. . . so now. It's come and gone. Sure, sure, we're supposed to keep the Christmas 'spirit' all year round. But WHO really does.
Who really does anything to help humanity all year round all the time. Help everyone always no matter if there is a holiday, or a tragedy, or a book or a tradition or a legacy that one is trying to observe.
Well, at least we bought plenty of gifts and distributed them appropriately to everyone we deemed 'giftworthy'.
What makes them really giftworthy in the first place anyway???
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(from http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm)
Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the week long celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.
The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).
In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.[2]
The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.
Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.
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(from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/merry-christmas.html)
". . . The use of 'Merry Christmas' as a seasonal salutation dates back to at least 1565, when it appeared in The Hereford Municipal Manuscript:
"And thus I comytt you to god, who send you a mery Christmas & many."
1843 was also the date of the publication of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol and it was around that time, in the early part of the reign of Queen Victoria, that Christmas as we now know it was largely invented. The word merry was then beginning to take on its current meaning of 'jovial, and outgoing' (and, let's face it, probably mildly intoxicated). Prior to that, in the times when other 'merry' phrases were coined, for example, make merry (circa 1300), Merry England (circa 1400) and the merry month of May (1560s), merry had a different meaning, i.e. 'pleasant, peaceful and agreeable'.
That change in meaning is apparently viewed with disfavour by Queen Elizabeth II, who wishes her subjects a 'happy' rather than 'merry' Christmas in her annual Christmas broadcasts. The idea of a modern-day merry England is presumably unwelcome at the palace.
The best-known allusion to merriment at Christmas is the English carol God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. The source of this piece isn't known. It was first published in William Sandys' Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern in 1833, although versions of it probably existed as a folk-song and tune well before that but weren't written down. Sir Thomas Elyot, lists the phrase 'rest you merry' in his Dictionary in 1548:
"Aye, bee thou gladde: or joyfull, as the vulgare people saie Reste you mery."
It is often assumed that the carol's lyric portrays the wish that jovial gentlemen might enjoy repose and tranquility. The punctuation of the song suggests otherwise though - it's 'God rest ye merry, gentlemen', not 'God rest ye, merry gentlemen'. In this context 'to rest' doesn't mean 'to repose' but 'to keep, or remain as you are' - like the 'rest' in 'rest assured'.
'Rest ye merry' means 'remain peacefully content' and the carol contains the wish that God should grant that favour to gentlemen (gentlewomen were presumably busy in the kitchen). It isn't the 'rest' that is being given but the 'merry'. Anyone misreading that comma is in good company though. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen was the carol that Dickens was referring to in A Christmas Carol:
"The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of
God bless you, merry gentleman!
May nothing you dismay!
Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror."
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That damned Fiscal Cliff fellow just won't go away. Who to believe? Boehner and his camp have not instilled me with great faith. I prefer the perspective of the other side, but why don't the DO SOMETHING??? Maybe it's time for something drastic???
Christmas is coming. The geese are getting fat. (At least that's how the song goes.) The sooner it arrives the sooner it will be gone. The epitome of capitalism, is it not?
Korea wants to prove how far their missiles can go. Worrisome?
Warm weather for a couple of days in the east. A tease from Mother Nature. Can't fool me though.
It's winter.
Music remains abundant soothing this savage breast and maketh all things good again. . . well. . . at least BETTER!
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The holidays now over, and it's time to get back to the 'swing' of things.
Now that the season for stopping innocent children from celebrating Christmas is over and we've celebrated our New Year's Rockin' eve with the egomaniac who should retire, and we anticipate the national spectacle of watching overweight, overpaid male 'athletes' pile on top of one another as they pursue the pointed pumpkin around a huge 'cow pasture' (as Andy Griffith once said) and merchants pay millions to hawk their wares during 30 second breaks that (and this is a sad statement) are actually more entertaining than the program to which they have contributed so outrageously, it's now time to settle down, sit back, relax with a cold beer (or a hot
topic) and watch the Republican presidential candidates do their new and improved version of Looney Tunes.
". . . and Oh what heights we'll hit, on with the show this is IT IT IT IT!!!!!"
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". . . the symbol of Santa Claus . . . is the personification of the spirit and joy of giving. . .the miraculous birth tradition disappears as history, but it re-emerges as powerful and shaping narratives that provide a primary insight into the meaning of Jesus. To journey into the heart of these narratives is to journey into the Christian claim that God was present in this man Jesus and that this experience compels us to come and worship. Frankly, this transition from history to poetry is that which will save the meaning of Christmas in our postmodern world. . ."
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. . . false note on an ending to a piano/vocal performance of THANKFUL at a 'church' service this morning, we (Mystic I) performed quite successfully and soulfully today.
Some Christmas (maybe 1%-mas is more accurate) shopping and a relaxing afternoon with dinner followed by a loss by our beloved Ravens.
Less and less is my emotional connection to this holiday. I just feel everyone is out to buy gifts for other people because they're JUST SUPPOSED TO! and not that there is any rational reason for doing so. Of course, if you feel as I do about it, you are branded a 'Scrooge' or other such non-feeling soul who doesn't feel as though he must be generous to others at this time of year when Christian people celebrate the birth of one personage of whom little is factually or historically known and whose purported life and presumed purpose had absolutely NOTHING to do with giving gifts to ANYONE whatsoever.
Well, I must cooperate and 'go with the flow' (at least nominally and superficially) or I may just alienate EVERYONE around me. . . and I just DON'T want to do that!!
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