Saturday, December 8, 2018

So This Is Christmas

(Source)
'Tis the season, as they say, a time for merriment, friends, and family.

But do we remember the true reason for the season? Long ago and far from my native land, a couple were blessed with the birth of an infant. No, it probably didn't occur in December, that was Mother Church's way of getting some of the pagans to play. I mean we all like our holidays and our traditions, the Church knew that to take that away, people would resist. So they co-opted those old pagan traditions and made them Christian. (Just as they took the old pagans and made them Christians!)

The important thing to remember...

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
-- Isaiah 9:6-7 New King James Version

It's not the when of the thing, it's the what.

We sometimes forget that the whole point of this season is to remember the birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord. One thing which is going wrong in this world is that far too many have turned away from church, from the worship of God. We will pay a steep price for that if we are not careful.

I'm not the most religious of men, though I attend church every Sunday, (I might miss a Sunday or two in a year, but I try to be there). Many times I wonder why. Like I said, I'm not the most religious of men, but I am spiritual, I know there's a reason for me being here. I know that the Lord watches over me, it's the only way to explain me surviving the many foibles of my youth.

Enjoy the season, it is, after all, about love. Like the song says, all you need is love. If you have it, whether giving or receiving, everything else falls into place. At least that's my experience.

Speaking of that song, one of the writers of that wrote another one, which for many years I didn't really care for. Times change, one may gain wisdom, if one is patient. While I've always liked the tune, some of the lyrics I didn't care for when the song first came out.

1971 was the year, I had graduated from high school, I was in college, I had a draft card. Guys my age, though the war was winding down, were still dying in Vietnam. I wasn't scared, not really (I was too stupid to be afraid), but when I received my draft lottery number (201) I was somewhat relieved. (I still remember my number, I looked it up to be sure, but some things you don't forget.)

Now I'm older, a bit wiser (thanks to The Missus Herself), this year I listened to the lyrics, I mean really listened. It ain't a bad little song, not much there to argue with. YMMV



So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

-- John Lennon, Yoko Ono (Source)

May peace and love be yours, all the year round.


20 comments:

  1. I have to listen to Celtic Woman's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring several times each December.

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    1. Ah yes, the songs we treasure have to be listened to again and again.

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    2. Oh, darned. The trauma. Can barely handle it. :)

      Next thing you'll say is they hold you down and force you to listen to Handel's "Messiah."

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    3. Well, here they do. Second Sunday of Advent, after dousing oneself in the Bay.

      ;)

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  2. High school graduation in 1971 (born in '53) & the draft. As I recall it my lottery number was 51 and #28 was the last number taken before Richard Nixon went to the all volunteer army. As I recall it..
    I realize my recollection is sometimes less than 100% :-)

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    1. 201 really stuck in my mind for some reason.

      We're in the same year group Rob!

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    2. High school graduation spring 1971, my draft number was 200 when I was at the U. Couple of my friends had to travel downstate for physicals for the draft but weren't called up, their numbers were under 50.

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    3. Another one from 1953!

      200 is almost as good as 201. ;)

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  3. I knew it. Saw the title and that insipid piece of dogsqueeze started playing in the back of my head. Stop, make it stop, will have to find Celtic Woman's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire" or the Moron Tab and Apple Choir mumble-singing something.

    May have to bring out the big guns and get the Time-Life Christmas Album going.

    If that doesn't work, covering fire from Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and some precision Bing Crosby and Elvis (the Pelvis) Presley.

    Nuke that darned song with a good 19th Century style old-school (church?) Christmas Carols.

    Come on, McCarthy's rather upbeat "Wonderful Christmas" beats Ono-Lennon's drivel hands down.

    If I want sad and contemplative, I'll listen to "Coventry Carol" sung correctly.

    But not the legacy of Yoko...

    Almost anything but the legacy of Yoko...

    Keep it up and this means... WAR!

    Well, in a musical way. And, yes, I understand the wish for people to grow the frack up and stop being complete dunderbutts and act mature and stuff, but we are talking about Congress and Terrorists, right? Not to mention the UN, France in general, the whole EU, the non-Brexiters, the DNC, (p)Antifa (and other non-social social organizations), mad Mullahs, Crazy ChiComs, Nutty Norks and such... Heck, if just the above acted like semi-responsible teenagers, the world would be a better place.

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    1. Ah, you get my point.

      I normally feel the same way about that tune, but today does mark the day Lennon was murdered. Which I didn't mention explicitly, for reasons unbeknownst to me. Odd that.

