something it had forgotten.  As Georges Méliès says, “Come, dream with me.”  Martin Scorsese’s Hugo is a story of dreams, adventure, and purpose.  It is a celebration of the power of film making–and a celebration of what it means to be uniquely human.

Each of us are here for a reason.  Scorsese, the master of the dark gangster drama, celebrates that in a “children’s” story that is my personal favorite film of the last year.

I realized a few nights ago that I am a worrier.

I may not come across like one.  I’m a generally positive person, I have a lot of joy, and I find much pleasure in simple things.  But I worry far more than I need to.

I figure out of the 525,600 minutes i had allotted to me in 2011, I spent at least 50,000 of them worrying.

And here’s the sad thing: 99.9% of what I worried about never happened.  Every bill was paid.  We took vacations.  We traveled the country. Our lights stayed on. Our mortgage was paid. We had birthday parties and Christmas presents.

So I’m done.  Worry isn’t godly.  Worry isn’t a spiritual gift.  It’s a soul-sucking piece of nasty that the enemy uses to keep us from truly appreciating all of God’s blessings and providence in our lives.

Jesus said that nobody adds any time to their lives by worrying.  Nothing is accomplished by it.  No good comes of it.

So this next year will be the year where I fully embrace God’s grace and live my life “worry-free.”  The way that God intended me to live.  Resting on the promises of Christ, my Savior.

Happy New Year.

They stand on both sides of the bearded guy and say,
“He’s a harmless childhood memory!”

Or,
“You’re lying to children if you believe in Santa!”

I’ve heard,
“He’s just something fun to help kids get into the spirit of giving!”

And,
“He keeps kids from believing in Jesus, the true reason for the season!”

When I look at Santa Claus, I think this:
“I really don’t care how you feel about him.”

That may be controversial.  After all, I’m a children’s pastor.  My whole job is to help kids connect with God, and more importantly, to His Son, Jesus—to help them develop a personal relationship with Him and grow in their faith.

At least, that’s what most people think it is.  In fact, that’s only part of my job.  The other part is to help parents connect with the spiritual development of their children.  It’s not just kids I focus on, but parents, too.  And parents, I really don’t care if your family is “pro-Santa” or “anti-Santa.”  I don’t care if you’re “pro-Disney” or “anti-Harry Potter.”

What I care about is what you are focusing on with your kids.

Someone I really respect in kids and family ministry, Reggie Joiner (co-founder of North Point Community Church with Andy Stanley) says this in his book Think Orange:

“I recall a number of times during my life as a leader in the church in which I would look around…and realize we had drifted.  What are we doing fighting with these people?  Why am I so anxious about things that don’t really worry God?  I have a hard time imagining Him getting worked up about too many of those things.  I sincerely doubt God is in heaven saying frantically, ‘Oh no! J. K. Rowling is writing another one of those books!’ or ‘Calling all angels: Disney is letting those people into their park.  I need you to rally some Christians to boycott.’”

I would venture to say God feels the same way about Santa Claus.

Joiner concludes with this: “I can imagine God saying to us, ‘What are you doing?  Why are you focused on that other stuff?  Bring the light back over here where it belongs.  Show them who I AM.”

You see, most parents don’t want to talk to me about how to help their kids develop hearts of service.  They don’t ask me how to help their kids begin having a quiet time, or how to take what we talk about here on Sunday and apply the Bible to their every day lives.

I don’t get asked how to help really help kids understand the concept of the Incarnation or what it truly means when we say that Jesus is “Emmanuel—God with us.”

No, most parents want my opinion and my position to be about something that it should never be about: what books to read or not to read, what movies to see or not to see, where to go or not go on vacation, what games to play or not play—whether we should or should not encourage kids to believe in Santa.

Because you see, if you really want to get down to it, none of what we do at Christmas really matters.

The Christmas tree.
Singing carols.
Candlelight Christmas Eve services.
Giving gifts.
Lights.
Mistletoe, holly, egg nog lattes, and red cups at Starbucks.
Big dinners.
Yummy treats.
Chestnuts roasting, winter wonderlands, little drummer boys.
Saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”

You see, all of it, like Santa Claus, has the danger of distracting us from what we are actually supposed to be doing: shining the LIGHT into the lost world that so desperately needs the HOPE only Emmanuel, the God who is WITH us, can offer.

Anything else is just opinion and personal preference, like whether your family opens presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  It’s not wrong to believe in Santa anymore than it’s right to “not” believe.  What is wrong is when you look at the trappings of the season—whatever they may look like for your family—and think that it really matters.

