Merry Christmas Monday
I know it isn’t really Jesus’ birthday. That exact date is lost in history, I hear probably in late March or early April. But in a canny political move to attract northerners who celebrated winter festivals, Christmas became an early winter celebration. And let’s face it, when your birthday is celebrated more or less worldwide two millenia after your birth, you should be considered an important guy.
Even John Prine weighed in on him more than once:
He was missing from the time he was 12 until he was 30.And I said: “You mean like nobody knew where he was?”And he said: “Nobody.” So that kind of like stuck in theback of my mind, you know.I thought…nobody. One of the most influentialand controversial figures in the history of mankindand nobody knows where he was for 18 years.
I snuck away on a fishing trip once with this waitressfor a couple of days, and by the time we got back toNashville, everybody knew where we were.
or
It was Christmas in prisonAnd the food was real goodWe had turkey and pistolsCarved out of wood
We live in lucky times. Usedtabe, Christmas wasn’t a season – in Puritan New England, celebrating Christmas was illegal. Credit a certain English fella named Dickens for changing how we now do it up royally.
And even now, many people say we’ve lost the meaning of Christmas. I have to admit, after spending the Christmas season in a few Central European paces like Germany or Czech, I have a lot of sympathy for those who complain how we have relentlessly over-commercialized perhaps the most important day, in honor of the most important man, in history.
Look at the poor folks in Israel, in Gaza. Look at the Russia-Ukraine area. I suspect Taiwan will soon be added to the list, along with some possible hot spots in northern South America. Let’s be honest, we complain, lib vs. rightists, and the rest of the -sists vs. all the other ists – but no matter what, we are still luckier than almost anyone else on the entire planet.
Be grateful for what Western civilization has brought us. Worship as you choose tomorrow. Or sleep in, if maybe you snuck in communion at the Christmas Eve service like we did. Look at your family, and be grateful several times over for them. Kiss the wife or significant other a few times. Kiss your kids more. If you have grandkids, you are thrice blessed. Friends? Icing on the cake. Got a few special ones I was stationed with, or just happen to know, who enrich my particular piece of turf. Bill, Doug, Mick, Bo, Jim, Combat Sue…you know who you are.
Bless you, your family, your special ones, and let’s hope maybe next Christmas may be a little less turbulent world-wide than this one. Go kiss your significant other again.
As one whose spent a fair chunk of Christmases past on some far place of the globe, or pulling a shift in the ER, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday. I get to see all 4 grandkids this Christmas, so I’ll raise a glass today for the promised “peace on earth” the angels proclaimed.
4 Minutes Well Worth Watching.
“The Greatest Gift”
Merry Christmas…:)
Merry and Blessed Christmas to All.
The Wise men from the East, never said how many, followed the signs from above and 9-11-3 BC seems like a good date from my little research.
Searching for the Truth, never Stop!
Merry Christmas to ALL!
https://youtu.be/jDJa2gKQf94
Well said, David. We all have so much to Celebrate. We can also rest assured in the knowledge that because of The Gift of The One whose Birthday is celebrated today, we will see again the ones that have gone before us.
Sad state of affairs of the World when The City of Bethlehem is, again, in the midst of a War. That Former Jewish Carpenter needs to pick up His whip, go into grubermint halls, start turning over furniture and chasing folks out.
Working linky to John Prine lyrics here?…
https://www.google.com/search?q=john+prine+jesus+the+missing+years+lyrics&rlz=1CAQRFK_enUS818&oq=john+prine+Jesus+the&aqs=chrome.3.0i355i512j46i512j69i57j0i512l2j0i22i30l4j0i390i512i650.12365j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Problem is that the quote on Missing Years is from his intro and doesn’t appear in the song itself on most sites. Ah well, if you’re a Prine fan ya know. Lot of Prine and Paul Thorn playing as I wrapped stuff yesterday.
Merry Christmas to my favorite deplorables, you are all a blessing to me and each other, whether you admit it or not.
I went to Christmas Eve Mass last night with friends prior to a low-key evening together. For the record, my Catholicism and faith have very little to do with each other. The former is tradition, the latter is personal.
My friends are regulars, but I attend rarely as I call this Church “Catholic-lite”. I like my Catholicism old school – not out of belief but out of tradition and this Church has even modernized the traditional liturgical music. Not a fan and jarring to my sensibilities.
But, it was the “Family Service”. There was a special Missal for the service which had the music for 20+ Christmas carols. Prior to Mass, the choir led the packed church in over an hour of caroling. The spirit of community and joy was palpable. I don’t remember the last time I felt like that in Church.
For the Homily, the Priest had all the kids together, sat down on the edge of the chancel and talked about the manger and the specific animals present at the nativity and St. Francis of Assisi. Each child got a nativity-shaped ornament and a prayer card with the Prayer to say Christmas morning. The kids were wonder-struck and rapt.