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    2. The wrong rich socialist-communist sympathizer ugly-naked bad singer got killed that day.

      Okay, I understand poor people supporting socialism, but rich people?

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    3. The rich are the only ones who can afford it.

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    4. And that proves the fallacy of socialism right there.

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  4. I can relate to trying to get back to basics with Christmas. I watched the old 1938 version of A Christmas Carol last night with the Mrs. She had never seen or read the old Charles Dickens classic. (Coming from a non-Anglo-American cultural background, this should not have been surprising to me, but it’s funny the things one takes as a given.) Although she did struggle a bit with the antiquated language (subtitles to the rescue!), she ended up really enjoying it.

    As we watched, I couldn’t help but notice the film was thoroughly steeped in Christian culture. The references to that shared heritage were replete throughout the film, as was the message of sin and redemption, the damaging effects of pervasive mortal sin (Scrooge’s avarice) upon the human soul, etc.

    The prominence of old Christian Christmas hymns sung throughout the film also could not be missed. It struck me upon watching a scene where Scrooge chases off some carolers that people actually used to do that. Not just in Old England, but within my living memory. I can remember a time when groups of people went door to door in residential neighborhoods to sing such hymns as “O Holy Night”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, and others that loudly and proudly declared the real story of Christmas. It saddened me to think I hadn’t seen such a sight in nearly two decades now.

    We watched a modern, secular “Christmas” movie afterwards—and it just felt empty to me. For all the glitz and glam of Santa hopping across the screen and throwing presents this way and that, it felt to me nothing more than a colorful veneer painted onto a hollow shell. When the characters actually visited the outside of a church (which, of course, the director did not allow them to enter), they were greeted with the tune of an old Christian hymn coming from inside, but whose words had been redacted and replaced with some non-controversial humanist swill. Later Santa opined that the true purpose of Christmas was about becoming a better person.

    All of this gave me considerable pause, and caused me to reflect with trepidation on how much this Nation has changed in just the span of my meager 36 years. It seems that this once great Christian holy day (I wonder if the secularists realize where the word “holiday” actually comes from…) has been thoroughly bleached with the very worst aspects of American consumerism, and doused with the fabric softener of relativist humanism to make the whole thing more digestible to the modern palate.
    When people accuse me of being sour about Christmas, I often point out—I’m not sour on Christmas, as it has been understood for most of the past millennia. I’m sour on this corrupted, Frankenstein version, all too often reflects the worst of our national values today. When I go to midnight mass this year, I will bask in the hymns of our forefathers recalling the arrival of the Son of the Most High, given to us in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, for the forgiveness of sins and salvation of mankind. That gift is infinitesimally better than anything Santa could ever bring down my chimney.

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    1. Amen!

      Very well said, David! I wholeheartedly agree!

      God Bless us, every one!

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    2. I have found that UP, BYUTV and Hallmark all have good, Christian themed movies. I mean, they're not overly profound and heart wrenching, but just good holiday and Christmas movies.

      There. You got me. I watch schmaltzy movies like they used to make in the 30's and 40's. Some of them are just goofy fun, some are poignantly profound but uplifting, but all are good. No big special effects, no CGI, no Earth-shattering bass-filled soundtrack, no overpaid actors asking for more money than the movie will gross. Actually, a lot of the actors and actresses actually avoid icky rolls and have strange, anti-Hollyweird things called morals, go figure. (And, yes, I watch a lot of Fred Astaire and Shirley Temple movies. World's too ugly to watch ugly movies.)

      I do miss caroling, actual caroling, and singing the oldy but goodies with a group of people with good voices. Or singing them in church. Last year's Christmas Mass had a bunch of newish 'carols' and I was looking for the tie-dye cassocks and petchoulie oil.

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    3. @Beans—I'll have to check out some of those channels. I could use some altruism, even if it's just on film. As you mentioned, the world is a dark enough place as is. That's probably why I have such a soft spot for vintage cinema.

      I am fortunate that I have access to a church that offers the Tridentine Mass and does its very best to restore sacred beauty to the liturgy and music. Here is a one minute video showing the highlights of Christmas at St. John Cantius: https://youtu.be/esILoKZvdFs. No tie-dye cassocks here! :)

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  5. And OldAFSarge, you'll pay for making me look at that thing next to that idiot in that video (even the still photo evokes too much pain...)

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    1. You have my sincere apologies, you feel about this one as I feel about Imagine.

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