Merry Christmas

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy


Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

New Christmas Traditions

Last year my wife and I stared a new tradition with our adult children. This year we are hosting a brunch Christmas Eve day to gather and present our choices for this year.

Many years ago my Parents borrowed a tradition from some in-laws. When my brother, sister and I grew to adults we put our names in a hat. Each person pulled a name and that was who they bought gifts for. That way we didn't go broke buying gifts for everyone as we each married and added more family to the list. We still do this each Christmas Eve. This year I pulled my Brother-in Law's name.

I called my sister to inquire about what to get her husband. Her simple reply was "Hunting, fishing, 3 or 8." Well I'm not a NASCAR fan but I do know enough that 3 and 8 are Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. I had no clue where to go to get a suitable gift. So we went to the local mall and wandered about hoping to find a specialty store. Failing that we went into Spencer's Gifts. Good Googly Moogly! I haven't been in one of these in for ever. I felt like I needed a shower after walking through the place. Fortunately the mall was pretty empty since it was a Monday morning. I would have rather been seen walking out of Victoria's Secrets.

Once the shaking stopped we found a team apparel shop that carried a limited selection of NASCAR items. I picked out what I thought he might not have and swung by my sister's work to get her opinion. She was specially impressed with the dollar bill with the "Intimidator's" picture pasted over old George. He must be a super fan because she told us he was at a candle party she gave and asked if they had candles in the shape of a 3 or 8 that were scented as burning rubber or gasoline.

I smell a cottage industry.









Technorati tags
Christmas, Virginia, NASCAR

A Different Christmas Poem

Received this in my Email, enjoy.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the
dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.


No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to e at.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that thi
s flag will not fall.'
'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'

'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum , Iraq.

See more at the Carnival of Christmas, 2007 Edition at CatHouse Chat




Technorati tags
Christmas, military

A New Christmas Tradition

Long ago Thanksgiving had replaced Christmas as my favorite holiday. The very nature of Thanksgiving makes commercializing and vicim mongering difficult. Granted there has been a trend to just call it turkey day but as fads go it has been short lived. A day set aside for one to give thanks for the past year forces one to acknowledge something outside of one's self.

So what to do about Christmas? I still love it, it's just been an effort to try and overcome the traditions that have grown around the day that cause the stress which can overshadow the meaning of the day. As if the shopping and party attending schedules were not enough we now have to contend with people who don't identify with the meaning of the day who are too insecure in what they do believe that they wish for everyone else to stop expressing themselves. At our house we have chosen to institute a new tradition to just bypass the nonsense that Christmas has become.

A new tradition is an oxymoron. One has to have some history of repetition to justify a practice as a tradition. Just bear with me for a moment and you will see.

All our children are grown. We ourselves have become impossible to buy for because we have what we want or if we find we desire something new we just go and get it. As the kids have settled into their careers the same has begun to happen with them. Gift giving was not only difficult to do but expensive to practice. So much of the time the gifts were becoming a burden that were interfering with our desire to enjoy the gathering together with one another. Then my wife had an inspiration.

Instead of giving to each other, why not give to a charity? The plan was for each one of us to pick a charity and make a donation. Then on an appointed day we would gather for dinner and take turns describing the charity and the reason we chose to give to it. Last night we had our first annual Christmas charity dinner. The charities were diverse as the individuals who gave. They reflected the concerns of each person in a unique way. We all agreed that this was a wonderful way to commemorate the birth of God's ultimate gift to mankind, His Son and our Savior.




.See the Christmas Carnival at Adam's Blog






Christmas, Virginia, Traditional values, Christianity,

Two Very Different Christmas Displays

This is the time of year when decorations are ubiquitous. Everyone has their own reasons, most are simply to express their festive mood, some to impress their neighbors and others to make a statement. This year there are two distinctly different displays that were constructed to try and make a difference.

A Vancouver Island artist has put an effigy of a crucified Santa Claus on his front lawn, causing some neighbors to complain it's traumatizing their children.

Jimmy Wright said the figure is intended to be a comment on society's growing appetite for consumer goods.

"I don't know how it came into my mind but I thought I'm going to take Santa Claus and I'm going to crucify him."

I'll give Mr. Wright a hint. This came into his mind because there was nothing else there. Lots of people including myself feel that there is much too much emphasis on the buying and giving of gifts at Christmas time, but a disgusting display in the front yard does not seem to be an effective way of making a difference. In fact I would venture that it is counter productive. Real change comes from people following those who lead by example. Take Randy and Ann Schimka for instance.

First time parenthood for the Schimkas came with stunning surprise. Their son, nine-year-old Brandon is autistic. Part of the problem was that Brandon couldn't find a focus. That is, until last Christmas, when he fell in love with lights.

"So I said would you like to build a display with dad and maybe next year we can put on a display at our house," Randy said.

For ten months father and son worked on their Christmas display. By Thanksgiving it was ready. 36,000 lights and 12,000 ft of wire but more important a boy has been changed.

"I'm really sorry now that I didn't have a camera handy to take a picture of him, because the look on his face made it all worth while," Randy said.

It's a look that finally unlocked his son's imagination.

Some thing that the artist from Vancouver will only experience in a negative way with his display.

See the video here.






.






Christmas, Traditional values, Santa,

Appeals Court Rules Against Nativity but for Menorah and Star and Cresent

How does a person become elevated to a position on the Appeals Court and hold such nonsense in their head? The New York City school system's policy for holiday displays limited them to secular only. Yet they held that the Jewish menorah and the Islamic star and crescent were secular, but the Nativity scene religious. So a mother sued on behalf of her children.