Because it doesn’t.

What do we think about at Christmas?

“That sales clerk said ‘Happy Holidays’ to me.”
“Those parents lie to their kids about Santa.”
“That church isn’t having services on Christmas Day!”
“Those parents told their kids there isn’t a Santa Claus!”

What should we be thinking about at Christmas?

The fact that the tiny Baby, the Incarnate God, knew you before you were born. He walked with Moses.  He gave David courage.  He conversed with Abraham.  He wrestled with Jacob. He spoke the words and the planets sprang into existence.  He waved His hands and mountains and oceans and rivers came to be.  And yet, He gave ALL of that up to clothe Himself in humanity–wrapping Himself in our fragile, frail form.  To be with us.

He did it because His love for you was so great that He could do nothing less.

This is what matters to God.

I really don’t care how you feel about Santa.  Or Harry Potter.  Or even Disney, for that matter.

I care about whether or not your kids—and your family—are sharing what what matters most to a world that so desperately needs the HOPE and PEACE only He can offer.  To the family member who drives you crazy.  To the single mother who wonders where dinner is coming from. To the clerk at the store who has been instructed to say that thing that offends you.

They may not say it out loud, but all of them are crying out, “Can’t somebody show me what Christmas is really all about?”

The rest of it really doesn’t matter.  Does it?

Bublé’s take on the 1940′s classic was nice.  It wasn’t remarkable, but it was well-sung and the arrangement was full of lush strings.  I guarantee that it will still be listened to 20 years from now.  It just sounds like a classic Christmas album.

I wish I could like Bieber’s song, but unlike “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” it will not stand the test of time and be sung 40 years later.  The “imma be under the mistletoe” line dates the song to the current year–and it’s one of those phrases that makes lovers of fine lyrics cringe.

To create a new Christmas song isn’t easy.  To create a Christmas album that represents the time period in which it was created yet doesn’t sound dated is next to impossible.  But there is one album that stands head and shoulders above the rest as a shining example of a classic sound, fully exemplary of its time, yet strangely timeless.

This is what Christmas sounds like.

In my house, you know it’s Christmas when Andy’s bright smile shines from the corner of that bright red cover.

The album works because of the power of its arrangements, sheer amount of fun, a great reverence for the season, and of course, Andy’s voice.  It’s clearly an album from the early 1960′s, but the arrangements of Williams’ songs, by such legends as Johnny Mandel, George Wyle, Robert Mersey, and Marty Paitch, are so full of fun and joy that the songs themselves have become as synonymous with the season as trees and presents.

Like many albums of the era, created in the day when one had to flip a record over to hear both sides, one half is secular and the other is full of traditional carols.  The songs range from the standards “Whiite Christmas” and “The Christmas Song” to the pop jazz power of “Kay Thompson’s Jingle Bells,” which was written by Kay Thompson, the author of the Eloise books.

But the standout is George Wyle’s “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”  It’s rare to write a song that becomes a standard–most of our contemporary standard Christmas songs range from the World War II era–but Wyle, who wrote the arrangements for Andy’s TV show, created a song that has become a  true classic.

Lyrically powerful and blessed with a wonderful melody, it’s Johnny Mandel’s arrangement, with the big blasting horns and great background vocals, that have made Andy’s version the standard.  In fact, the American Society of Composers and Performers certified his recording of the song as the #4 most-played Christmas recording of 2010, surpassing even Bing’s “White Christmas.”  For a song recorded in 1963, that’s quite the staying power–and a true testimony to the power of creating a new Christmas song–without making it sound dated.

Add in the album’s starting song, a medley of “Happy Holiday” and “The Holiday Season,” and his classic sing-along version of “The 12 Days” reinvented as “A Song and a Christmas Tree” (and featuring a guest bass performance by Thurl Ravenscroft, no stranger to Christmas as the singer of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”), and you’ve got 15 minutes of sheer holiday perfection.

The second half of the album, where Andy sings his versions of songs like “Away in a Manger” and “Silent Night” suffers in comparison to the first half, which is just amazing.  But I must say that his version of “The First Noel” is one of my favorites, and nobody sings “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” with more tenderness and heart.  Andy’s voice truly shines on these quiet songs.

Put down Bieber’s “Misteltoe,” and pick up a true classic.  Get The Andy Williams Christmas Album and you’ll soon discover why it is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

For your listening pleasure, here’s Andy’s version of “Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season.”  It’s pure Christmas joy.