For Communion, all were invited. Non-Catholics were to cross their arms over their chests and would receive a blessing instead of the Host.
Service ended and no one rushed out. I realized this Church is doing something right. They captured the wonder, the joy, the meaning of Christmas, the celebration and the sense of community. The proof was Peace on Earth really did begin in the parking lot.
Even alone (by choice) on this quiet Christmas morning filled with memories, I am still feeling the Peace. The world is a mess and the future is scary but I am filled with quiet rather than disquiet.
Wherever you are, whomever is absent, know Peace within is possible. This is my Christmas wish for all of you.
Merry Christmas OAM.
Good job on stirring up the dust bunnies and awakening the onion ninjas, OAM. Thought I had this placed cleaned up.
Merry Christmas to THE Most Adorable of Deplorables.
Well said, David.
After our family Christmas Eve yesterday, Favorite First Daughter-in-Law said “This year I feel more like Christmas is happening around me.” And I have to agree that for the adults in our family it has been that way. We’ve had several losses and set-back in the GB Clan, health issues, economic stress, in-law’s families having struggles, car issues, house repair issues – you know the drill. The bumps and bruises of living in this sad, old, world.
Yet yesterday when we eighteen gathered after our sundry church services, there was love, laughter (a lot of that), a few presents for each grandchild, some pretty good food, and the fellowship that loving families have.
As I often say, I’m richer than Bill Gates – ’cause money cannot buy what we have as a family.
And we know that whatever happens in our lives, Jesus is still on His Throne, we have the guarantee of the continuation of this family fellowship with each other in the presence of the Lamb, and the sweet reunion with those who have gone before where God will wipe away all tears from our eyes.
All because of Immanuel, God-with-us, the promised Christ Whose birth we celebrate today, and whose life we are called to imitate every day.
Merry Christmas to all. May God’s blessings rest on you all.
Here are the missing years of young Jesus, as told by his best friend, Biff. Slightly sacrilegious, very thought provoking, and funny as hell!
lamb:%20The%20Gospel%20According%20to%20Biff,%20Christ’s%20Childhood%20Pal%20https%3A//a.co/d/aaC982r
Let’s try this again:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb:_The_Gospel_According_to_Biff,_Christ's_Childhood_Pal
Hopefully everyone is enjoying time with their loved ones. We had a smaller Christmas than usual this year, with only the three teenagers, my wife and me, and the animals. The hedgehog was picked up last week–at six years old she was ancient for her kind and couldn’t stand up or even relieve herself, so it was time to say goodbye two weeks ago. My Lab seemed to notice, as he carried a toy around for the next few days; he’d gotten a hold of her a few times and liked his spiky interactive toy, never harming her but being stubborn when we tried to free her.
As for Jesus, I have the honor of knowing Christ David. Well, that’s what my currently incarcerated (again) friend realized while locked in a mental institution earlier this year, after overindulging himself and nearly dying from exposure. The crazy ran strong, and the few conversations we had were basically him realizing he’s a “soldier” like I was, telling me he even bought Sergeant rank, and that he’s a reincarnation of Jesus himself. Any question I have can be answered by him turning to a random bible passage and interpreting it.
People come and go, and traditions change, but this time of year should always be one of joy. Sure, there’s sorrow, stress, and the nostalgia of days gone by, back when things just seemed…better, but as the post states, be glad that we live here, where we still have our freedoms and are mostly safe. It’s easy to get on these pages throughout the year, or even just turn on the news, and think that we are in dire straits, but we’re not in a war-torn country, have abundant food, and can choose to celebrate as much or little as we please.
“…have abundant food…”
Unless you’re me. I’ve got to look through the fridge and pantry for my first-of-a-kind Christmas dinner. I closed the last three nights, and after getting off at 7pm last night, Dollar General was the only place open. I’ve got a ham, but the wife vetoed me cooking that (I smoked a whole ham for Halloween, then baked one for Thanksgiving, with ham and cabbage, sandwiches, and breakfast getting made from the leftovers). So, I’m thinking mac and cheese, and… something. It’s a shame I forgot my cases of MREs when I moved last year, because the family would be having an expeditionary Christmas dinner.
🍖🍞🍴😋
Nothing wrong with breakfast for dinner.
My sympathies on having to close three nights in a row.
I “get” to go in early tomorrow (normal day off) because the boss hopes there will be an after-Christmas rush. Maybe so, maybe not. But he forgot to tell me until I was leaving at end-of-shift Saturday…
Oh well. It can be fun at times. Then there’s the Normal Rockwell observation:
Merry Christmas one and all.
We are blessed.