Here's the rub. The court ruled that the Jewish menorah and the Islamic star and crescent were indeed religious as well as the Nativity, but allowed the Jewish and Islamic symbols and banned the Christian!

A divided federal appeals-court panel ruled New York City schools can ban the display of the Christian Nativity during Christmas while permitting a Jewish menorah and the Islamic star and crescent during Hanukkah and Ramadan.

The Thomas More Law Center, which brought the case on behalf of Andrea Skoros and her two elementary school children, called the 2-1 decision Thursday by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan "another outrageous example of federal courts discriminating against Christians."

The city argues the menorah and star and crescent are permissible symbols because they are "secular," whereas the Nativity scene must be excluded because it is "purely religious."

The majority, in fact, said the city's argument was fallacious, stating that the policy "mischaracterizes" these symbols, but still upheld the ban on the Christian Nativity.

Robert Muise, Thomas More's attorney handling the case, called it a "shocking decision" that should outrage Christians.

"We strongly believe that the majority decision is fundamentally flawed, as pointed out by the dissent, and we intend to take this fight to the next level," he said. "This battle is far from over."

Christians in New York are now rioting and burning at the blasphemous ruling of the courts wait, that's Moslems around the world that are doing all that because of cartoons they don't like. Here in the state of NY Christians are taking it all in stride, moving through the system and relying on the law. If it were a Moslem saying "we intend to take this fight to the next level," everyone would be moving their cars off the street and hiring body guards.

Christmas Wood Shampoo Award

Some people just don't have communication skills.

This 'tis-the-season-to be-creepy display - which has drawn no small amount of community ire - can be found in the front yard of Joel Krupnik, 58, and his wife, Mildred Castellanos, 43, who said they are protesting the commercialization of the Yule season.

In another touch of Christmas jeer, the Santa dummy is standing behind a tree whose bare branches are adorned with beheaded Barbie dolls.

"Christmas has religious origins. It's in the Bible. Santa is not in the Bible. He's not a religious symbol. Santa Claus has become a piece of Americana," Krupnik explained yesterday.

Krupnik, who dabbles in real estate, said if anyone was offended, they could simply cross the street. Some children have done just that.

I can think of many ways to express one's opinions, this is not one of them. From the statements of the family the more likely reason for the twisted display was just an expression of their poor taste. Big fans of slasher films it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that they got the neighbors tinsel in a snit they've come up with the protest excuse.

Winners of the Christmas wood shampoo award



Basil's got more

Two Christmas Carols

My two most favorite Christmas carols have a few things in common:

1. They have been around for a a century or more.

2. I've been singing them since I was a child, yet only well into my adulthood did I recognize the profound message in the lyrics.

3. They focus on the significance of why we celebrate Christmas

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay;
Remember Christ, our Savior,
Was born on Christmas day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

This is one of the only songs I tried to learn on the piano when I was a kid. I have known the first half of the first chorus by heart for as long as I could remember. When I became a parent and was teaching my children this song the message of the lyrics hit home. Christ came as a man to give himself as the price to free us from the curse of Adam. The rest we have, the comfort and joy are in the knowledge of our freedom from judgment.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley (1707-1788), 1739

Hark! the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise;
Join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of the favored one.
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King"

Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King"

This is definitely y favorite. The realization of the profundity of the lyrics struck me while watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on the tube with my kids. "Peace on Earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled."

I've sang this song a hundred times and not heard that message. Each verse expounds on the theme of God, born as man to bring mankind back into fellowship with Him. I now pay attention to the words in each carol I sing or hear. There are many more with a message of the meaning of Christmas, but these two are the crown jewels.

Christian Carnival #101 at The Bible Archive

Christmas Carnival at Adam's Blog

Nativity Scene Without Mary, Joseph or Jesus

Time for a wood shampoo.

The library of Memphis, Tenn. has allowed a Nativity display on it's public area, but only if Joseph, Mary, the Wise Men and Jesus are not included. The manger has animals and a shepherd gathered around.

The public area is for community organizations to places announcements of upcoming events. A local church was using the Nativity scene to announce its coral presentation for the Christmas holiday. They were told by library officials that the figures the library wanted removed were "inappropriate".

Inappropriate would be an inclusion of Halloween decorations or the space shuttle. Inappropriate is the exclusion of the figures that give the display context. Saying "No you may not use a Nativity Scene." would be more appropriate than allowing a meaningless display. For not using common sense I offer a holiday wood shampoo to the Memphis library.




Fly to Right Wing Naton

What I Want For Christmas

It's December 6. Seventeen days left before I have to go shopping for Christmas. Which means I have to start thinking about what to tell people I want. My good wife has learned to not even ask. She gets me nice things that I never would have thought of. But what do I want? There is one thing. Everyone has that philosophical ideal that they wish for, world peace, cure for cancer, irresistibility to the opposite sex. I want a toaster that works.

I've owned lots of toasters. All of them work the same. I put a slice of bread in the slot, push down the handle and bingo! It pops out ready to eat, except it's too dark. I adjust the setting figuring that the calibration is off somewhat. New piece of bread, same result. I put in a third slice, this time the only thing that comes out the slot is black smoke. I've permanently singed my eye brows looking into the toaster slot to see when the bread is just right.

Our society has landed men on the moon and brought them back. We have missiles that can go down chimneys. We can automatically pay tolls on the highway without stopping. Why can't I have a toaster that makes toast the way I like it?



Carnival at Blond Sagacity