And here’s Andy on “The First Noel,” a personal favorite.

Walk into your local Target and you’ll see an endcap full of Christmas music.  There’s a few collections made just for Target, usually a young newer artist who puts out an EP exclusive, and there will be some collection CD’s re-releasing the same 24 versions of the same 24 songs that have been on nearly every other Christmas compilation since they were first created. There’s the seasonal chestnuts that manage to show themselves every year–Christmas classics (although the “classics” are getting newer and newer each season) that everybody almost already owns.

This is what Target considers a “classic.”

And there’s the new Christmas CD from a handful of artists who are doing their best to jump on Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” money-making bandwagon.  If you create a good Christmas album, it will sell forever, and you can live off the residuals for the rest of your life.  (There’s a reason Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller keeps releasing variations of the same album every year.)  This year, you can find new albums by Carole King, Michael Bublé, and every young girl’s favorite, Justin Bieber.

As much as I love Christmas music, I still can’t bring myself to buy it.

You want a bit more variety so you listen to your local “Christmas music” station.  The trouble is, radio appeals to the lowest common denominator, so you’ll get more variety at first–but quickly you’ll discover that the same songs get played over and over again.  Here in Seattle, you can listen to KCMS the weeks before Christmas and be guaranteed to hear Boney M’s version of “Mary’s Boy Child/O My Lord” at least three times a day.  It’s a fun song, but how many other versions of “Mary’s Boy Child,” by much better artists, deserve to be heard?

If you’ve heard their “Mary’s Boy Child,” you’ve heard it all.

You can go the Pandora route, which gives you even greater variety and the ability to “like” what plays, which means you’re going to hear more stuff that fits your style.  But even then, it tends to be stuff that is more popular, more readily available, and certainly more recent–which means you’re going to miss out on a bunch of great music.

This holiday season, I will endeavor to share one Christmas album that you probably haven’t heard before.  Some of them are free from folks who like to share out of print records, and I’m grateful for them–they’ve certainly been a huge part of my success in creating an iTunes playlist of nearly 9,000 Christmas songs.  Some you can pick up on Amazon or iTunes.

There’s a lot of great Christmas music out there.  And we have exactly 25 days to enjoy it.  To kick it off, here’s one of my favorite tracks by The J’s With Jamie: “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

The first time I saw that Steve Jobs had died was on my iPhone.

On my MacBook, I quickly searched for more information and received a phone call shortly after (again on my iPhone) from a friend who works for Microsoft.  Both of us were in a state of shock.

My wife texted me–from her iPhone–and asked me to come upstairs.  The news had just broken on the local TV stations.  On the Mac Mini in our bedroom, Steve’s face looked out from the Apple homepage.  My son came in to see what the commotion was, briefly distracted from playing a game on his iPod Touch.

I went to work tonight and listened to music on my iPod Classic, and had rehearsal with the kids worship team, running the music and video via ProPresenter on a Mac.  We ran lights from our Windows computer.  In the kids’ lobby, pictures and videos streamed to the televisions via Apple TV.  I went to my office to check on something and saw our church’s Creative Director working on a video using his Mac and Final Cut.

I came home and almost tripped on my son’s Woody doll on the floor and put away the Wall*E Xbox game.  I glanced at The Art of Pixar Shorts book on the coffee table and picked up the Apple TV remote and put it away.

This is why Steve Jobs’ death has such an impact on our world.  There are just so many places where his creativity and vision have impacted the way we use and share information.  His creative vision gave the world devices that fundamentally changed the way people use music, phones, televisions.  His belief in the potential of others ensured that a small division of Lucasfilm would become one of the best film studios of all time, giving the world amazing characters and stories kids and their parents would fall in love with.

Like Walt Disney before him, he was a multi-faceted genius.  He bugged people and could be a jerk of an employer.  He was generous to a fault and always pushed for innovation, even when it gave him bad press or caused financial disaster.  Like Walt, who changed the way people looked at cartoons and amusement parks and turned them into money-making powerhouses, Steve changed the way people looked at their music collections and their phones and turned them into money-making powerhouses.

What Eric Sevarid said on the CBS News the night Walt Disney died seems appropriate when said also about Steve Jobs.  As you read, just replace Walt’s name with Steve’s:

It would take more time than anybody has around the daily news shops to think of the right thing to say about Disney.

He was an original. Not just an American original, but an original. Period.  He was a happy accident, one of the happiest this century has experienced. And judging by the way it’s behaving, in spite of all Disney tried to tell it about laughter, love, children, puppies, and sunrises, the century hardly deserved him. He probably did more to heal – or at least soothe – troubled human spirits than all the psychiatrists in the world. There can’t be many adults in the allegedly civilized parts of the globe who did not inhabit Disney’s mind and imagination for at least for a few hours and feel better for the visitation.

“It may be true, as somebody said, that while there is no highbrow in a lowbrow, there is some lowbrow in every highbrow. But what Disney seemed to know was that while there is very little grown-up in every child, there is a lot of child in every grown-up. To a child, this weary world is brand-new, gift wrapped. Disney tried to keep it that way for adults.

“By the conventional wisdom, mighty mice, flying elephants, Snow White and Happy, Grumpy, Sneezy and Doc – all these were fantasy, escapism from reality.  It’s a question of whether they are any less real, any more fantastic than intercontinental missiles, poisoned air, defoliated forests, and scrap iron on the moon. This is the age of fantasy, however you look at it, but Disney’s fantasy wasn’t lethal.

People are saying we will never see his like again.”

Thank you, Steve.  Rest in Peace.

I was happily interacting with people across the social spectrum, minding my own business, when I happened upon an article mentioning this new thing that actually could “measure” your online influence.

It sounded intriguing, so I checked it out.  I entered my Twitter account name and found out that my “Klout score” was in the mid 60′s (out of a possible 100). Pretty cool, I thought.  The Klout score measured my interactions with people on Facebook and Twitter and figured out what my influence was.  According to Klout, I was a “pundit.”  Cool.

Their website says that “The Klout Score measures influence based on your ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others. The Klout Score uses data from social networks in order to measure:

• True Reach: How many people you influence
• Amplification: How much you influence them
• Network Impact: The influence of your network.”

Which all sounds well and good.  Except that it’s not.  There’s no clear measurement of “True Reach.”  It seems to mostly measure your Facebook and Twitter connections, but Klout has also says that it measures other social network sites like Instagram, LastFM, WordPress, etc.  Sounds good.  Except that it’s not.

What’s interesting is that the explanation for how Klout scores are determined is not as clear as it once was.  If you visit the page explaining how it all happens, you see a big splashy page with very little verbiage, and certainly no clear list of variables.  Want to know how things are measured exactly?  You’d have to go back and look at it before Klout gained influence of its own.

There, you’d see that once upon a time, the Klout “True Reach” was determined by Followers, Mutual Follows, Friends, Total Retweets, Unique Commenters, Unique Likers, Follower/Follow Ratio, Followed Back %, @ Mention Count, List Count, List Followers Count.  Ah!  So that’s how it’s measured.  Makes sense.

But is this the way it is still measured?  Has it changed?  And if so, what are the new determining factors Klout uses?  And seriously, why not just explain how it works.  Without making us get in the internet time machine and travel back to the beginning of this year to figure it out?

This may seem petty.  Klout “perks” are pretty cool, although I’m not sure how my influence allowed me to get Axe Hair Products for free.  My influence in Disneyland, Facebook, Kinect, and whatever else Klout thinks I’m influential about (Soccer?!?!?)–how does that make me a good influencer of my social networks?  Are the people who like my Disneyland posts or my comments on faith and art really going to be interested in my thoughts on Axe Hair Products?  And how am I even in the right target demographic for this?

Another question–if all these other networks are so influential, how come they don’t seem to be measured?  My blog, which you are enjoying right now, saw a traffic increase of 500% last week when I posted my review of the new movie, Machine Gun Preacher.  My thoughts were retweeted by the producers of the film to their followers, and my Facebook interactions regarding the film reached epic proportions.  So…how, as all that is happening, does my influence actually go down?  Hmmm….

Finally–who cares?  Who cares what some startup in San Francisco thinks is my online influence?  I used to.  I would stress out about my “Klout score” and compete with people to get it raised.  I would post specifically to drive interactions on my Facebook or Twitter.

Well, forget it.  Today my Klout score is 67 or something.  If it drops again or raises again, it will be without my worrying about it or thinking about it.

I will enjoy my interactions with people on Instagram, where I’ve developed nearly 200 followers who “like” my random photos from Disneyland and various National Parks.  I will interact with my Facebook friends about whatever crosses my mind, whether it’s a random Seinfeld quote or a funny vintage ad, or a political action that is driving me nuts.  And I’ll enjoy my other social networking sites without worrying about my “Klout score.”

Why?  Because really, Klout is a crock.

What’s my score today?  Feel free to look it up here.  Low, high, whatever.  I just hope you had some fun.